Angel with Dirty Faces (1938)

Recently, I've been watching the famous James Cagney film from 1938, Angels with Dirty Faces, but not for the first time of course. This was one of Cagney's important films as well as one of the most important films in film history (the scene where Rocky Sullivan turns yellow when going to the electric chair is one of the finest scenes in cinematic history). It was directed by Michael Curtiz, who directed Casablanca—another cinematic masterpiece—and some of James Cagney's other finest pictures, including Yankee Doodle Dandy.

When I saw the trailer before seeing the film for the first time, I was wondering what Humphrey Bogart was doing in a James Cagney picture. I didn't even know that Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney knew or worked together, but apparently this film proved me wrong. But still, Humphrey Bogart was pretty good, and Pat O'Brien was great playing Cagney's childhood friend-turned-priest. Ann Sheridan was good but I wish she didn't interfere with James Cagney's characters. The Dead End Kids really entertained me with their physical humor, particularly during the basketball game, and it was also nice to see people my age in this film. (Speaking of physical humor, one of the Dead End Kids, Leo Gorcey, did a radio show

with Groucho Marx later on.) And as always, James Cagney really amazed me in this film. In the scene where he slaps Leo Gorcey across the face with the envelope containing the crooked money, I was spellbound by Cagney's character. I liked the scene where Pat O'Brien visits James Cagney in prison and asks him to turn yellow at the electric chair for the sake of the Dead End Kids' morality. (Of course, Rocky Sullivan never gives up his aggression as he pushes the guards away when they come to get him & take him to the electric chair.) But did Rocky Sullivan really turn yellow at the electric chair or did he do it as a favor for his friend? I don't know; that is the question. Of course, I think the whole Rocky screaming scene was too dramatic so I don't really watch it. The same goes for the shootout Rocky has with the police in a warehouse near the end of the film. Real bullets, like in The Public Enemy, were used during the filming of the shootout scene and Curtiz wanted Cagney to put his head in a particular place in a window where the police would shoot at him. But of course, Cagney refused, and it's a good thing he refused too because if Cagney had obeyed Michael Curtiz and put his head in the window, there wouldn't have a Yankee Doodle Dandy years later.

There is actually a half-parody/half-reference to this movie in The Simpsons in a Season 19 episode called I Don't Want to Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this episode, Marge makes a lonely bank robber (voiced by Steve Buscemi) turn himself in by promising him that she'll visit him in prison. However, Marge keeps putting off visiting the poor prisoner so much that he becomes embittered. Then, one night, Marge watches a prison movie called A Kiss Before Frying (which is supposedly a take on some movie title), which is about a prisoner who is confident that his mother will visit him before he goes to the electric chair. Of course, the mother never visits her son and she doesn't show up at his frying, so the son dies yelling, "MAAAAAAAAA!" Now what's interesting is that the character in the movie is supposed look like Cagney in this movie, and actually has the same attitude toward the electric chair that Cagney had. Now I forgot what the character looked like because the last time I saw the episoode, I wasn't interested in Cagney yet, so I wanna see it again.

I also thought the music score was great and beautiful. The guy who composed the score is actually the same guy who composed the score for Casablanca, so you know it's that good. This movie is a must for any James Cagney fan—it was the second James Cagney movie I saw—because it was one of his finest performances, if not his best. (Note: He got the "Whaddya hear, whaddya say" mannerism or whatever from a boy he knew during his childhood in New York's Hell Kitchen.)

Clips from Angels with Dirty Faces:

The parody/reference of this movie from The Simpsons episode:

1904

Footlight Parade (1933)

I just decided I could write a blog about a James Cagney movie that I watched recently but not for the first time, so I decided to do a blog about the 1933 James Cagney movie Footlight Parade. Yes, yes, yes, I know I'm supposed to watch White Heat, but I'll get to that later. Anyway, Footlight Parade is one of the prime examples of James Cagney's musical talents, next to Yankee Doodle Dandy and one of Busby Berkeley's masterpieces. It is a backstage story like 42nd Street and has Pre-Code humor. It is probably the only Busby Berkeley film with a major, charismatic actor (James Cagney; Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler aren't really major actors). James Cagney is so fun to watch in this film as he deals with the recent divorce with his wife and working under pressure to come up with prologues for movie theaters (I'm not very familiar with movie theater prologues snce I'm from a much younger generation). In this film, Cagney showed audiences that he was a hoofer (yes, I'm surprised I know that word too) as well as a gangster, that he shouldn't be typecast as a gangster and that his versatility should be put to good use.

I really loved the humorously fast-paced (probably wouldn't be good for a Marx Brothers movie) backstage plot that precedes the famous Busby Berkeley musical numbers—my favorite number among them is "Shanghai Lil" because that's the one where you get to see Jimmy Cagney dance and hear him sing, and that's a real treat—especially the scene where Frank McHugh choreographs the dancers in the cat number while copying the moves of a real cat, literally. I also love the scene where Joan Blondell has a catfight with Cagney's love interest. By the way, Joan Blondell is just fabulous as James Cagney's secretary who loves him but he doesn't know it, especially when he falls for a old rival of hers. (I know how that feels. I've had that happened to me in my 19 years of life.) I was really amazed by the spectacular "By a Waterfall' water sequence the first time I saw the movie. I read somewhere that the sequence was done in a pool that took up an entire soundstage, with actual water slides on the side (the water was pumped by technicians during shooting) and was lined with glass on the sides and floor. Still, I see no reason watching the sequence whenever I watch the film because for one thing, there is no James Cagney, and for another thing, it's too long. I would recommend this movie for any James Cagney fan, especially one who loves to see him in musicals—yes, even James Cagney's 1937 non-Warner Bros. musical Something to Sing About, which would've been better had it not suffered from its studio's small budget (FYI, it was made by Grand National, a small, independent studio; a prime example of the saying, "There's just no room for the little guy"). This is one of my favorite Warner Brothers musicals—next to Yankee Doodle Dandy, which is just too patriotic for me—and one of the top Busby Berkeley musicals. By the way, I know you guys love reading my James Cagney film reviews, so don't worry; there are more coming! Once again, please feel free to comment on this blog with your own opinions on this film.
Clip from this movie (I did not make this video):

Each Dawn I Die (1939)

I just watched another James Cagney movie Each Dawn I Die (1939)—on YouTube again—and it was very dramatic. Yes, I know I was supposed to watch White Heat but in my opinion, this movie was close. The pairing of James Cagney and George Raft, whom I barely know but I suppose he's famous, was superb. At first, I thought the old woman in the movie was Cagney's girlfriend's mother, but then I learned that she was playing Cagney's mom, and the scene where she visits her son in prison is sad but beautiful. I think the way that the guards treated Cagney is horrible, and the way that Cagney is framed near the beginning of the film is also disgraceful (that's how he gets into prison). The way those thugs beat up James Cagney and doused him with alcohol just because he exposed the candidate for governor as corrupt is just plain wrong (btw, he plays a reporter in this movie). Whatever happened to freedom of the press?! James Cagney seemed to have gone insane from being in solitary confinement. Most of the film was sad but I didn't, if almost, cried. The scene where Cagney breaks down crying in front of the parole board begging for release is pretty dramatic, and the following scene where he finds out that he was rejected for parole is pretty messed up. I didn't really watch the shooting scene near the end of the film but I did think that the ending scene was beautiful. With this movie, Cagney seemed to cap off the decade with a premium tough guy role, but I still think that his role in The Roaring Twenties was a better cap-off. According to TCM's main article about this film, much of the movie's elements have become dated with time. I'm pretty sure that this film pales in comparison with White Heat, but I still thought that Cagney was good and made the film worth watching. And it was better than his 1933 reformatory movie Mayor of Hell. This movie is a must if you love seeing James Cagney in his famous tough guy roles, but if you love seeing him in versatile roles—like I do—then I would stay away from it yet still see it. Once again, feel free to comment with your own opinions about this movie.

Video Montage about James Cagney's "Inappropriate Cell Phone" which includes a clip from this movie:

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

I just recently watched the 1935 James Cagney/Mickey Rooney movie A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it was very weird. James Cagney was quite a character as Bottom the Weaver. The funny thing is, I watched this movie only because of him. Shameful, yes, but I find Shakespeare hard to understand and therefore boring. (I couldn't understand a word of dialogue in this movie. No offense to you Shakespeare fans.) Sure, James Cagney may have been a little dramatically unbearable towards the end of the movie (even I can admit that) but he was pretty good in the scene where he rehearses the play for Theseus's wedding day in the forest with Joe E. Brown and the rest of the theatrical guild (which includes Frank McHugh). What's more is that you don't really get to see Jimmy's face during some of the movie since it's covered by a donkey's head. I think there was a bit of miscasting in the movie; James Cagney should have played Puck, which was played by Mickey Rooney, since he has that mischievous quality about him and because Mickey Rooney got annoying and uncontrollable after a while. James Cagney didn't even wanna play Bottom in the first place since he had no experience or background in doing Shakespearean dramas. Besides, he doesn't really give one the impression of being a Shakespearean actor (thank God). And he kind of looks like Kenneth Branagh in this film. Anyway, I sort of found this movie funny, especially the play scene towards the end of the film, even if it was histrionically overdone by James Cagney and semi-homosexual. (The "girl" in the little play was played by Joe E. Brown.) Apart from the scenes with James Cagney, I didn't really like the movie. The public didn't really go for this movie—and I could see their point if some of them were James Cagney fans. The cinematography and the special effects were good, though. I would recommend this film for James Cagney fans who are also Shakespeare fans or who just likes watching him in all of his movies.

(Next blog: The Mayor of Hell [1933])

Warners Brothers' Breakdown of 1935 bloopers reel, which includes some of this movie (apparently, this movie was made on Soundstage 8 of the Warners Brothers Burbank studio lot):
















Cagney on Crack, aka Cagney being weird in A Midsummer Night's Dream (This is not my video, though I do know a couple of Andrews):

Taxi! (1932)

I've recently watched the 1932 James Cagney movie Taxi! (about two or three weeks ago) and it made me jealous just watching it. Other than that, it was very interesting to watch. It's definitely one of those James Cagney movies that should be on DVD but is not and would be recommended for any fan of Cagney. One of the scenes worth watching is the scene where James Cagney has a Yiddish conversation with a Jewish man who wants to go to Ellis Island to meet his family after a futile attempt at conversation with a police officer (James Cagney could speak fluent Yiddish from living in the diverse New York City neighborhood of Yorkville during his childhood). The policeman then asks Cagney what part of Ireland his family came from and of course, James Cagney's answer is hilarious: "Delancy Street, thank you!" (He says it with a broad smile and in an Irish or Jewish accent or whatever.) It was hard to believe that Loretta Young, who played Cagney's girlfriend and later his wife, was my age when she made this movie (she was 19), and that's what made me jealous. She actually got a crush on James Cagney while making the movie, and personally, I'm not surprised; it's very easy to be attracted to someone like James Cagney. But what makes me really jealous is that she gets to kiss her crush. But near the end of the film, Cagney knocks Young down when she tries to stop him from going after a rival. Imagine getting knocked down by your crush! James Cagney was very good as Matt Nolan, the pugnacious taxi driver, and was really something! This was actually one of the first movies where James Cagney's dancing skill was revealed, for example, in the dancing contest scene. It must've been a real surprise to moviegoers at that time, since they didn't really know that James Cagney was a hoofer. (And it once again made me jealous of Loretta Young. It must've been a great feeling dancing with James Cagney.) This movie was one of Warner Brothers' top moneymakers of the year and was reissued in 1935. Again, please feel free to chime in with your comments on this film. (Note: in the scene where the Cagney and the cab drivers gather for a meeting, Young reminded me of Lisa Simpson when she rose up to protest the violence that the cab drivers proposed to do.)

The James Cagney Show #3, which shows some of the end of this film. The canned laughter in the background is meant to make fun not of James Cagney but of sitcoms (which I personally enjoy).(P.S. In the related videos section at the end of the video, check out the video "James Cagney's Inappropriate Cell Phone." It's totally anachronistic):

The Oklahoma Kid (1939)

I just watched The Oklahoma Kid, not on TCM but on YouTube, and I didn't find it very fun as I thought it would be from reading books and articles about James Cagney. There are too many gunfights and I don't find gunfights thrilling. Sure, near the beginning of the movie, Cagney sings, "I Don't Want to Play in your Yard" over the piano but I didn't really find that as exciting as him singing "Shanghai Lil" in Footlight Parade or him singing a bunch of songs in Yankee Doodle Dandy. And then there's the exciting scene where James Cagney sings "Rock-a-Bye, Baby" to a baby in both English and Spanish while on the lam in Mexico. I had always to see that scene but now that I've seen it, somehow I didn't find it spectacular. Still, I thought James Cagney was fantastic in the title role. I didn't really pay attention to Humphrey Bogart for some reason. And of course, I thought that James Cagney was the only eye candy for me in the film (didn't like his haircut or costume, though). When I watched the film, I had always looked forward to seeing James Cagney. And for some reason, I didn't like the love interest he showed for the girl. Please chime in with your comments.Another Warner Brothers blooper reel, which includes this movie: