Everything Cagney

Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Crowd Roars (1932)

I recently watched the 1932 James Cagney movie The Crowd Roars, but not for the first time, and it was full of thrills and chills! It's wasn't one of James Cagney's best (or memorable) films but then again, it wasn't one of his worst films. He was on his way to major stardom when he was making this movie, but he was still good as Joe Greer, the hard-drinking hotshot racecar driver who is revered by his kid brother. Joan Blondell was also good as the loose slut whom Cagney hates and Frank McHugh was pretty fun as Cagney's friend. (In fact, it was during the production of this film that Cagney and McHugh became dear lifelong friends. Read the "gory" details in TCM's article about this film .)

I found the race scenes very thrilling and action-filled but they weren't my favorite scenes. In fact, my favorite scenes were the romantic drama scenes where James Cagney acts like a jerk towards his girlfriend. I actually felt very sorry for him when I saw him as a disheveled hobo near the end of the film. He and his brother were split from each other— relationship-wise—halfway through the film, but they were reunited while racing in the climax of the film and they ride away in an ambulance together after the race (they are injured but alive).

It was while shooting The Crowd Roars that Jimmy Cagney had the first of his many bouts with Warner Bros. about his ridiculously insufficient salary; he was only making $400

a week, and we all know that he was worth than that! So Cagney's bout with Warner Bros. was pretty reasonable. He certainly had the guts to fight against the overbearing studio system of the day!(Besides him, Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis also fought against the studio overlords.)

There were actually real accidents during the filming of this movie, and the Warner publicity department publicized them in American newspapers. Also, the racing scenes in this film were later edited into the film Indianapolis Speedway (1939), which starred actors who have also co-starred with James Cagney: Pat O'Brien & Ann Sheridan. And another thing: I actually based the James Cagney character in my sneak preview blog on the Cagney character in this movie. (For some reason, I find a hard drinker charismatic.)

The first time I saw this movie was back in May; it was among the many racing movies that TCM was showing (it was right before Memorial Day weekend, which is when the Indy 500 is usually held, so that's why they were showing car racing movies).

I would recommend this film for any James Cagney fan who loves watching him in melodramatic, action-packed adventure/thriller films. Once more, comments and opinions on this film are encouraged. (A few notes before I go: Because of the car racing, this film reminded me of the Disney Pixar movie Cars [2006]; for some reason, I thought James Cagney's character was from Los Angeles when in fact he is from Phoenix, AZ; and James Cagney is supposedly living with his girlfriend [which was almost unheard of back in 1932] in this movie, even though it doesn't seem that way when u actually see the movie.)

G-Men (1935)

I've recently been watching another 1935 James Cagney movie, G-Men, but not for the first time. It puts James Cagney on the side of the law, but you still sympathized with him and it was also one of his best films.

Of course, I think the movie is similar to the recent Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies, which is about the case of John Dillinger; the similarity is only because both movies reenact the real shootout event from 1933 or '34 between federal agents and gangsters at a Wisconsin lodge, which involved Dillinger. However, there are differences between the two reenactment scenes of the two movies: one was done in a studio and one was done at the actual location. (You can decide for yourself which one is which. Fun fact: there is a reference to Cagney in Public Enemies, but it's a reference to another movie of his. )

James Cagney was great as James "Brick" Davis, a lawyer-turned-FBI agent who knows the underworld well because of his background. The only problem with this movie is that it doesn't have very familiar actors, except for Robert Armstrong, who was in the RKO movie, King Kong (1933); Margaret Lindsay, who was in Lady Killer (1933), another James Cagney movie; and Ann Dvorak, who was in The Crowd Roars (1932), which is also a James Cagney movie. (I've seen all three movies, but when I first saw this movie, I hadn't seen The Crowd Roars yet.)

Once again, real bullets were used in the shooting scenes, just like in The Public Enemy; the reason was because special effects hadn't yet perfected the explosive squibs that simulate bullets. It scared James Cagney to death and he swore that he wouldn't go through with it again; however, he had to go through with it later in Angels with Dirty Faces.

J. Edgar Hoover, who then head of the FBI, personally approved the script of this movie and was proud of the publicity. I didn't really watch the shooting scenes, but as for the ending, I thought it was pretty sweet. This movie was a pretty big hit back in the 1935, which means that was a big box-office hit.

I didn't really mind it when James Cagney flirted with the ladies in the film. This film is must for any James Cagney fan because it's one of his important roles as it puts him on the right side of the law, but he's still a sharpshooter (yes, I'm surprised I know that word too).

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Videos Related to The Mayor of Hell (1933)

Excerpts from the Simpsons episode that is related to this movie (from Hulu.com):

Clips from The Mayor of Hell:

Simpsons episode that is similar to this movie:

The Simpsons 401

Videos Related to Mayor of Hell

Excerpt from

The Mayor of Hell (1933)

I just recently watched the 1933 James Cagney movie The Mayor of Hell, and it was very dramatic. James Cagney was good as Patsy Gargan, the racketeer-turned-deputy commissioner of a corrupt reform school; however, we don't see very much of him in the movie. Of course, he falls in love w/ the school's nurse but this is minimized to a great extent in the film.

At first, things are bad in the reform school: the fat warden Thompson eats big plates of bacon and eggs while his charges eat Oliver Twist-style gruel; later, he'll decree an effective death sentence against a tubercular boy by putting him in the hole on a cold night. The film does a delicate balancing act throughout: the system is flawed because corrupt men are involved in running it, but not everyone involved in running it is corrupt. Some kindly guards give up their coats in an attempt to keep the boy warm, and the nurse argues for their welfare on every opportunity.

One such opportunity arrives in the form of Cagney, who soon becomes head of the reform school while the former headmaster leaves for a while (on a vacation) and has the kids set up a self-government, which I admire him for. Yet, he soon leaves the school to take care of his own mobster affairs (with the intention of coming back), making the kids feel abandoned and back under the sadistic clutches of their ex-headmaster. Then Cagney goes on the lam after wounding one of his rivals and hangs around his hideout in another state, constantly sending his sidekick—the immortally funny Allen Jenkins—to check on the guy (because you see, if the guy dies, Cagney will go to jail and the reformatory will remain in its sadistic status quo).

In many ways, the film is decades ahead of its time. Not only does the black kid (who is never depicted differently than the others) feature heavily in the narrative—he becomes the defense attorney at a trial in the school's courtroom for when one of the charges steals a Hershey's® Chocolate Bar (I guess that means Warner Bros. got permission from the Hershey Company for product placement)—but Miss Griffith (the nurse) is an amazingly strong female character. At Cagney's behest, she devises the new, reformed system for the school, then feeds him portions of his improvised speech to the boys when he first takes command from the corrupt Mr. Thompson. Even so, this film pales in comparison to another Cagney film, Each Dawn I Die (1939). I didn't really watch the riot scene at the end of the film because I thought it was too dramatic.

Although it's not really a parody of this movie, there is a Simpsons episode that is similar to this movie. It's the episode where Bart and Lisa go to Kamp Krusty , which is a summer camp run by Krusty the Clown but is just like the reform school in this film—corrupt and run by violent people—since Krusty isn't even there (you could say that what he is to the camp is what Cagney is to the reform school, a savior). I would recommend this movie to James Cagney fans who like seeing him in social dramas. Happy commenting!

(Next blog: The Roaring Twenties [1939])