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.)

Lady Killer (1933)

I've been recently watching the 1933 James Cagney comedy Lady Killer recently, but not for the first time. It's a really funny movie; I can't believe only a few people know of its existence. Hollywood always seems to parody itself, and this film is one of the examples. James Cagney was terrific as Dan Quigley, a con-man who runs away to LA from a crime beat in NYC and quickly establishes himself as a movie star—after appearing as extras in a couple of movies.

What I really found extremely hilarious in this movie is the scene where James Cagney drags Mae Clarke—the same lady whose face he smashed a grapefruit into in The Public Enemy—across the room by the hair and kicks her out the door after he spots her in his apartment or hotel suite or something when coming home with a lady one night.

James Cagney seems to get himself set up in Hollywood really well; he writes his own fan mail (that's one to way to get started in Hollywood, if you're as dishonest and clever as Cagney) and falls in love with an actress plus gets married to her at the end of the movie. He meets her one day on the set of a Western—or more specifically, he meets her in her dressing room. (Of course, he's dressed up as an Indian when he meets her. And seeing Cagney in an Indian headdress is nothing spectacular.)

And for some reason, in the middle of the movie, Cagney gets a mustache. As it seems to me, he gives the impression of being different with a mustache, not to mention looks different and silly . He looks better without it. I mean, Cagney just isn't Cagney with that silly, curious little piece of facial hair on his upper lip. What's interesting is that he later wears the mustache in movies like He Was Her Man (1934), Ceiling Zero (1936), and Torrid Zone (1940), but only as an act of rebellion against Warner Bros. That's our Jimmy!

I didn't really watch the car chase near the end of the film because I thought it was a little dramatic. And there's a scene other than the hair-pulling-and-dragging that I find funny: it's the scene where Cagney is acting in scene for a movie with his love interest. He's dressed up as a ridiculous-looking Italian and eats pieces of garlic to simulate bad breath. And of course, his co-star is humorously overwhelmed by his breath—and then she pushes him into the nearby fountain, which is hilarious but he laughs about it, so we're laughing with him, not at him.

This film was a critical success at the time of its release. I would recommend this film for any James Cagney fan who likes to see the fellow in romantic comedies/ganster films. Again, opinions and/or comments about this film are encouraged!

The Public Enemy (1931)

Like I said in the last blog, I thought it would be good if I did film review blogs about James Cagney movies that I saw recently but not for the first time. So this time, I thought it would be good if I did a film review blog about the very first James Cagney movie I saw: The Public Enemy. Usually, whenever I watched the movie before I gained more experience about Cagney, it would be unusual for me to see Jimmy Cagney in the film because when I first saw the film, it was also actually the first time I saw Cagney in my entire life! Isn't that wild? But now that I've gained more expertise about Jim Cagney, it's not very unusual to see him in the film. Anyway, this is the film that shot Cagney to stardom and established him as a tough guy, even though he would star in a variety of roles and receive his only Oscar™ for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy. It was the famous grapefruit scene that really made people think of him as a tough guy. And the immortal grapefruit scene is forever parodied in an episode of The Simpsons; it's the episode where Bart gets a Big Brother as revenge against Homer after he picks him up from soccer practice too late, and Homer gets a Little Brother as revenge against Bart. Anyway, in the scene parodying the grapefruit scene, Homer is daydreaming—or, whatever, thinking—about how mean Bart is to him, and in this reverie, Bart smashes a grapefruit into Homer's face. Then Homer says, "Mmm...grapefruit," while at the end of the original grapefuit scene, Mae Clarke—whom we see in two other James Cagney films, Lady Killer (1933) and Great Guy (1936 or '37)—cries or gets upset. There are many debates and differing sources about how the grapefruit scene came about. But I personally thought it was funny, just like the later abuse Jimmy gives to Clarke in Lady Killer—dragging her across the room while pulling her by her hair. And we must not forget that James Cagney was not originally cast as Tom Powers; in fact, he was cast as Matt Doyle, Tom Powers' sidekick (Edward Woods, who plays Matt Doyle was originally cast as Tom Powers). If Warner Brothers hadn't switched the actors in their roles, James Cagney wouldn't have been as well-known as he is today.

Jean Harlow was good as Cagney's second girlfriend, even though she didn't have a big role, and Joan Blondell was good as Woods' girlfriend and later wife. This was one of the many movies she would make with James Cagney.

Real machine guns were used in this film; James Cagney was barely missed in the scene where he and Woods run away from gunmen. And let me tell you guys, I had a dream last night about the scene between just James Cagney & Jean Harlow, but I wasn't even in the scene so don't get any ideas! And after the scene where Cagney gets measured for a custom-made suit, I don't even know what that gesture was that Cagney did, so I thought it was weird. Anyway, this film is a must for any James Cagney fan, especially since it was one of his important and best films.

A few clips from Public Enemy (I did not make these videos):

Simpsons episode that has parody of the grapefruit scene:
The Simpsons 414

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):

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):