Happy Valentine's Day!!!

FROM JAMES CAGNEY, JOAN BLONDELL, AND ME!!!

Please take time to watch this montage about romance in movies:

He Was Her Man (1934)

I just watched the 1934 James Cagney movie He Was Her Man, and it wasn’t very good. James Cagney was kinda boring as Flicker Hayes, the completely reformed safecracker who goes on the lam to San Francisco and its outskirts; he didn’t really yell or punch anybody! Again, he wore that stupid mustache but it didn’t bother me as much as it did in Ceiling Zero. Joan Blondell was also pretty good but she seemed pretty sad throughout the film, like I am when I get preoccupied. Alas, this would be their last film together—and this was kinda a bad excuse of a film to end their seven-film partnership. (I wish their on-screen partnership gained as much recognition as Tracy and Hepburn’s, Astaire and Rogers’, and Bogart and Bacall’s.)
This film was the first to bump off James Cagney since The Public Enemy, and the characters and the endings could not be more dissimilar. Flicker Hayes was Cagney’s first ex-criminal to reform completely. After doing his time, he returns to society to put the finger on mobsters, aid a young woman in distress, act with consideration toward others and—ultimately—sacrifice his love and life. Perhaps Cagney’s constant complaining [for better scripts] finally resulted in this script; and though he again plays a cocky wiseguy, he achieves true redemption by the film’s end. James Cagney actually commits no real criminal acts in this film; he only flees to San Francisco since the gang he formerly worked with conspires to kill him.

At least He Was Her Man worked a few changes on the gangster formula. Much of the film is set in a California fishing village where Cagney hides out and much of the action revolves around his flirtation with a reformed streetwalker engaged to one of the fishermen. At least Cagney made his character, Flicker Hayes, noticeably different from the cocky gunmen who had made him a star. Since Hayes spends much of the film in hiding, Cagney toned down his performance, only allowing the occasional sneer to remind viewers that he was playing a man living outside the law. He also grew a mustache for the role.

Providing strong support in He Was Her Man was Victor Jory, who had moved into character roles after being unsuccessfully groomed for stardom at Fox (where, admittedly, he played leading roles primarily in low-budget films). Jory’s role as the decent fisherman who almost loses Blondell to Cagney was different from the more villainous roles, like Jonas Wilkerson in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which he would be best remembered.

Despite the talent assembled, He Was Her Man was not among Warner’s or Cagney’s most successful films. Critics were decidedly mixed, many complaining that Cagney’s new mustache was far from flattering. He Was Her Man would fade from public view quickly, though not because of the mixed reviews. It was released in May 1934, just three months before the industry agreed to stricter enforcement of their self-censoring Production Code. The film’s clear depiction of Blondell’s character as a prostitute was a violation of the Code, which would keep Warner Bros. from re-issuing the picture after its initial run. It also kept the film off television for years, depriving fans of a chance to see Cagney in a different type of gangster role. I wouldn’t really recommend this film for any James Cagney fan since it’s so bleak and depressing and a real turkey. Happy commenting!!

(Next blog: Something to Sing About [1937])

He Was Her Man trailer:

Blonde Crazy (1931)

I just recently watched the 1931 James Cagney movie Blonde Crazy, and it was very fun! James Cagney, who had just burst into major stardom around the time this film was made, was terrific as Bert Harris, the bellboy/racketeer who is nuts over Joan Blondell. And as usual, he makes his rogue character lovable. James Cagney and Joan Blondell are always great as a pair (they made seven films together), especially in this movie. I absolutely loved it when they were together in Footlight Parade. In fact, overall, I love it when they are paired together; the chemistry between them is excellent.

This film would easily give one the impression of being a Pre-Code film , especially the scene where James Cagney is turned-on by the dancing ladies' butts and the scene where he barges in on Joan Blondell in the bathtub. I also love the scene where Cagney puts Blondell's bra over his eyes like a mask and then does a long, impressed whistle while getting the money out of the bra—very risquè! What really turned me on by Cagney in this film was his mannerisms and facial expressions, especially that voice (I can't describe the voice but it's a very happy, low-in-tone voice and Cagney uses it flirtatiously).
The first half of the film is very funny in comparison to the second half, which is very melodramatic and my least favorite part; however, I did like the end of the film, which I found sweet and cute. But I didn't really watch the shooting/car chase scene because it was too dramatic. I also felt sorry for the heartbroken James Cagney as he watched Joan Blondell getting married. I also found it interesting that Jimmy Cagney achieved hi dream of going to Europe one year later, but I didn't exactly like his opinion of it ("It stinks!"); however, his opinion was probably because of his resentment by Joan Blondell dumping him. (I'm guessing that if Joan Blondell joined him on his voyage to Europe, his opinion would've been less harsh.)

This is definitely a film from the Great Depression, and since it's from the early 1930s, the quality of the film is kinda grainy. (I kinda found that strange because, in comparison, The Public Enemy, which is from the same year as Blonde Crazy, has an excellent picture quality.) At first,there was some schemes I didn't understand, but after watching this film a couple times, I quickly got them (like the phony 20 dollar bill scheme). The movie isn't one of James Cagney's best or well-known films, and I wouldn't say that I very much enjoyed it (I enjoyed Footlight Parade and Taxi! more). This film was also a quickie in production and was a hit at the box office as well as with critics. I would recommend this film for James Cagney fans who enjoy seeing him in comedy/dramas. Again, you folks may comment with your own opinions about this film, but you don't have to.

Clips from Blonde Crazy (ignore the French subtitles):

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.)

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):