Here Comes the Navy (1934)

I have just recently watched the 1934 James Cagney movie Here Comes the Navy for the first time, and it was cool!! James Cagney was good as Chesty O'Connor, a cocky, can-do civilian riveter-turned-sailor (this was before the Navy became a symbol of homosexual camp) who represents the common working man of the Depression. I'm so glad I finally got to watch this movie that I so desperately wanted to see! Even though it was very different from the trailer, I must say that I pretty much liked it!! Anyway, James Cagney is with his two best buddies--Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh--in this film! Frank McHugh's role was big compared to his other roles in Cagney films, and he seemed to have a lot of lines as well as the most comedic dialogues w/ Jimmy Cagney. As for Pat O'Brien, well his and Jimmy's chemistry is very apparent even though their characters don't get along in the film. Their bromance is amazing; I have often compared them to Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, who were just as good together in Sherlock Holmes!!! And Gloria Stuart, who is almost a centigenarian now, was also good as Cagney's love interest. Anyhow, I felt very sorry for Jimmy Cagney's character earlier in the movie when he is beaten mercilessly by Pat O'Brien in a fight. And his girlfriend didn't even help him, which really sucked. (And I must add that this movie, with its nautical theme, had me longing for the beach. )

Modern-day military movies are more likely to focus on Marine special forces or Navy SEALs than on ordinary sailors, but until the Vietnam era the United States Navy had enough mystique to fuel many popular films. Here Comes the Navy, made between the world wars in 1934, is a good example. Drenched in navy atmosphere, it was filmed in real navy locations and populated with real navy extras polishing guns and swabbing decks in the background. Most impressive of all, much of the action was shot on the U.S.S. Arizona, which became legendary when Japanese aircraft sunk it in the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that propelled the U.S. into World War II. All this makes the film a natural for navy buffs and a smooth-sailing history lesson for everyone else.

The picture has good Hollywood credentials, too. Its stars are James Cagney and Pat O’Brien, making the first of their nine movies together – they did seven more for Warner Bros. and then reunited for Ragtime in 1981, the last feature for both of them. Here Comes the Navy also scored a nomination for the Best Picture Academy Award, which it lost – along with such other contenders as The Thin Man and The Gay Divorcee – to It Happened One Night, a hard movie to beat (speaking of which, I hope Avatar isn't that way @ the Oscars this year ).

While working in the shipyard, Cagney runs afoul of Biff Martin, chief petty officer of the Arizona, played by O’Brien with just a smidgen less feistiness than Cagney displays. Their squabble turns into a brawl when they compete for a woman at a dance, and when Chesty loses the fight – the lovely lady distracts him just as Biff throws his best punch – the scrappy laborer sets his sights on revenge. This is easier said than done, since Biff immediately goes to sea, so Chesty does what any self-respecting movie character would do: He joins the navy, volunteers for the Arizona, and looks forward to decking his enemy.

Eventually the two meet again, but when Chesty prepares to give Biff what’s coming to him, Biff informs him of something he should have learned in basic training: Officers rank higher than enlisted men, and if Chesty’s fists fly, the rest of his body will land in the brig. Complicating things further, Chesty sees another alluring woman and falls so much in love that he can’t give her up – even when she turns out to be Dorothy “Dot” Martin, his enemy’s loving sister. This sends all of them into a three-way feud, with Dorothy snagged between her sailor friend’s wooing and her big brother’s scolding.

Could things be any worse? You bet. Chesty sneaks off the ship to see Dorothy, and gets caught when he tries to sneak back on. Angry at being punished, he belligerently bad-mouths the navy, which shocks his shipboard buddies and turns them against him. Deciding he’s beaten all around, Chesty slinks away and transfers from battleship duty to a dirigible unit. There he shows he’s a trusty American after all, and everyone has a happy Hollywood ending.

In addition to the U.S.S. Arizona, parts of Here Comes the Navy were shot on location at real navy yards. The picture also shows maneuvers by the Pacific Fleet, and the climax -- when Chesty performs a daring rescue involving a dirigible trying to land at sea -- uses footage of the U.S.S. Macon, an American airship that was downed by a storm the following year, bringing an end to the military’s experiment with lighter-than-air vehicles. The film’s rescue scene is based on an actual incident two years earlier, when crewmen of the U.S.S. Akron held onto a blimp’s ground ropes as it lifted into the air; the real-life accident killed two men, but this didn’t stop Warner Bros. from transforming it into a chance for Chesty to save the day. Cagney did some of his own stunt work, burning his hands on a rope until they “looked like hamburger,” as he described it later.

Along with its glimpses of armed-forces history, Here Comes the Navy reflects an interesting moment in Hollywood history: It was Cagney’s first movie after the Catholic Legion of Decency gained censorship power in the industry, and Warner Bros. wanted to signal that the star’s brash personality wouldn’t be toned down as long as it kept selling tickets. That said, the movie struck some observers as unexpectedly subdued. In addition to laughs and authenticity, the reviewer for the New York Times praised it for having “the added advantage, in these parlous times, of being beyond censorial reproach.” This was especially “remarkable” in a Cagney production, the critic continued, since his “rough-and-tumble antics in several earlier pictures” had been “held up to scorn by those who would reform the screen.” While the star himself hadn’t changed his style, the reviewer wrote, “the restraining hand of the producer, writer, director (or all three), never is relinquished.”

The director who may or may not have restrained Cagney was Lloyd Bacon, whose most celebrated picture is 42nd Street, the popular Depression musical of 1933. That movie gains a lot of its pizzazz from the song-and-dance numbers staged by Busby Berkeley, and in Here Comes the Navy the military interludes serve a similar purpose, punching up a comedy-drama scenario that might easily run out of steam on its own.

The comedy episodes were enthusiastically received by the New York Times reviewer, who applauded some of “the heartiest laughs of the current cinema season” and called the finale, wherein a caterwauling old lady sings a wedding song from lyrics tattooed on her dopey son’s torso, a “perfect comedy climax.” Today’s viewers won’t be so tickled by such silliness, and it’s painful to watch the movie’s disgracefully racist material (it wasn't so painful for me to watch; trust me, I've seen worst), as when Chesty puts on blackface so he can slip off the ship among African-American sailors going on leave. Like the battleship and dirigible sequences, these are best viewed as historical artifacts from America’s not-so-distant past. Seen in this light, Here Comes the Navy has more to reveal than Cagney’s talent for high-spirited hijinks.
Here Comes the Navy is the first and best of the Cagney-O'Brien service pictures and features excellent performances by the entire cast. Cagney plays his character with just the right blend of intensity and devilish, sarcastic, Bart Simpson-like charm. Anyway, this is my favorite Cagney film next to Footlight Parade, Taxi!, and Jimmy the Gent. My prospective favorite James Cagney films, which I have yet to see, are Hard to Handle and Devil Dogs of the Air. And since I mentioned earlier that it was a contender for the 1934 Best Picture Oscar, it isn't nearly half as famous as some of its rivals, like Gay Divorcee and Thin Man. But it's just as charming and lighthearted as the two, and just as watchable, compared to some of the other 1934 films like Cleopatra and Imitation of Life.Anyway, I would recommend the film for James Cagney fans who love seeing him in military dramas. Happy commenting!!!










(Next blog [for sure]: Animal Crackers [1930])












Clips from Here Comes the Navy (1934):

The Fighting 69th (1940)

I just recently watched the 1940 James Cagney movie The Fighting 69th, but not for the first time, and it was full of action! James Cagney was superb as Jerry Plunkett, the obnoxious, despicable braggart who soon turns into a coward as soon as he gets down in the trenches! It was very rewarding to see James Cagney in a movie with his two best friends, Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh, again!

Warner Brothers' inspirational tale The Fighting 69th (1940) was an enormous hit with the public when it first premiered in pre-Pearl Harbor America. The studio rightfully assumed that American audiences, well aware of the escalating signs of war in Europe and the Pacific, would respond well to a patriotic action-adventure. And the box office take alone convinced Warner Bros. mogul Jack Warner to continue making gung-ho war films, culminating in a movie about the much-decorated World War I hero, Sergeant York (1941). Like the latter film, The Fighting 69th is based on the true-life story of a World War I hero - Father Duffy, who was played by Pat O'Brien. The real Father Duffy was the regimental chaplain of "the fighting 69th," a group of Irish national guardsmen who were incorporated into the Rainbow Division in 1917 after distinguishing themselves in combat.

Typical of Warner Brothers (and Hollywood), their film version of The Fighting 69th was highly fictionalized. Tom Wicker wrote in Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies that the movie was "stereotypically "Hollywood." (Eh, what are you gonna do?) He also commented that "predictably, the wise guy turns coward in battle; predictably, the wise priest tries to save his soul; predictably, the coward finds God and courage in the end. And when all else fails, as it usually does, the film throws in Frank McHugh for wisecracks and funny faces."

O'Brien's co-star in the picture was James Cagney, who often played the scoundrel in need of redemption from O'Brien's saints in Warner Bros. movies. Together the two actors co-starred in nine films together, including Ragtime (1981), the last film either one of them ever made. Close friends off camera, O'Brien later remarked of his frequent and easily more famous co-star, "Jimmy can steal a scene by lifting an eyebrow." Father Duffy was one of O'Brien's most famous portrayals, while Cagney's was patriotic showman George M. Cohan, whom he played in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Ironically, statues of both of these famous men are still standing in the middle of New York City's Times Square.

Jimmy’s character in this film was very different from his usual characters. He usually made them lovable and cute (in my eyes) but he makes this character disagreeable (well, maybe not so much in my eyes). A scene in this film that I really loved for its use of juxtaposition is a scene where Jimmy Cagney is sitting by a sign that says "NO SMOKING!" But rather predictably, he is disobeying the sign by smoking!

Most of The Fighting 69th was filmed at Warner Brothers' Calabasas Ranch which doubled as Camp Mills, the regiment's training base, various French villages and numerous battlefields. No expense was spared in the pre-promotion of the film, which included a well-publicized meeting in New York City between O'Brien, Cagney, the real Father Duffy and surviving members of the regiment. For this event, more than five thousand fans showed up to greet the two stars when they arrived from Hollywood at Grand Central Station. The real Father Duffy also attended the New York City premiere and shook hands with nearly every actor who appeared in the film, all of whom were of Irish descent.

The Fighting 69th beat another rival studio's production of the same story to the theatres; Fox had planned to borrow Spencer Tracy from MGM for the starring role in Father Duffy of the Fighting 69th but dropped it once the O'Brien-Cagney picture went into production. When The Fighting 69th was released, the critics were mixed in their reviews. Some derided the movie's clichés while others enjoyed its vitality and pace. Frank Nugent, the film critic at the New York Times (and later a close collaborator of director John Ford), wrote that the film "is better if you can manage to forget the plot, with all it obvious theatrics, hokum and unoriginality, and think of it instead as the human, amusing and frequently gripping record of a regiments' marching off to war." The public, though, loved every minute of it and helped make it one of the biggest moneymakers of the year. (And the public is obviously more important than the critics.)

James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, and George Brent (who I obviously underestimated by thinking he wasn't a very famous actor but he apparently is) are all billed above the title (that's because they're all better and more important than the f****** title [sorry, but I just had to say that]), and the impressive group of actors is featured in of Warners' most stunning visual "cast parades" before the action begins. William Keighley's depiction of the "Rainbow Division" opens at Camp Mills, New York, featuring fictionalized versions of real-life soldiers Father Duffy, "Wild Bill" Donovan (Brent), and Joyce Kilmer (Jeffrey Lynn), the poet best known for "Trees."

And since it's almost Christmas, I thought it'd be appropriate if I added that in one scene, during what seems to be Christmastime, the soldiers, except for Cagney, are in a church singing Christmas carols, and they sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" in Latin. Now I've studied some Latin but I've forgotten most of it, unfortunately. So I could only translate some of the lyrics they were singing. I didn't really watch the battle scenes because I thought they were too dramatic, especially the scene where Cagney gets wounded in a German bomb blast and later dies. I would recommend this film for any James Cagney fan who loves watching him in dramatic war films. Happy commenting!!
(Next blog: The Bride Came C.O.D [1941])

Clips from The Fighting 69th:

Boy Meets Girl (1938)

I just recently watched the 1938 James Cagney movie Boy Meets Girl for the first time, and it was kinda weird. James Cagney was crazy as Robert Law, a lazy screenwriter brought to Hollywood from Vermont and is partners with Carlisle Benson (Pat O'Brien). Pat O'Brien was also pretty crazy, but James Cagney was more flamboyant and therefore caught my attention. Since the two real-life best friends are both down-to-earth actors, it's hard imagining them playing such wild and eccentric guys. And the pregnant commissary waitress really does fit the dumb blonde stereotype. Another thing in this movie that caught my attention was that future US President Ronald Reagan (who was an actor in his pre-President days) played the announcer at the fictional movie premiere. The main thing I liked about this movie was how it went behind the scenes of movies, and being a film student, I like learning how films are made. Cagney also dances a little in this film but in a very cocky way.

Boy Meets Girl (1938) is a perfect example of why Warners' contract actors and directors were called The Warner Bros. Stock Company. The film marked James Cagney's eighth time working with director Lloyd Bacon (they would make nine movies total). It was also Pat O'Brien's eighth picture (out of ten) with Bacon. And for pals Cagney and O'Brien, Boy Meets Girl made for a fifth film collaboration the two would make nine movies together, including both stars' last feature Ragtime (1981). Also joining the group was Ralph Bellamy on his second film with both Cagney and Bacon. Because of their close working relationship, it's no wonder that Cagney, O'Brien and Bellamy became friends off-camera as well and eventually the three actors formed a social clique that also included Boy Meets Girl co-star Frank McHugh as well as Spencer Tracy and Frank Morgan; they met for dinner every Thursday and called themselves "The Boys Club."

As well as Ronald Reagan, several Warner newcomers are also showcased in Boy Meets Girl. Penny Singleton, who made a few films for Warners before moving to Columbia to star in the Blondie series, plays the manicurist (she was later the voice for Jane Jetson in the animated series, The Jetsons). And Carole Landis turns up as the commissary cashier. There's also Marie Wilson, who got her start in the Laurel and Hardy vehicle Babes in Toyland (1934), as Susie.

The role of Susie was originally intended for Marion Davies. There are several accounts as to why Davies, the longtime mistress of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, did not appear in the film. Some say Hearst objected to Davies playing Susie a pregnant (and husbandless) waitress. Others cite the timing of Hearst pulling his financially strapped Cosmopolitan Pictures off the Warners lot. While other accounts claim Davies was displeased with casting changes (the comedy team of Olsen & Johnson were originally to have played the screenwriting team portrayed by the less comedic Cagney and O'Brien) and by the size of her role. The part of Susie was reduced even further after Davies was replaced by Marie Wilson. Regardless of the reason, Davies never made another film. Ever Since Eve (1937) would stand as her Hollywood swansong.

Boy Meets Girl was based on the hit Broadway play by Sam and Bella Spewack. The characters played by Cagney and O'Brien on film were supposedly based on real life screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. And it's been suggested Bellamy's part as Studio Supervisor was based on Fox's Darryl Zanuck. Sam and Bella Spewack would go on to great success penning the screenplay for My Favorite Wife (1940) and the book for the musical Kiss Me Kate (for which they would also win the Tony Award), but the film version of Boy Meets Girl failed to live up to its stage popularity.

Cagney for one thought the film's pacing was too fast (and so did I). After screening rushes one day, he reportedly said to Bellamy, "would you tell me what I just said? I couldn't understand a word." (He was speaking what I thought while watching this movie.) It was evidently a moment in his career that Cagney never forgot. Cagney also brought up Boy Meets Girl twenty-three years later when tackling another comedy, One, Two, Three (1961). This time, director Billy Wilder put Cagney's fears to rest, assuring him the pacing wouldn't be too fast at the expense of dialogue. Funnily enough, Cagney apparently never saw Boy Meets Girl until years later on TV and he found it much better than he remembered.


Boy Meets Girl made good use of Warners sound stages, back lots and front offices, so it's an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the studio. Also, for an inside joke, check out the marquee behind Ronald Reagan at the film premiere. The film's title is The White Rajah. This was the name of a script penned by Errol Flynn years earlier which was deemed too weak to film. Lloyd Bacon came across the script while looking for a title for Boy Meets Girl's fictional film premiere. Flynn was reportedly not amused.

The first three-quarters of the film was like a painfully unfunny Simpsons episode, but the last quarter of the film got very exciting, like a very good ABC drama show, when the comedy and slapstick shenanigans calmed down. Indeed, the problem with Boy Meets Girl is the out-of-control, rapid-fire dialogue, much of which is untelligible (we all know that Cagney talked fast but this was just ridiculous). And some of the lines that are discernible are delivered in such an obnoxious manner (by both Cagney and O'Brien) that they are painful to the ear (I'll say)! The film is approximately one-quarter charm and three-quarters torture (no wonder I was so reluctant to watch it). Most of it resembles a Poverty Row production, rather than an A film released by a major studio (and it seemed pretty low for Warner Brothers plus it was more like a Marx Brothers film).

Following this embarrassing effort, Cagney and O'Brien would collaborate on their greatest Warner Bros. film as a team, Angels with Dirty Faces (which I'm pretty much sick of by now, no offense). This farce was something new for Cagney. According to the book "James Cagney: A Celebration" by Richard Schickel:

For Cagney, Boy Meets Girl represents a complete novelty. He had never before
played in a pure farce, but in this form he was as expert as he ever was on the
screen. The speech and precision of his speech pattern, the inventive no-waste
choreography of his movements are superbly calculated. And he makes a masterful
lead dancer for O'Brien, setting the tone and place for their intricate and
dizzying verbal exchanges--and their pratfalls--with his pal following with
perfect professionalism and adding a few neat improvisations of his own. But it
is the suggestion of cold reasonableness that Cagney brings to his performance
that is a revelation. In is way Robert Law--wonderfully ironic name--is as much
an anarchist as Tom Powers ever was. Perhaps so, since as a literate man he
would be familiar with that word, understan its meaning and its application to
his behavior. He may be, then, even less moral that the instinct-driven
gangster. Cagney conveys that self-conciousness, that air of the put-on--which
is not entirely dissimilar to what Groucho Marx used to imply in his
work--without ever choking off any of his laughs. [I love how he smiles, in a
happy, mischievous sort of way.]

I would & wouldn't recommend this farce for any James Cagney fan, but if any Cagney fan would love to see their idol in all of his movies, then this is the film for them. After all, it is a far cry from his normal roles, which is what I like about it. Personally, this was one of Cagney's 1930s films that I wasn't so crazy about seeing, but since I'm so interested in seeing all of his '30s movies (and seeing the cute, baby face he had during this period), I saw this movie anyway, just like I intend to see The Frisco Kid, Winner Take All, etc. (And keep your shirts on: I will see White Heat.) Happy Commenting!!!

(Next blog [for sure]: The Fighting 69th [1940])

Clips from Boy Meets Girl: