He Was Her Man

I seem to like this film more than most, maybe because of the difference in tone it presents to the usual gangster fare. It's nice to see Joan Blondell in a more subdued role, and she pulls it off well, knowing her past taints her, off to marry an immigrant fisherman (Victor Jory) who will accept her anyway, but finding herself drawn to Cagney. It's nice to see the gravitas in her 'serious face'. Cagney is in the role of a safe cracker who has double-crossed some guys and is on the run, not knowing that he's being closely tracked. Innocent to all of this is the family they're staying with, who lead simple but happy lives, and who look forward to their son's marriage to Blondell. I have to say, the mom (Sarah Padden) is a joy to watch as Cagney ingratiates himself to her.

Cagney and Blondell are more low-key than their usual screen personas, and this is not movie with a lot of action, but there is real tension in both the story lines – whether Blondell will go forward with her wedding, and whether Cagney will survive. The depth of their feelings does come out in more than one tender scene, and in fact, all three of them – Blondell, Cagney, and Jory – are altruistic, adding a sweetness to the movie. It seems some are unhappy with the ending as well, but I thought it was quite good (and side note, wow on the glimpse we get of the low-cut dress). I also liked how it was shot on location in Monterey, California. Underrated and enjoyable to watch.

A young San Francisco woman, who's lived rough, is torn between the Portuguese fisherman she admires & the petty criminal she adores.

HE WAS HER MAN is a particularly good example of the sort of crime drama which Warner Bros. did so well in the early 1930's. Intelligent romantic dialogue and gentle humor, in addition to some very fine performances, are all ingredients which make this film a solid success - even though it is nearly forgotten now. This picture was produced just before the implementation of the Production Code and the climax, while completely appropriate, will surprise some viewers.

Jimmy Cagney is entirely irrepressible, strutting through each scene like a banty rooster, shouting attention to himself without ever having to raise his voice. As a fellow on the lam from vicious mobsters who want him dead, Cagney plays a character not in control of his own circumstances - a rarity for him, which makes him at once more vulnerable and more human. Joan Blondell nicely underplays her part as the tough luck lady he befriends, avoiding any of the sass & sizzle from her comedic films which would be out of place here.

At the other end of the spectrum from the grim roles with which he would become associated, Victor Jory is excellent as the quiet, decent fisherman who deeply loves Blondell. His performance is one of the major assets of the film.

Bradley Page, Russell Hopton, Harold Huber & Ralf Harolde play various Manhattan crooks & killers, with Frank Craven especially good as a genial, albeit sinister, shadow. Solid support is given by Sarah Padden as Jory's exuberant old-world mother & John Qualen as the local delivery man.

Outdoor location shooting took place around Monterey, California. While the film's setting, the seaside village of Santa Avila, is completely fictional, the Monterey Bay area has long enjoyed a strong Portuguese contingent as part of its fishing industry.

HE WAS HER MAN (Warner Brothers, 1934), directed by Lloyd Bacon, in spite of its torch song sounding title for a musical film, is actually an offbeat melodrama starring James Cagney (with mustache) and Joan Blondell for the seventh and final time on screen. With Cagney naturally playing a vengeful tough guy with good qualities, it's Blondell, usually bright eyed and sassy, going against type as one of the most saddest characters ever portrayed. Often classified as their weakest collaboration, the Cagney and Blondell pairing still contains their usual star chemistry mainly because they're two of a kind.

The plot gets underway at a Manhattan Turkish Bath where "Flicker" Hayes (James Cagney), a professional safe-cracker just released from prison, makes negotiations with crooks, Dan Curly (Bradley Page) and Frank "Red" Derring (Ralf Harolde) for their latest job. Because they're the ones responsible for sending him up, Flicker pulls a double-cross by notifying the chief of police (Willard Robertson) about the upcoming robbery that's to take place at the warehouse of the Empire Wholesale Drug Company. Caught in the act, Hayes makes his escape out the window as Curly is killed in a shoot-out with the law and Derring arrested for the killing of Patrolman Arthur Murphy. Because Derring was sentenced and executed for the crime, Curly hires fellow mobsters Ward (Harold Huber) and Monk (Russell Hopton) to get Flicker. In San Francisco, "Pop" Sims (Frank Craven), an informer for the mob, spots Flicker, now going under an assumed name of Jerry Allen, registered at the hotel, and notifies Curly of his whereabouts and instructions. Seeking refuge in Room 419, "Jerry" comes across a woman named Rose Lawrence (Joan Blondell) entering his room with the hotel key to retrieve a wedding dress she had hidden under the mattress before her eviction for lack of money to pay her bill. Because Rose is desperately broke and hungry, Jerry supplies her with food and assistance. Told of her upcoming wedding to Nick Gardella (Victor Jory), a man she met through a bellboy while boarding at the hotel, Jerry accompanies her by bus to an obscure fishing village in Santa Avila, unaware that he's being followed by Sims. Once there, Rose finds her love towards Jerry getting stronger and decides on going away with him after telling Nick that she can't go through with the wedding. Realizing both his gun and Pop, going under the assumed name of Jim Parker, have both disappeared, Jerry decides to leave town without telling Rose. He heads on over to the bus station the very same moment Ward and Monk arrive at Rose's bunk house asking about Jerry's whereabouts, with intentions on doing her harm if they don't get the information they want.

Taken from a story by Robert Lord, HE WAS HER MAN lacks the general humor and excitement commonly found in many Cagney films thus far. No doubt this was an attempt in trying something more dramatic and entirely different for its leading stars, even to a point of lifting that memorable love theme from the 1932 success of ONE WAY PASSAGE (Warners) starring William Powell and Kay Francis. For being a Cagney film, Blondell is the one who gets full attention this time around. Although not clearly indicated, her character is that of a former prostitute who's fallen to hard times, using a kind-hearted fisherman for financial support. Her performance might have lead to stronger parts in latter films, but really didn't, for now anyway. She then returned to her usual sassy comedies the public loved so well. Co-star Victor Jory, best known for his villainous types, is unusually cast or miscast as an understanding Italian accented fisherman, a role that might have best suited that of a J. Carroll Naish whose Italian dialect would appear more natural than Jory's. Also in support are Sarah Padden as Jory's mother; George Chandler and James Eagles. John Qualen, who specializes in playing Swedish characters, is laughable here with buck teeth that appears to have been borrowed or stolen from a rabbit.

Being the least known and overlooked of the Cagney and Blondell collaborations shouldn't be the reason to avoid viewing HE WAS HER MAN whenever it turns up on Turner Classic Movies. Often classified as one that was never be sold to commercial television might be true to some degree. Not counting other states that televised classic movies on the late show, HE WAS HER MAN did get a rare television broadcast in 1974 as part of the afternoon movie on Philadelphia's own WPHL, Channel 17, a home of obscure and famous Warner Brother films prior to 1975. Over a decade later, HE WAS HER MAN turned up on a public television's WNJM, Channel 50, in Montclair, New Jersey, around 1989-90, before becoming one of several Ted Turner cable channels in later years. Regardless of slow pacing and certain scenes to leave viewers wondering than satisfied, it's the agreeable combination of Cagney and Blondell that makes this 70 minute production worth while. (**1/2)

Although James Cagney once again appears as a disreputable underworld figure, there is in this portrayal no strutting, twitching, snapping, or pushing people around. As a double-crosser on the run from his former cohorts, he maintains an extremely low profile - yet the menace he represents surfaces in a smirk here, a sly smile there, a barely poised but ever watchful presence with the potential for violence - perhaps the quietest Cagney criminal you will ever see.

Joan Blondell also plays a familiar type, the down-on-her-luck girl who will trade her charms for money, but here, too, the approach to the part is much more subdued than what we find in her wisecracking gold-digger roles. World-weary, somber, reflective, resigned: there is no contradiction in her projecting a streetwise yet vulnerable woman who, though still young, has seen too much of life.

If the two stars don't exactly set off sparks (as each did playing opposite others), they give solid, honest performances - as does Victor Jory in a key supporting role. This film does not deserve to be forgotten.

Something is missing from this film, and that something is the electricity that Blondell and Cagney had in all of their joint projects up to this time, the beginning of the enforcement of the production code.

James Cagney plays a Flicker Hayes, a safe-cracker who turns in his old gang to the police after they recruit him for a new job right after he gets out of prison. You see, Flicker knows his gang let him take the rap alone and he's looking for payback. However, before he turns them in he takes a large pre-payment from them in cash for the upcoming job which he knows will never happen. Flicker is now on the run as the members of the gang that did not get arrested have a hit out on him. While in San Francisco he runs into Rose Lawrence (Joan Blondell), a penniless woman on her way to marry a fisherman. Cagney has both romantic interest in and sympathy for Rose right from the start. He feeds her then escorts her and pays her way to the town where her fiancé is waiting. The most confusing part of the story is - why would Nick the fisherman decide to marry a prostitute he barely knows (that is the insinuation of what Rose's profession was) then - knowing she is penniless, leave her to find her own way to him? This part of the story probably had some aspect that caused it to be left on the cutting room floor thanks to the censors.

Once at Nick's house, both Flicker and Rose have trouble keeping both their pasts and their passions at bay. Plus a mysterious rancher shows up who wants to do some recreational fishing and also winds up a guest at Nick's house - there is no hotel in the small town.

Although the film is worth a look, don't look for the smart remarks and innuendos that previous Cagney/Blondell films are filled with. The hard edges of their past precodes are as hidden as Cagney's upper lip is under the odd mustache he sports throughout this film.