Opiniones de usuarios

A delightful example of 1930's comedy, with James Cagney on fire as a tough and uncultured geneologist-scam artist who matches wits with an assortment of shady types in pursuit of a dead rich woman's fortune.

The dialogue is snappy and frequently laugh-out loud, the supporting cast led by Bette Davis is fine, and James Cagney is particularly hilarious in his portrayal.

One of the subplots involves Cagney's attempts to learn a little class with which to impress his love/nemesis Davis, and there is a sustained scene of hijinks concerning this that will have you laughing and commending Cagney's acting at the same time. All I can say is that I will never look at tea the same way again!

Finally, this movie is worth seeing just because it was directed by the great Michael Curtiz. This was the first time Curtiz was entrusted with a really major film project, and he makes the most of it. Of course, Curtiz would later direct Cagney in arguably his greatest role, that of Rocky in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938). Curtiz also directed such classics as Casablanca (1942), Captain Blood (1935), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Wolf (1941), The Sea Hawk (1940), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942 - which won James Cagney an Oscar) and many many other great films.

Between Curtiz, Cagney, Davis, and the rest, there is a lot to like about this movie. It's not Heavy Drama, but if you like the kinds of witty and lighthearted comedies that flourished in Hollywood during the 1930's, you will enjoy this example.

Jimmy Corrigan is an unpolished, unmannered, unscrupulous con man specializing in finding bogus claimants for the unclaimed fortunes of wealthy people who die without an heir. Charles Wallingham, his chief rival, has stolen away his "Girl Friday," Joan Marsh, with whom Corrigan is still smitten.

When he goes to Wallington's office to try to win her back, he is struck by its contrast to his own organizational style. Instead of the herd of crude and ugly "mugs" he has working for him, Wallingham's operation boasts a gaggle of beautiful, well-mannered, cultured secretarial hostesses who serve clients tea and crumpets with friendly smiles. Unlike Corrigan, Wallingham is well-dressed, cultured, and erudite. In order to try to win back Joan, as well as improve his operation, Jimmy decides to transform himself into a "gent."

Cagney and Davis are in top form in this early example of the new screen genre that would be soon known as 'Screwball Comedy." Cagney draws upon all the vocabulary in his unique body language: his arching back and idiosyncratic walk, to great comedic advantage, and there are smaller examples of the Davis mannerisms that would later inspire impressionists for decades. Both Cagney and Davis had a great affinity for fast-paced dialog, and this 1934 effort contains a similar premise to "His Girl Friday," the high water mark of the genre, as an unprincipled con-man tries to woo back his business partner/girl friend.

It's interesting that the two stars' only other collaboration would be eight years later in "The Bride Came C.O.D.," another fast-paced Screwball Comedy. Too bad they didn't make more together. They could have been Warners' answer to MGM's William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Con man Jimmy Corrigan (James Cagney) runs an agency that finds heirs of those who died without a will and he's not above providing phony heirs in order to collect his fee. His girlfriend (Bette Davis) didn't approve of his underhanded techniques so she left him to go work for his supposedly honest and respectable competitor. In order to win her back, Jimmy tries to prove he can go straight and become a respectable gentleman.

Cagney and Davis are both enjoyable in this snappy comedy, each getting plenty of good lines. Cagney, with his bow-tie, crew cut, and nasal accent, is different than most other pictures I've seen him in from this period. Another fine example of what an underrated actor he was, even doing these WB programmers. They're backed up by a fine supporting cast including Allen Jenkins, Arthur Hohl, and Alan Dinehart. A fun one for fans of Jimmy and Bette.

This pre-code film starring James Cagney has him playing Jimmy Corrigan who is a private detective specializing in finding heirs to large fortunes. He's in competition with Alan Dinehart who calls himself a "geneologist" and has just about the same set of ethics Cagney has. The only difference is Cagney lacks the polish of Dinehart and is less a hypocrite.

Now no one ever confused James Cagney with Ronald Colman on the screen and I daresay they probably were never up for the same parts, but Cagney dumbs it down to Leo Gorcey levels in order to contrast himself with Dinehart. It's effective though.

What makes this film special is that the leading lady is Bette Davis who was a year away from finally getting Jack Warner to give her a role with substance in Of Human Bondage. Speaking of class, you can see that Ms. Davis has it in abundance and that she wasn't going to be held down with supportive leading lady roles. Later on Cagney and Davis were given The Bride Came COD when both were big box office names.

Cagney is quite the operator here and I won't tell you exactly what he does, he does bend our legal system over backwards though. And if he's not exactly reformed, he does learn the difference between class and manners.

Cagney was tired of playing mugs by this point in his career, but he played this one comically.(Humor is a Cagney trait in any of his roles.) He intentionally had the studio barber put bottle scars on his head just to annoy Hal B. Wallis!!! Ya gotta love that. His attitude towards Warner's was getting worse,understand? He could play a thug like DaVinci could draw a dame named Mona. But in spite of his frustrations with the studio,I personally view this as one of his most memorable performances of the 30s!!

Jimmy the Gent (1934)

As an old-film lover, I'm going to have to disagree with the majority of reviewers here and say this film is too flawed and formulaic to rise above its peers. Even its star, James Cagney, is a bit rote and predictable, taking on a harsh edge that prevents any depth to his supposedly complicated character. The other star is in retrospect—this is an early Bette Davis appearance, and she's wonderful to see so unformed, but she, too, is playing a common role.

All is not disaster here, for sure. The pace is terrific, and turns of plot, which are a problem overall in their quick succession, keep you on your toes. There are stock characters in secondary roles who will be familiar to early Warner Bros. fans, and the filming is generally solid, if bright and a bit dull, too.

Yes, there are hesitations at every turn. Director Michael Curtiz has been cranking out films by the dozen for Hollywood by now, after emigrating from Europe, and many of those are frankly better and worth seeking out. But he's a long way from the mastery of "Casablanca" or "Mildred Pierce," as a director above all.

The story here seems workable—Cagney and Davis play characters who scheme a complicated scam involving a huge inheritance. The twists are basically a farce because there are so many and they happen without warning. In fact, I think the style of the film is to have everything just "happen" in a madcap way, and the audience is to be dazzled and impressed by the audacity of the writers. But there is a little sense of involvement that would help very much, a wanting the characters to win or lose at their efforts. One example is how two court cases are reduced to a single sentence each: the judges reading their conclusion.

That seems dandy in a way, a hugely streamlined plot. But it defines superficial, too. In these two cases, there is time spent watching the courtroom crowd reacting to the news, but we don't really care about that. We aren't made to care.

Not that this should be a drama, of course. It's a comedy plain and simple. And a slip of romance sneaks in as our two leads brush past each other now and then. All of it is interesting, and it's never quite boring. But for a fast pre-Code or early Code era movie, there are many examples that are fast, funny, and engrossing and inventive, too. Expect only the effects here.

Aesthetically speaking, this is a pretty average Jimmy Cagney film. It stars Cagney as the pretty typical fast-talking but likable schemer and Bette Davis in a rather forgettable role she probably detested. Miss Davis reportedly liked Cagney but longed for roles where she was more than just "the girlfriend". In this film she is slightly more, as she's bright and pretty assertive, but once again it was the type of role that would neither hurt nor help her career to get to the next level. She was quite good in the film, but indications of her future greatness just aren't all that obvious.

However, despite the film's averageness and Miss Davis' limited character and the film only earning a 6, I actually enjoyed the film quite a bit. It's exactly the type of formulaic Warner Brothers film I enjoy and I try to see every Cagney, Pat O'Brien or Edward G. Robinson film of this era I can find because they are just a lot of fun to watch. Yes, they are rather predictable, but somehow Warner still made the characters likable and compelling. In this case, Cagney plays his typical guy skirting the edges of larceny in the form of a guy running a company that seeks out lost relatives to inherit fortunes. I also thought that juxtaposing this unsophisticated lout of a character with the classy charmer who is wooing Bette was an excellent move--particularly in how this played out in the end.

A typical Cangey film with some very unusual plot elements and twists, this movie is just plain fun.

This is slightly superior to Blonde Crazy in that the stars have been given slightly livelier dialogue and that Bette Davis glows as a wise-ass blonde rather than Joan Blondell's put-upon blonde. Both are great, but some of the rip offs in this film are truly great and Allen Jenkins adds ten points to any film he's in. These golden age films have the writers that current day movies lack. No one steams anymore unfortunately. Cagney is a cock rooster and the world's a better place for seeing him go through his paces. I hope dvd brings all these movies back.

If that haircut is to make you think that 'Jimmy' is a bit of a thug, it certainly works. His character in this is not easy to like but if Mr Cagney puts his mind to it, he could make anyone endearing which is exactly what he does here.

Getting someone to invest their emotions in somebody who on the surface seems unlikeable always creates a stronger bond and is a very clever trick employed in this. If you start off disliking someone but then flip your opinion 180 degrees you personally have made a conscious commitment to that decision and because whatever we think we believe is right, that bond, that empathy will be stronger. If there's something in a person you think you can see which nobody else can is why they say 'opposites attract.'

You might recognize the plane crash at the start - it's from that Douglas Fairbanks picture made the previous year, PARACHUTE JUMPER. That incidentally, like this one also has Miss Misery-guts in it - did that woman ever smile? Although a curious choice for a light-hearted bit of fluff like this, she's the female lead and is predictably completely credible. She doesn't add much fun though.

She plays his business rival running a similar but much better organized company finding homes for unclaimed fortunes - for a healthy cut of course. On paper however she is not his actual rival; she's actually just an employee of a complete slime ball who fronts that other firm. As this film progresses you realize that it's the Bette Davis character who is the only intelligent, competent and honest one who can do this job. Only she knows how the business really works, only she can sort everything out and make sure the right thing is done and only she can see that one man is a slime-ball and the other one it's her pet project to reform. So, although this is a comedy it does put across quite a strong feminist message, especially for 1934!

Probably the least feminist aspect of this film however is the best reason to watch it - Alice White. Since her monumental fall from grace a few years earlier, Alice White, the archetypical flapper-girl and the cutest, sexiest girl in the whole world, who for just a couple of years was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood was now just getting a few bit parts every year. For her millions of fans (well there should be!) it's a little sad to see her now (if you can call 1934 now) as just as comedy relief playing the ultimate dizzy dumb blonde (as I said, not quite hitting the feminist angle as well as Bette Davis) but she is brilliant in that role also you can't help but fall a little in love with her even though she's only on screen for about ten minutes.

The best reason to see "Jimmy the Gent" is for the attractive young Bette Davis. Jimmy Cagney's loud persona of the tough guy from the streets was in full mode by the time of this film, and he would carry that most of his career. It worked for the shoot-em-up gangster films for which he was best known. But it doesn't go over very well in comedies. Which is probably why he wasn't cast in more than a couple such films.

Cagney mellowed by the time of his last few films in the 1960s and thereafter. So, he was very good as Bull Halsey in "The Gallant Hours." And, in the Soviet satire, "One, Two, Three," he was good with his frantic movements without the overboard shouting and street tough guy.

On the other hand, Bette Davis was fast building her star status in many films in these first years of her career. She showed her talent and versatility in a variety of roles and films - including comedy. Her Joan Martin comes across as a lively, sharp, and interesting young woman capable of handling the likes of Jimmy.

While the plot may not be hot for this film, the story and screenplay are worse. The idea was okay, but this film just didn't have all the right stuff to make it work - starting with a sharp script. What little comedy it has is mostly flattened by the overly boisterous Cagney character, Jimmy Corrigan.

The rest of the cast are so-so, but Allen Jenkins deserves credit for playing Louie and having to bear the brunt of Jimmy's outbursts and temper tantrums.

It's too bad that Cagney was so sold on his tough guy image, because he had considerable talent as a song and dance man and actor. Audiences got a couple of glimpses of what he could do in "The West Point Story" of 1950 and "Come Fill the Cup" of 1951,

Unless one is a particular fan of Davis or Cagney, this film probably won't be very entertaining.

I have seen this unforgettable movie but once - on television - and have been trying to find a copy to buy ever since.

Such a splendid cast, with James Cagney as (cocky) 'Jimmy' Corrigan, Bette Davis as (classy) Miss Joan Martin, Allen Jenkins as (tough guy) Lou, Alan Dinehart as (smarmy) Charles Wallingham, and Alice White as (lovely) Miss Mabel

What delightful dialog. For instance, ordered to show a little class by Jimmy in his attempt to impress Miss Martin, a lady receptionist answered his phone by asking, "To whom do you wish to speak?" and then promptly blowing it with, "He ain't in."

James Cagney's menacing but humorous persona verily glowed in this movie. The mold was broken when Jimmy Cagney departed.

Have always had a thing for seeing films that have great casts or actors/actresses etc. that do a lot for me. That is yet another case of too many to count and list with 'Jimmy the Gent'. Love Bette Davis (i.e. 'All About Eve'), even when she featured in films that were not worthy of her, and James Cagney was great in 'White Heat' and 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'. Michael Curtiz directed two of my favourite films 'Casablanca' and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'.

'Jimmy the Gent' is certainly worth the watch and definitely recommended, it is entertaining, well made and played with professionalism by people that clearly knew what they were doing and cared. Davis and Cagney did both do better though, in terms of both films and performances, and the same goes for Curtiz and his direction, particularly the above cited films on all counts. So to me it is not one of those must-see films. A longer length would have helped and if it tried to do a little bit less.

While not lavish, not that it needed to be, 'Jimmy the Gent' is well photographed with the right amount of gritty yet never cheap atmosphere. The music may not stay embedded in the brain a long time after, but it is a good match for the story's tone and at least appeals to the ears. It is breezily directed by Curtiz, while the script crackles amusingly and at its best hilariously.

The story has some fun twists and turns, is taut enough and is never dull. Cagney is in a role that plays to his strengths and gives a performance full of energy and that is entertainingly larger than life. Davis' character is not as interesting but she is charming and sassy, making the most of her role. The supporting cast are fine too, Allen Jenkins contrasting endearingly with Cagney.

On the other hand, there are times where the pace was a little hectic and the story over-stuffed. A longer length again would have helped.

Just over an hour felt far too short and with little time to go into more depth. Something that was missing here, giving the film a little emotional blandness.

Concluding, fun film if not great. 7/10

What does it say about the Depression that films from this era so often had scenarios where one could get rich quick, and in some highly improbable way? Maybe it's like the lotto fantasy of today's world of wealth disparity, and the more we see these types of schemes, the bigger underlying problem we have. Anyway. In this one, the premise is a pair of rival companies of 'genealogists' who take advantage of cases where a rich person dies suddenly and without a will, finding their heirs for a cut or producing phony ones. Rich people die without wills all the time right?

James Cagney plays the leader of one of the firms, and Alan Dinehart the other. Bette Davis is Dinehart's main assistant, having worked for Cagney before and leaving him for a lack of ethics. He protests, saying that all businessmen are crooked, and that "there's only two kinds of guys in business - those who get caught and those who don't!" It's a cynical view, but perhaps justified, especially in times when unchecked capitalism and corporate greed lets us down. Regardless, the two are an interesting contrast; Cagney is coarse and slaps his assistant (Allen Jenkins) around, whereas Dinehart is refined and serves proper English tea in the office. The premise is silly, but the way Cagney plays his con is clever. It involves a character played by Alice White and I was happy to see her, but it's unfortunate she was so ditzy. Bette Davis is sharp and engaging though, and more than makes up for this, and at the end of the day, there is more than enough charm in seeing her and Cagney in this minor film of theirs to make it interesting.

This very fun film starring James Cagney and Bette Davis really had me wondering about the person behind Ms. Davis' dialogue. I'll get to that later.

Cagney plays Corrigan, a so-called "genealogist" who is in reality a con man. Of course he looks and acts like one, too. He and his group, which includes Allen Jenkins, try to bilk people out of their inheritances.

Across the way is Wallingham (Alan Dinehart). He's a genealogist, too, in a very fancy office. He's immaculately dressed, and an immaculate, formal staff go from person to person offering them tea and magazines.

As one can imagine, when Jimmy visits the office, he's impressed and wants an office just like that. His old secretary, Joan (Davis) works there now, but for ten months she worked for Corrigan. She thinks Wallingham has ethics.

The plot concerns a woman found dead from poisoning. Homeless and hungry, she ate a partially eaten hamburger bun out of garbage but had no way of knowing the original recipient had been poisoned with it.

Everyone laments her fate until they get a load of her coat. It is double-lined with bonds, jewels, gold, and the key to a safe deposit box. Wallingham doesn't know he has a mole in his office (Phillip Reed), who tips off Corrigan, and the race is on.

Corrigan moves into new digs and starts dressing better to impress Joan, and he comes up with a honey of a scheme to retrieve this money from the woman's daughter, who is sure her mother's husband is dead.

Very funny plot filled with twists and turns, and the film has great direction by Michael Curtiz. It moves like lightening. The dialogue is very funny.

Cagney is not just a con artist - he plays it like he's really from the slums, which makes the difference between him and Dinehart even funnier. Also I swear he never stopped talking for the entire film.

Davis is still, in 1934, moping along in these ordinary parts, wearing the blonde hair of the day and probably wondering when someone would give her a role to show off her talents. It happened soon after.

Now for the dialogue. I started to wonder if someone was slipping incongruous lines into Davis' scripts. In Cabin in the Cotton, Davis utters one of the most baffling lines in film history, and actually she used it to close her interview with John Springer that toured the country: "I'd kiss you, but I just washed my hair."

In Jimmy the Gent, her current boss, Wallingham, leans in for a kiss. Davis looks at him as if he's under a microscope and says, "I need a haircut."

I wondered if this hair business had any significance in the early '30s. One of life's mysteries.

This flick was indeed a lighthearted fun romp. The "playing the dozens-esque" lines between the various characters are as priceless as a Walton family inheritance. The Fight of the Night honors goes to Davis and Cagney. Their sparring was as precious as a mother's love ... mmm ...well almost.

I can't wait for the next time someone tells me that they're thinking about me.

I loved this amazing movie. I can't believe the amount of plot and dialogue weaved into 67 minutes by Cagney and Curtiz.

Cagney just does not shut up, thankfully. He is brilliant. The idea that he was a shady geneologist who goes semi-straight and that Bette Davis was his foil was interesting. Lots of lauggh out loud scenes in this movie.

I like James Cagney and I like Bette Davis, but could the two of them do a good movie together?

The short answer is yes.

"Jimmy the Gent" isn't either of their best work, but it was satisfactory. James Cagney played James 'Jimmy' Corrigan. The title on his office door was genealogist, but what he did wasn't as respectable as the title. He tracked down missing heirs to fortunes for a hefty commission of course. He used any and every tactic at his disposal. His main man was Louie (Allen Jenkins). Louie wasn't the most competent, but he was loyal and he tolerated Jimmy's abuse. Jimmy wouldn't be able to find anyone else like Louie.

Joan Martin (Bette Davis) worked as a secretary for a genealogist named Charles Wallingham (Alan Dinehart). Charles was classy, sophisticated, and seemingly more "ethical," which is why Joan left Jimmy to work for Charles.

The movie was essentially both genealogists trying to get more business than the other with Joan in the middle as the moral compass. It was typical Cagney: rough, abusive, and fast-talking. Davis, for her part, was a bit inconsequential. She could've been Joan Blondell, Ruth Chatterton, or Constance Cummings.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

.. and all of those memorable Warner Brothers contract players. In this fast-paced, cynical comedy from Warner Brothers and director Michael Curtiz, Jimmy Corrigan (James Cagney) runs a shady operation that sets up phony heirs to collect the fortunes of deceased people who left no legitimate beneficiaries. This brings him into conflict with another firm headed by the suave Wallingham (Alan Dinehart), and particularly with Wallingham's secretary Joan (Bette Davis), who disapproves of Jimmy's modus operandi. Both firms set about trying to outwit one another for the latest big money case.

Cagney is terrific here, with his hair shaved at the sides, and his suits looking a size too small, both accentuating his machine-gun line delivery and coiled-spring body language. Davis is still in her "cute" period, although her pencil eyebrows are a bit too much. The stars have great chemistry together, even if neither one wanted to make the movie, and Davis was so furious over Cagney's haircut that she refused to do publicity photos with him! The supporting cast of familiar faces is good, and the script, by Bertram Millhauser, has a lot of great lines. The stars' dismissal of the project as low fluff is accurate to a degree, but it's very well done fluff, and an enjoyable diversion.

Production note: That ugly scar on Cagney's head that you see through his buzz cut was painted on intentionally at Cagney's direction just to annoy the suits at Warner Brothers. He was tired of playing the same character repeatedly and reportedly said: "If they want a mug, I'll give them a mug".

This 67 minute film, now out on DVD, is well worth your time and money. Just don't ask Jimmy to help you to collect your estate -- or to arrange your marriage. 'Jimmy the Gent' includes just about everyone in the Warner Bros. stock company, and you can guess that it's a pre-Code film near the beginning. After Allen Jenkins walks in, receptionist Renee Whitney curtly asks him, "Where ya been?" He replies, enthusiastically, "I've been out, lookin' up an heiress."

Bette Davis, still a starlet, shows up at about 9:50, with the 1/2-inch long false eyelashes that she sports in the film. She and Cagney spar(k) well together, and Alan Dinehart is the appropriate third side of the triangle. Besides the 47 actors listed in the cast, that looks and sounds like Leonard Mudie (or his identical twin brother) as the steamship line's ticket agent near the end. And check out the newspapers at the beginning. Evidently the first sportsman died within a day or so of the Copper King, because the same soon-to-be-famous track star is mentioned in the same article on the first page.

Fun little number that deserves more recognition. Cagney-Davis charisma sparkles!

"Jimmy the Gent" was the first teaming of James Cagney and Bette Davis. The film is what is known as a "screwball comedy" but the plot is a bit contrived and weak. The running time is only 67 minutes but it felt longer. Michael Curtiz made far better films than "Jimmy the Gent" but still he does a good job of the direction. The leads are absolute dynamite though. You get two actors who rival each other in terms of screen presence. They light up the screen during their confrontations. You can feel the tension as neither character will back down from the other. The script leaves a lot to be desired at times, Cagney and Davis being worth far more.