The St. Louis Kid

In practically every Jimmy Cagney film of the early through mid 1930s, he plays a fast-talking lovable jerk. However, in this film, he is so obnoxious and so pugnacious that the character actually crosses an invisible line for me--to being unlikable and even ridiculous. This is saying a lot because I generally love Cagney films and will put up with a lot from his loud-mouthed characters! In this case, he plays a guy that seems to be in court ALL THE TIME for assault. His character makes Mike Tyson's out of the ring behaviors seem restrained--he's that quick to fight. In fact, in the first half hour, he goes from one jail to another in the space of a day--he's that out of control. As a result, I kept thinking to myself that sooner or later, this character MUST be sent to prison for "hard time" instead of bouncing in and out of jail again and again. Plus, even if he never got sent away for a long stretch in prison, he should be in debt for the next 600 years due to his getting fined almost every day for fighting.

All this fighting just defies common sense--as does his behaviors when trying to woo the lady who hates his guts. He's in jail in a small town and he waits until the jailer falls asleep and lets himself out of jail so he can stalk and annoy her! And, naturally being a Hollywood film, he DOES charm the lady with his relentless and obnoxious ways! This pushiness is NOT vintage Cagney, but once again a super-obnoxious and ridiculous character--the guy once again crosses the line.

The rest of the film does get better once you get to the final third, but by then I was so irritated with this film (in particular Cagney's character), that I just wanted it all to end. This has to be among the worst Cagney films I have seen despite the improvement towards the end.

"The St. Louis Kid" was just another routine "Warner Bros" film for James Cagney. By the time of this film's release in 1934, working relations between Cagney and the studio were becoming more strained. It wouldn't be long before Cagney filed his lawsuit against "Warner Bros." The story of the above film is about as simple as it gets. Cagney plays a trucker who takes on a rival trucking firm after they plan a hostile takeover. Real life friend and regular studio player, Allen Jenkins is on hand as the rather dumb sidekick. Patricia Ellis is a capable leading lady after she did well opposite Cagney in "The Picture Snatcher." The fans wanted to see our hero scrap with the villains and charm the ladies. We get plenty of both.

By the time the St. Louis Kid was made Warner Brothers had gotten the James Cagney persona fixed in the mind of the movie going public. The cocky wiseacre working class hero in perpetual motion who always gets what he's after, be it money, power or a girl.

Here it's a girl, but he also gets himself mixed up in a labor dispute between dairy farmers and the trucking company that ships their product in between St. Louis and Chicago. In those early years of the New Deal labor disputes were a pretty hot topic in the newsreels.

Robert Barrat, a leader of the farmers, is killed by one of the goons hired by Cagney's trucking company and the cops think Cagney did it. Patricia Ellis, the girl Cagney's been courting, witnessed the murder so the goons have snatched her.

Will the ever resourceful James Cagney will find a way to set all this right? You have to see the film to see if and how.

Cagney has Allen Jenkins along acting as Pancho to his Cisco Kid. Jenkins is funny, but you know Cagney only keeps him around for his amusement value. The plot calls for the pair to spend some time in the jail of the local town constable played by Spencer Charters who is also a dim bulb.

Fast paced {is their any other kind of Cagney film} action makes the 67 minute running time go by real fast. St. Louis Kid is very typical of the stuff Warner Brothers would continue to give Cagney throughout his years with them.

St. Louis Kid, The (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Exciting Warner Bros. "ripped from the headlines" film has James Cagney playing a truck driver who gets involved in a battle between farmers and the businessmen who aren't paying enough for milk. This is a fast, fun and action packed film, which is what audiences expected from a Cagney film. Cagney is very good in the role of the fast talking, quick to throw punches truck driver and the supporting cast helps him well.

Jimmy the Gent (1934)

** (out of 4)

A crooked businessman (James Cagney) pretends to go straight to win back his ex (Bette Davis). Considering the two leads and director Michael Curtiz, this was a major disappointment that really didn't work on any level. The only real reason to watch this is the performance from Cagney as well as his shaved head. Davis is very boring throughout and really brings down the film because she has no chemistry with Cagney.

Tough guy eddie kennedy and his sidekick buck are a truck driver team. They run into trouble in a little country town when they cross the local big shot. But eddie does hit it off with the cute owner of the local diner. And gets caught up in a battle between the local farmers and the big boss. Cagney already had his quick, new york city mobster accent, yeah, see? He and the nasal allen jenkins had been in hollywood for a couple years. Milton kibbee, one of the kibbee brothers, is in here as the supervisor. Pretty good script ! Some pretty dated references, like when two local girls sit at buck's table and ask for the expenseive champagne cocktails, and he yells "two beers!" to the bartender. Beer would be much cheaper, as prohibition had just been repealed when this was being shown in theaters. A whole lot of story stuffed into this warner brothers tale of 67 minutes. Directed by ray enright. Pat ellis died so young at 53. And cagney would get his oscar for yankee doodle about ten years after this film. It's pretty good. Very entertaining. A snapshot of the times.