Lady Killer

New York criminal (James Cagney) takes it on the lam and winds up in Hollywood. There he gets a job working in movies, first in bit parts and eventually as a leading man. But when his old gang hears about his newfound success, they come knocking on his door and risk ruining everything for him.

I hesitate to call this a gangster picture like everybody else seems to be doing. Cagney's character starts out the movie joining a gang but it's a gang of confidence men. Then they graduate to robbing houses before someone is shot and they have to leave town. These aren't racketeers or guys shooting it out with tommy guns. So, in my view, they're criminals for sure but not what I would call gangsters. Not that it matters much in the end. This movie reunites Cagney with his Public Enemy costars Mae Clarke and Leslie Fenton. Clarke is a treat to watch and has great chemistry with Cagney. Lovely Margaret Lindsay plays the movie star Cagney falls for. I'm a fan of hers so of course I enjoyed her in this. Highlights include Cagney dragging Clarke out of his room by her hair and Cagney forcing a movie critic to eat his own review. A fun crime comedy from Warner Bros. with another great Cagney role.

For anyone who enjoys James Cagney, this is a must-see. Yes, it's early in his career, but it's vintage Cagney: cocky, quick-tempered but humorous and likable as always. I am excited to see it finally coming out on DVD in March of 2008.

Instead of being a gangster throughout the story, he starts off that way in New York, runs off to Los Angeles and then goes straight after being hired as a Hollywood extra in a movie. He becomes a star but then his old gang catches up with him and he has to deal with them.

Along the way, three of the supporting actors combine with Cagney to make this a very fast- moving 74-minute film. They are Mae Clark, as the female villain "Myra Gale," Margaret Lindsay at the good woman "Lois Underwood," and Douglass Dumbrille as "Spade," the former leader of the New York gang. All are very convincing in their roles under the able work of director Roy Del Ruth.

You can tell this was a pre-code film just looking at Lindsay's ample cleavage, something that would have been covered up a bit more if the film had been made the following year. Other than that, and a few minor innuendos, the film is pretty clean, morally speaking.

One thing you certainly wouldn't see in today's films was the scene showing Cagney grabbing Clark by the hair and dragging her across the room, then booting her out in the hallway! (This is the same actress who received the famous grapefruit-in-the-face from Cagney in "Public Enemy.")

Anyway, yes the film is dated in much of the dialog and attitudes but it's so entertaining, so much fun to watch that it would still appeal to a good-sized audience today, too.

If you want to know how James Cagney become such a huge star, just watch this - not quite this story about a con man who becomes a Hollywood star but how he outshines the rest of the cast. Even though they are all passable actors, Cagney is somehow in a different league. The downside was that by outshining his co-stars, their contributions make the whole film seem a little amateurish. The upside was that to keep up with him eventually everyone had to get up to his standard but this hadn't quite happened by 1933.

This film is super-fast, super-snappy and both reasonably funny and gripping at the same time. Overseen by Warner's production head Daryl Zanuck, it was written specifically for Cagney to highlight his own particular talents and loveable rogue personality.

Warner Brothers knew exactly what they were doing - making a star and making a lot of money but didn't account for Cagney's demands for staggeringly enormous wages. They did their sums and reluctantly always gave in - just watching him in this you can see why.

Look out, world! Jimmy Cagney's coming to Hollywood and whether they use bullets or make-up the con artists haven't got a chance, in this raucous send-up featuring a New York crime boss who lands himself where the real action is – on a theater marquee.

Cagney is a wise guy named Dan Quigley who can't make it as a movie usher, so he raises his sights from lavatory dice games to breaking into rich folks' homes with the help of a nasty gang. When that goes bad and the gang leaves him flat, Quigley finds a new line in Hollywood, first as an extra, soon after as a "Famous He-Man of the Screen." But what will happen when the old gang shows up for a piece of the action?

The marquee in lights near the start of the film advertises someone called "The Prince Of Pep." He might as well be Cagney in this streamlined star vehicle, written entirely to showcase his fast patter and easy charm. Cagney's so good they don't even bother to build a coherent film around his character, and it hardly matters.

If you want to see a great Cagney film, there are perhaps a couple dozen better candidates. But if you want to see why the guy clicked so hard in the days of early sound, and still packs a punch 80 years later, this should be on your short list.

Cagney's lines here are priceless. To a dog being held by a theater manager who just fired him: "Listen, Fido, this guy's got a wooden leg. Try it sometime!"

To a group of card sharps who just cleaned him out: "I think I'll stick to checkers."

To the same group, after he's figured out their scam: "You kick back with my fifty bucks, or I'll fold your joint like an accordion!"

Just seconds later, he proposes a partnership. "You got a sweet racket here. Maybe I can show you a few new wrinkles."

"Lady Killer" was made just before the Hays Code was seriously enforced, which makes for interesting viewing. Reviewers here have already pointed out a scene when we see Quigley sneak Mae Clarke's character Myra a peck on the breast. The film takes even greater advantage of the liberal mores then still in effect by letting Quigley get away with his crimes. Sure, he goes straight, sort of, but only because he finds a better racket than potentially homicidal B&Es. There's no moment of Quigley coming to regret his wicked past, as censors would have required just months later.

That makes for a more entertaining Cagney vehicle, but a somewhat disjointed film. Director Roy Del Ruth keeps things moving quick, but in odd directions in tone, turning "Lady Killer" from a semi-serious gangster story to a genially goofy Hollywood satire. In his DVD commentary, Drew Casper calls "Lady Killer" a "shyster satire." It might also be called a "crooked comedy;" no one is on the level, whichever side of the law they're on.

So in Hollywood, we see Quigley break big after really slugging an extra in a mock prison break scene, and further his path toward stardom by faking fan letters. It's shallow stuff, but fun, especially as it all plays so fast. Other than the star, pacing is "Lady Killer's" ace in the hole.

Clarke should have graduated from the grapefruit league with this performance. She and Cagney resume their fireworks from "Public Enemy," this time with even more outrageous stunts, but Clarke, here the first- billed female, does wise work making sure we enjoy her comeuppance. Even her catty asides to Cagney, or the way she shamelessly plays with her hair while shaking him down for (more) dough, is on par with Barbara Stanwyck's star-making wickedness.

But make no mistake, "Lady Killer" is Cagney's baby, and he makes it work, despite the tone shifts and the odd title (Quigley's not a killer himself, and doesn't play with women's affections). You root for the guy despite his crookedness, and that's all that matters in the end.

Jimmy Cagney plays a gangster in this film. However, despite having seen him play such a role in countless other films, this one is unique and well worth seeing because it STILL dares to be different.

Cagney is a wanted man back East, so he gets the idea of going to the West Coast to hang out and wait for things to die down. However, once there he is discovered by Hollywood and stars in gangster films because he is "so natural and believable". Well, despite his very shady past, Cagney tries to go straight and likes the life of a star. However, old associates realize who he is and try to blackmail him.

The film is a light comedy that invigorates the standard gangster genre. For its uniqueness and excellent acting and writing, the film gets an 8.