Jimmy the Gent

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.

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.

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.

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.

.. 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".