Smart Money

Whilst "Smart Money" was being filmed, Edward G. Robinson had become a star at "Warner Bros," thanks to his film, "Little Caesar." James Cagney had just finished making "The Public Enemy" and that film hadn't yet been released. "Smart Money" isn't another gangster film as the story doesn't allow for that kind of character and Robinson isn't a hoodlum either. He is a professional barber who happens to be a gambler. For a while in the film, Robinson is small time but after avenging himself upon the con men who took all his money, he carves out a gambling empire with Cagney as his right hand man. The District Attorney has had enough of all the gambling and corruption that goes with it and he plans Robinson's downfall. His demise comes in a most unexpected way. Edward G. Robinson dominates "Smart Money" but James Cagney is right there after the half way stage. Their scenes are absolutely superb and I wish the two actors had made more films together. Boris Karloff makes a brief appearance as a gambler. Robinson is a very affable character and his wealth and power does little to change his disposition. The two leads carry this film but the story and narrative are far above average.

Smart Money is famous for the teaming of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney in the only time they shared the screen. Both men had just come off their breakthrough performances in Little Caesar and Public Enemy respectively. Of the two of them, Robinson comes off far the better.

I'm not sure why Cagney did this film, more than likely because he was told to and was not yet rebelling against Jack Warner. He's strangely subdued in the part, the usual Cagney bounce and cockiness just isn't there for me.

Cagney plays the best friend of Greek barber Edward G. Robinson who in his career played any number of ethnic types. Here he's a happy go lucky barber whose place doubles as a betting establishment. He likes to play, but when friends raise a bankroll for him to try his luck in the big city he gets good and clipped.

Robinson's down, but not out. He goes back and clips the clippers and becomes a big gambling racketeer. Problems do arise when he and Cagney quarrel over the same woman.

It's definitely Robinson's picture, maybe it's why Cagney and he never worked together again. I would like to have seen them both in a film with a more typical Jimmy Cagney.

Still when it's broadcast it should not be missed.

The only film ever to star both Edward G and Jimmy Cagney together. Made in 1931 during the Warner Bros heyday of gangster blood and guts, it represents a slight departure for them both.

Eddie G plays a small town gambler - a big fish in a little pond so to speak - with big ideas. His friends put a 10K poke together and send him off to the city to try his luck with the big boys. He is soon sucked into a crooked game by a sexy blonde at the hotel cigar counter. The scam artists soon take him to the cleaners. He is then humiliated by the sexy blonde and Sleepy Sam, played with delicious menace by Ralf Harolde.

He is joined by his pal Jimmy Cagney, and they put together another grubstake. This time, they outcon the cons, humiliate the blonde and he becomes the biggest gambler in town. It becomes clear throughout the movie, that Eddie is learning on the job, but his one very big blind spot is his attraction to blondes. Gee, I can't understand it - a short, dark, rather unattractive guy falling for some of the sexiest females on celluloid.

Well, the results are predictable,though I have to admit, the final blonde was a genuine surprise. It was the process that was interesting.

The pairing of Robinson and Cagney was a masterpiece. They played off each other like dueling banjos. It is too bad that they both got so big they couldn't fit on the same screen together again.

Robinson is a barber who owns his own barbershop, but who goes off to gamble with some real card-sharks. He goes to the hotel where the action is and meets the girl at the magazine counter who tells him what room the game is in, after the desk clerk tells him nothing like that is allowed in this hotel. Little does Edward know what's in store for him. Of course Robinson, as the barber, is great, and James Cagney is a secondary character with not much development to make him really interesting. But, it's Robinson that makes this film worth watching. He has such presence, and this is only a sample of what is yet to come in his career. The only problem I have with it is that its ending is rather anti-climatic. But as usual Robinson has the flair to take it all in stride and he makes the viewer feel honored to watch a master of his craft at work.

This is a nicely tailored story about the rise of Nick the Barber( a real barber)from the small gambling environs of Irontown to his rise to the big time gambling scene. Several things distinguish this film from just another mob movie. And that is just it for starters. This is not a mob movie. Edward G. Robinson's Nick is one of the kindest, most liked, and honest "crime" bosses you will ever see in film. Eddie doesn't shoot it up - in fact no one is murdered(Okay, I'm being a stickler here). This film also shows how difficult gambling can be as a profession. But at the film's heart is Robinson's performance. Nick is a sweet, at times naive, resilient guy with a weak/blind spot for pretty blondes. Aiding Eddie is none other than Jimmy Cagney playing Jack his friend and fellow business associate. Alfred E. Green does a rather deft job directing this very early sound picture. The pace is fast and the mood never compromised. The rest of the cast is quite good. Boris Karloff has a bizarre cameo as a man that has something Eddie just had - but we never know why Boris had it. It's a treat seeing Karloff and Robinson and Cagney in a brief yet memorable scene.