Simpatica canaglia

This is a great movie. The one and only film to starr Jackie Cooper, Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew together. Mickey Rooney in my opinion steals the show from both of them. The scene where he hears his father being electrocuted is so dramatic. There is just something about the life that Mickey Rooney adds to a movie. His tough but gentle demeanor. Those dramatic facial expressions. The way he can make you laugh and tear your heart out at the same time. If anyone watches a Mickey Rooney movie and and says he cannot act don't know what acting is. Mickey Rooney can do it all and is still doing it today! LONG LIVE THE MIGHTY MICK! This is a great film Very well acted. The story is endearing! You will not be disappointed. It will be playing on TCM later this year (2005).

They sure don't make movies like this anymore and I wish they did. I just watched The Devil Is A Sissy and although it was made 80 years ago the films message of friends for life still resonates today. This is a story about three young boys of which two are from struggling backgrounds financially who in the 1930's lived in lower Manhattan before it was home to more wealthier New Yorkers as it is today.

Mickey Rooney (age 14) played Gig Stevens and Jackie Cooper (age 16) played Buck Murphy who had their own little gang which included boys nicknamed Bugs and Six Toes and they all met in their makeshift clubhouse hidden behind a junkyard. In comes the third young lad Claud Pierce played by Freddie Bartholomew (age 12) who really wants to fit in at almost any cost so he is most gleeful when he decides to challenge the much bigger Buck to give him back his football even if it means being on the receiving end of a shiner.

The younger Limey Claude persists on getting on the good side of the alpha dog Gig and his right hand man Buck even if it means getting involved in a bit of thievery. Gig's father was convicted of some serious crimes so serious in fact that he receives the electric chair and young Gig and his mother have to find a way to get on with their lives. Now Limey Claude's dad and mom are divorced and his father moved to lower Manahattan due to economic constraints. Claude and his dad have a close relationship whereas Gig just lost his father to the electric chair and Buck's dad being a war veteran believes he can whip the truth out of his son when the boys get in trouble.

The films main story is how these three young lads cope growing up in a financially struggling neighborhood with the help of a caring judge, Claude's understanding father Jay Pierce and Gig's empathetic Aunt Rose and how they not only survive some very serious predicaments but their friendship thrives based on their loyalty to one another and their families. Even though this 1936 film is in black and white and there may not be any sex, blood or CGI (computer generated imagery), it does contain great emotion and it made my eyes start to swell up in a couple of scenes.

I really enjoy these old black and white films and it certainly makes for great screen presence with Mickey Rooney (14), Jackie Cooper (16) and Freddie Bartholomew (12) generating so many great scenes throughout this fine dramatic film.

Ahhhhh, the good old days of simpler times when the movie director was more important than the special effects were. Sadly, all three main stars are now deceased but their film legacy will live on in film classics such as The Devil Is A Sissy. Watch it and see if you don't agree. It deserves an 8/10 rating.

The Devil Is a Sissy may have a really silly title, but it's a triple threat: Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper, and Mickey Rooney are the three leads in this surprising drama. All three child stars in one movie! You'd think it would be the most adorable movie ever made, but it's actually a really tragic drama that gives all three of the boys a chance to show off their acting chops.

Freddie takes the lead, as a product of divorce. He spends six months with each parent, and his dad Ian Hunter lives in a poor area of New York City. Sent to public school with a bunch of young hoodlums, Freddie desperately wants to make friends and be accepted. Because of his cultured accent and his naiveté, everyone picks on him, but his optimism is infectious and he continues to try to hang out with the cool kids. The leader of the "cool" gang is teen-heartthrob-in-the-making Jackie Cooper, the oldest of the bunch. As fresh as Freddie is, Jackie is experienced. He's so relaxed in front of the camera, it's as if he's been acting for thirty years, and his confidence is startling. Mickey Rooney is the second-in-command, and he propels the plot in his quest to buy a glorious tombstone for his father, who was given the death penalty at the start of the film.

They each have their sorrows and struggles. Freddie comes from a broken home and compromises his morals in order to make friends with punks. Jackie is regularly beaten by his father, Gene Lockhart, and he shows the audience the heartbreaking road of a child turning to crime. Mickey not only has to bear the burden of his father's death, but he sees his mother dating again and knows there's nothing he can do to stop it. There's a particularly powerful scene in which Mickey brags to Jackie how many volts of electricity it took to kill his father. He's proud, but also sickened, and the audience gets a harsh look at the wrong side of the tracks.

You've got to see this movie. It's always a marvel to see talented child actors, and with all three of the 1930s darlings, you can't afford to miss The Devil Is a Sissy. It's pretty dark, so be prepared. But since everyone gives such great performances, it's worth it. You'd never guess from watching Gene Lockhart in Christmas movies that he'd be able to play someone so terribly evil!

This movie is rather entertaining although some parts seem a little off-the-wall. For instance, there is one scene in the film where the three friends go to visit one of the boys hip, young aunt living in a pent house and she does cartwheels over to the piano and the four start singing. Other than odd instances, this movie is very good for any era.

Wonderful movie starring the three biggest male child stars of their era. It's about a young English boy (Freddie Bartholomew) who comes to live with his father in New York and makes friends with a couple of tough kids (Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper). Before long the boys are getting into all kinds of trouble. Two other kids who are part of the same gang are called Bugs and Six Toes, because one eats bugs and the other has six toes on one foot. Sounds weird but their scene together is actually pretty funny.

The three leads are all excellent. Likable, fun performances. It's a treat to see the three of them together like this. Ian Hunter plays Freddie's bohemian father. Hattie McDaniel's sister Etta McDaniel plays a maid. The two look almost identical to me except for different noses. At first I thought it was Hattie but couldn't figure out why she looked different. Calvin Lockhart has an amusing part as Jackie Cooper's father who keeps bragging about his service in World War I. Jonathan Hale is great as a wise judge who gives the boys a corny but cute speech about the devil being a sissy. Hence the movie's cool title.

There are a lot of funny lines and some good banter between the boys. One of my favorites is when the boys are breaking into a house and Freddie warns the other two to be careful or they'll have Scotland Yard after them. Dull-witted Jackie responds "How do you know whose yard it is?" A lot of times these culture clash movies, typically comedies, can fall flat and be insulting to one side or the other. This one manages to avoid that and pokes a little fun at the Brits as well as the Yanks, but both without malice. It's an entertaining movie, for sure. A sappy ending too but I loved it.