Gente Esperta

Bert Harris (James Cagney) is a bellhop at a small town hotel. When a looker (Joan Blondell as Anne Roberts) arrives, he arranges for her employment in the housekeeping department.

Bert is a schemer who is loose with the truth and has a love of the ladies. He says, "The world owes me a living." Despite the fact Bert is "not a collar ad", Anne is intrigued by his persona. But she is a good girl, immune to his advances. Still, they become partners and use a small-time frame to finance their move to a larger city.

Being a fan of films about grifting, I really enjoy this film, which includes multiple examples of the con. The stakes get higher as the story continues. One con is reminiscent of "The Sting".

It is also fun to watch pre-Code films, with their peculiar characteristics and their vernacular. Bert, though a criminal, displays an odd code of ethics that is central to the story, though unacceptable by Hays' standards.

Cagney displays his usual bluster and bravado. Blondell is charming. Watch for the very young Ray Milland.

This is one of those very early talkie/precodes that I wish would come out on DVD. At this point in its history - 1931 - Warner Bros. was the mass producer of urban dramas and films that realistically portrayed the depression. Some of the films Warner made during this time were quite forgettable, and others had something special. This film is one of those special efforts, largely due to the acting skills of Joan Blondell and the great James Cagney and the on-screen chemistry they had. Cagney's character (Bert Harris) starts out as a bellboy in a midwestern hotel who is instantly attracted to Joan Blondell's character (Anne Roberts) when she applies for a job as a hotel maid. Bert wants a career as a confidence man and talks Anne into going into business with him as a partner. They work their way up from that small midwestern town into larger stakes in New York. Along the way Cagney runs into someone who ends up taking him instead of vice versa, Dan Barker, played by Louis Calhern. Calhern always excelled at playing the part of a slippery type, and his performance here is no exception. After settling the score with Dan, Anne wants out of the racket so she can marry a nice young man she has met along the way, and this seems like the end of the film. However, there is one final twist at the end that reunites Anne and Bert in a way that is totally unexpected.

Even though this film was made after Cagney's star-making role in "Public Enemy", he still doesn't have his gangster/wise guy personna down yet. That makes one of the unexpected pleasures of the film seeing how he is still finding his way as far as his trademark gestures go in his later roles. Highly recommended.

Bellhop James Cagney and hotel maid Joan Blondell have a lot of ambitions during Depression Era America. They've seen the American dream go belly up on Wall Street, seen lots of people lose everything they have to crooks and chiselers and have decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And Cagney has entitled what he considers the Depression to be, the age of chiselry.

These two are obviously so suited for each other. But for what each considers practical reasons they hook up with other people. Cagney hero worships noted confidence man Louis Calhern and Blondell takes a shine to polished and dapper Ray Milland, a wall street broker. Each becomes quite disillusioned.

This is a good piece of historic Americana, depression era. People like Cagney and Blondell lost a lot of ideals in that period and it rings true even today. Later on Preston Sturges would take some of the same themes in Blonde Crazy and use them in a more comedic way. But this film is still pretty good on its own merits.

Aside from an ending that just seemed too vague and too abrupt, this is a very little enjoyable film from Warner Brothers. In some ways, it's very much a Pre-Code style film but it's not as salacious as some of the more extreme films during the era. Sure, there is a some sexual innuendo and the main characters are awfully amoral, but it other ways things are bizarrely chaste--and it's something you really need to see to appreciate.

The film begins with Ann (Joan Blondell) looking for a job at a hotel. A slick bellboy, Bert (James Cagney) helps her get a job and almost immediately begins pawing at her. He's also a guy who is a bit of a huckster--and he schemes and pulls off petty grifter schemes for extra money. Want an example of the sort of dialog in this part of the film?

Bert Harris: Now, you play ball with me... and your worrying days will be over.

Ann Roberts: Yeah? How about the nights?

Bert Harris: (smirks) Well, I'll see what I can do about those too, honey!

As I said, there is a lot of innuendo. However, unlike films like "Red- Headed Woman" and "Platinum Blonde", the leading lady in this one seems to have her virtue intact throughout the film. Ann is willing to go along with some of Bert's schemes but keeps him at a distance throughout the film.

Eventually, the pair get tired of penny ante stakes and quite their jobs to travel the country cheating boobs here and there. The trouble is that in the process, the pair obviously become quite fond of each other. But Ann doesn't want this sort of life forever and eventually falls for a stockbroker (Ray Milland). What's in store for Bert? Well, watch the film for the super-bizarro ending to see for yourself. I don't want to give it away but suffice to say it seems to come from out of no where and the ending of the film is incredibly vague and a bit unsatisfying-- hence my score of only 7 when it easily could have earned a higher rating up until then.

The overall moral of the film seems to be EVERYONE is corrupt and what you get out of life is what you can take--a thoroughly Pre-Code moral in every way! Still, despite its dubious life lesson, the film is well acted and paced, quite enjoyable to watch and offers Cagney a part to play one of his strangest characters. This isn't the nasty criminal sort he played in "Public Enemy" nor the heroic sort he played in Post- Code films, that's for sure.

Pre-Coder starring James Cagney as a hotel bellboy with a knack for conning people who falls for Joan Blondell and gets more than his fair share of trouble for it. Mixed bag but enjoyable enough. Jimmy's the main reason to recommend this one. He's delightfully cocky and energizes every scene. The way he moves and talks throughout the picture is fascinating to watch. He was still relatively new to movies but you would never know it by how confident his performance is here. Starts out like a comedy but turns more serious when Louis Calhern and Ray Milland enter the picture. It's not quite as enjoyable from that point on.