Picture Snatcher

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

James Cagney and Alice White in Picture Snatcher (1933)

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Crime Drama

Danny Kean, a former inmate, pursues photography and romance with Patricia, whose father initially disapproves. A ethical dilemma strains their bond until Kean confronts his criminal past.Danny Kean, a former inmate, pursues photography and romance with Patricia, whose father initially disapproves. A ethical dilemma strains their bond until Kean confronts his criminal past.Danny Kean, a former inmate, pursues photography and romance with Patricia, whose father initially disapproves. A ethical dilemma strains their bond until Kean confronts his criminal past.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins total

Hennessy - Fireman
(as George Pat Collins)

Arthur Vinton

John - Sing Sing Head Keeper

Tom Wilson

Maurice Black

Speakeasy Proprietor
(uncredited)

Stanley Blystone

Prison Guard
(uncredited)

Don Brodie

Hood
(uncredited)

James P. Burtis

Reporter
(uncredited)

Hobart Cavanaugh

James Peters - Drunken Reporter
(uncredited)

George Chandler

Reporter
(uncredited)

Cora Sue Collins

Jerry's Little Girl
(uncredited)

Gino Corrado

Barber
(uncredited)

‘Snow White’ Stars Test Their Wits

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The scene of Danny photographing an execution is based an actual incident in which Chicago-based crime photographer Tom Howard (who was the grandfather of 'George Wendt') surreptitiously snapped the famous photo of convicted murderess Ruth Snyder's January 12, 1928 execution in the electric chair at Sing Sing for the New York Daily News.

Goofs
When Jerry the Mug is shot in the back by the cops, his gun falls out of his hand as his body goes limp and then after the gun had already landed on the floor, Danny takes out the camera and snatches pictures of Jerry. But when the pictures get published in the newspapers it now shows Jerry the Mug with a gun still in his hand as he gets shot.

Quotes
[Danny is giving a tour of his newspaper's printing room]
Journalism Student: Yes, here it is - white wood pulp, plain white... Why, today it's raw, but tonight it's cooked with printer's ink, photographic art, the sweat of creative effort. Tomorrow it goes out and hundreds of thousands of men and women feed their starving, mediocre souls on the indiscretions and adventures of others. And then, a little while later, what is it?
Danny Kean: Don't you know? They use it to wrap up herring.

Connections
Featured in T'as pas 100 balles? (1975)

Soundtracks
That's All That Matters To Me
(1932) (uncredited)
Music by Herb Magidson and Sam H. Stept
Played throughout the film as well as at the beginning and the end.

User reviews40

Featured review

6/10

It May Not Be Illegal, but is it legitimate?

Paroled convict James Cagney is determined not to return to a life of crime and decides to go to straight. He wants to get into journalism, but the only place that will hire him is the Graphic Record, the National Enquirer of its day. And not as a reporter, but as a picture snatcher. Now we would call Cagney a papparazzi.

Still and all it's a job and Cagney is pretty resourceful at getting sensational pictures. He photographs an electric chair execution and his ruthlessness gets his girlfriend's father in some heat. But later on he redeems himself with his knowledge of the criminal underworld.

Considering at where papparazzi are in the social pecking order these days, the viewer of Picture Snatcher is left to wonder just how legitimate Cagney has gone. Joe Pesci almost sixty years after Picture Snatcher was done did a period piece called The Public Eye which explored the same concerns. I think the viewer would like both films and Picture Snatcher if they are Cagney fans.