He Was Her Man

James Cagney is one of the ten greatest actors of all time. Joan Blondell is absolutely beautiful. There are several great character actors in here including Harold Huber as a standout. It is not a great movie, but it is a real movie. It was released shortly before the production code ended a great deal of artistic freedom.

I seem to like this film more than most, maybe because of the difference in tone it presents to the usual gangster fare. It's nice to see Joan Blondell in a more subdued role, and she pulls it off well, knowing her past taints her, off to marry an immigrant fisherman (Victor Jory) who will accept her anyway, but finding herself drawn to Cagney. It's nice to see the gravitas in her 'serious face'. Cagney is in the role of a safe cracker who has double-crossed some guys and is on the run, not knowing that he's being closely tracked. Innocent to all of this is the family they're staying with, who lead simple but happy lives, and who look forward to their son's marriage to Blondell. I have to say, the mom (Sarah Padden) is a joy to watch as Cagney ingratiates himself to her.

Cagney and Blondell are more low-key than their usual screen personas, and this is not movie with a lot of action, but there is real tension in both the story lines – whether Blondell will go forward with her wedding, and whether Cagney will survive. The depth of their feelings does come out in more than one tender scene, and in fact, all three of them – Blondell, Cagney, and Jory – are altruistic, adding a sweetness to the movie. It seems some are unhappy with the ending as well, but I thought it was quite good (and side note, wow on the glimpse we get of the low-cut dress). I also liked how it was shot on location in Monterey, California. Underrated and enjoyable to watch.

James Cagney and Joan Blondell team up for the seventh and last time for "He Was Her Man," a Warner Brothers film from 1934.

Cagney is Flicker Hayes. He tells the police about a robbery attempt so that they can catch the two men who put him in prison. One, Dan, escapes. The other kills a cop and winds up in the electric chair.

Dan orders two hit-man to find Flicker and kill him. Flicker rents a room and meets Rose (Blondell), a young, sad woman who returns to the room to fetch her wedding dress. She is a former prostitute and needs a ride to a fishing village, where her betrothed, a Portugese fisherman (Victor Jory) is waiting to marry her.

Sounds good to Flicker - it's obscure, anyway, so he accompanies her. The two fall for one another, and no doubt have sex when the camera isn't around - it is post-code, after all.

Rose doesn't want to marry her boyfriend now, she wants to go away with Flicker. He buys a bus ticket for her and they go to the bus station together.

Unfortunately, Flicker has been discovered by Dan and his thugs, who want to kill him.

A dark film with two subdued performances by the leads, who are both very good. Cagney does a great job, as always - even though he's not a flying high, exuberant criminal, he still plays a confident man, and you can't help noticing him.

Blondell, who did so many comedy roles, is dead serious here and very effective.

Others in the cast, besides those mentioned, are George Chandler, Harold Huber, John Qualen - lots of familiar faces.

Victor Jory is somewhat miscast but pulls off his role as a gentle person who truly cares for Rose.

You're not really sure how this will end. It is a lovely ending, if poignant. Well directed by Lloyd Bacon.

Although James Cagney once again appears as a disreputable underworld figure, there is in this portrayal no strutting, twitching, snapping, or pushing people around. As a double-crosser on the run from his former cohorts, he maintains an extremely low profile - yet the menace he represents surfaces in a smirk here, a sly smile there, a barely poised but ever watchful presence with the potential for violence - perhaps the quietest Cagney criminal you will ever see.

Joan Blondell also plays a familiar type, the down-on-her-luck girl who will trade her charms for money, but here, too, the approach to the part is much more subdued than what we find in her wisecracking gold-digger roles. World-weary, somber, reflective, resigned: there is no contradiction in her projecting a streetwise yet vulnerable woman who, though still young, has seen too much of life.

If the two stars don't exactly set off sparks (as each did playing opposite others), they give solid, honest performances - as does Victor Jory in a key supporting role. This film does not deserve to be forgotten.

James Cagney plays masculinely-named ex-con Flicker who rats out his criminal buddies because they were responsible for his going to prison. Now Flicker has to hightail it out of town so he escorts ex-prostitute Rose (Joan Blondell) to a small fishing village where she is supposed to marry Portuguese fisherman Nick (Victor Jory). Staying with Nick and his mother, Flicker quickly grows to like them. But Flicker and Rose have fallen in love, which complicates things. Meanwhile, Flicker's location is discovered and two hit men are sent to rub him out.

Cagney's character is a cocky ladies' man, as they typically were, but he does evolve throughout the movie. Cagney's also sporting a mustache in this one. At first I thought maybe he just drank some chocolate milk and forgot to wipe his mouth but nope, it's a 'stache alright! Victor Jory's Nick is the saintly salt-of-the-earth common man type that you saw so much of in Depression-era movies. It's style (Cagney) vs. substance (Jory) in the battle for Joan Blondell's heart. Nice supporting cast includes Harold Huber, Frank Craven, and John Qualen, among many other recognizable faces. It's a middle-of-the-road picture in the oeuvres of both Cagney and Blondell. The last of seven they made together. It's not a bad movie but the somber tone is a tough sell when you have two firecracker actors as leads.