Cagney; Tribute To A Bad Man

[stuart.uk]

While I've never seen The Oklahoma Kid I can quite understand why folk say James Cagney wasn't suited to westerns. However, I quite liked him in Tribute To A Badman, a film he made in the mid 50s.

The part of rancher Jeremy Roddock was originally to be played by the great Spencer Tracy, who walked of the set during filming. It's been suggested that an ailing Spence wasn't keen on the rigors of the great outdoors. Like Tracy IMO Cagney looked every bit a man in his mid 50s, but unlike Spence was still in great phyiscal condition. Cagney clearly did a lot of his own stunts. In fight scenes, it would be difficult to double for Cagney. He fought dirty, using elbows as well as his fists, a trait he probably learned fighting on the streets as a kid. It's hard to imagine Spence with his poor health being able to do the same stuff Jimmy did in the film.

That said, while Cagney was good in TTAB, Tracy was still in my humble opinion a lot better in the highly underrated Broken Lance. Other plus in TAB was leading lady Irene Papas as Jo, an ex-piano player in a saloon, who lived as Roddock's mistress.

[movieman1957]

Since Cagney was a bit older, and maybe a bit more filled out, it suited him better than "The Oklahoma Kid." He also did a pretty good turn in "Run For Cover" from about the same time as "TTABM."

Part of the problem with "The Oklahoma Kid" is Cagney's hat and also suffers from an equally ill-suited Bogart.