The Silver Screen Oasis

All of you have made me want to dig out my Cagney books.

As far as other roles are concerned there are several I enjoy. One is "the Man of A Thousand Faces" where he plays Lon Chaney. "One, Two, Three", a Billy Wilder comedy. I even liked hiw two westerns made in the mid 50's.

Moira, in answer to your question about favorite Cagney non-gangster roles, I'd have to say that he was quite remarkable in Come Fill the Cup - in fact, the entire cast was terrific (especially James Gleason). Cagney shows us his gentle, paternal side, the side we rarely got to see in any of his films. While not the greatest film ever made, it's worthwhile, and should be shown more often. It's been years since I've seen it.

In addition, I love him in Mister Roberts. Here he is playing the tough guy who is decidedly not in charge, and his seething frustration crackles all over the screen in every scene he is in, especially when he plays against Fonda's calm, controlled Roberts. I don't think Cagney gets enough credit for that one.

Speaking of a Cagney film that has not been seen in a while, I'll nominate "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" (1950). Love the title.
Back in the crime groove Cagney is swell as usual, and Barbara Payton is surprisingly good as the blonde moll. However it's character actor Luther Adler that comes close to stealing the movie.
Good, fast-paced and at times surprisingly violent, this movie will not put you to sleep.

Mongo wrote: "Speaking of a Cagney film that has not been seen in a while, I'll nominate "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" (1950)."

Very glad to hear this film mentioned if for no other reason than to call attention to the author who wrote the novel on which it was based: Horace McCoy. McCoy was one of the most talented of the hardboiled writers from the classic film noir era. His most famous novel, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY was turned into a film in 1969. But KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE is my favorite of his books; a raging fever dream of a crime novel, very profane and disturbing. No film made in 1950 could possibly have done justice to its content, although the film that did get made is an admirable attempt. If you enjoy this type of book, I strongly recommend it. A couple of other McCoy novels worth investigating are NO POCKETS IN A SHROUD and I SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME (which is about the lowly existence of film extras). Far more pungent than James M. Cain (who he's often compared to) and nearly as poetic as Chandler, McCoy also wrote a number of screenplays all through the 30s, 40s and 50s. His most notable ones are: GENTLEMAN JIM (1942), Raoul Walsh's boxing pic, THE LUSTY MEN (1952), Nick Ray's great rodeo picture with Mitchum and Susan Hayward, THE TURNING POINT (1953) and BAD FOR EACH OTHER (1954). Most of his other pics were "B" crime stories and westerns. McCoy remains, sadly enough, a nearly forgotten figure.

I like Cagney in the comedy The Bride Came C.O.D. with Bette Davis. An odd pairing, but it works because they both play strong characters, in a Taming-of-the-Shrew kind of way.

I also like Cagney as the boxer in City for Conquest. Good film.

Sandy K

In "good guy" roles, I enjoy Cagney in G-MEN, EACH DAWN I DIE and BLOOD ON THE SUN ("Sure, forgive your enemies. But first, get even!")

In comedy, I liked his wise-guy Nick Butler in TORRID ZONE and his manic performance as MacNamara in ONE, TWO, THREE.

In straight drama, I enjoyed him as Admiral Halsey in THE GALLANT HOURS and Lon Chaney Sr. in MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES.

All brilliant facets, one might say, of the acting gem that was James Cagney.

I just saw this movie for the first time about a week ago! I know, I know. It's been on TCM so many times and I've had it taped and it fell into the "I'll watch it later" pile and now I'm so glad I did.

I loved Cagney's performance, but I loved Edmond O'Brien's as well. It's amazing how fast Cagney and O'Brien turned on each other at the end, without even a slight shred of sympathy. In so many movies, you see the characters feel a slight pang of guilt before having to kill one another.

There was another scene that I liked: when you first get to see Cody having one of his headaches in the remote cabin. He's lying on the bed and pounding his head with his fists. I don't know why, but I loved that scene. Here's this incrediably tough guy and he's brought down by these debilitating headaches. Maybe it's because I get terrible migraines myself, but even though he was a cold blooded killer, I just felt for him.

I also liked the unintentional humor. The opening scene where one of his fellow robbers call him by his first name and Cagney shoots back with "Why don't you give him my address?" I couldn't stop laughing. It kind of helped ease up such a tense scene.

I'm so glad I finally watched it, although I have to admit that it paled slightly to One, Two, Three, which I watched the day before. I totally and completely fell in love with that movie and I have to say that's my favorite Cagney performance, hands down. It's amazingly funny. I'm rather picky when it comes to comedies, and I couldn't stop laughing during that one.

I'd also love to see Come Fill the Cup. I wish Warner's would release another Cagney box set and put that one in it. Been dying to see that for ages.

sugarpuss said: "I don't know why, but I loved that scene. Here's this incrediably tough guy and he's brought down by these debilitating headaches. Maybe it's because I get terrible migraines myself, but even though he was a cold blooded killer, I just felt for him."

Isn't it amazing how a debilitating condition like migraines can create such an immediate and overwhelming aura of sympathy for such an otherwise unrepentant character like Cody Jarrett? (He can't help killing people, those headaches are driving him crazy!) Cagney does such a terrifyingly brilliant job of exposing his own vulnerability to the world through these scenes that it's little wonder that he makes himself a far more intersting human specimen than the predators simply determined to bring him down.

Since this was just on The Essentials I wonder if anyone saw it and rethought or had something else. Just glimpsing through the thread has made for interesting reading.

I see it as part crime drama and part docudrama of police procedure. Great performance by Cagney where I think he takes the gangster beyond just being evil. He (Jarrett) grew up that way so that is part of it but his psyche has issues too. His parents were crooks. His wife is a crook not because she pulls a trigger but because she is happy to live on their criminal efforts.

One of the best climaxes in the genre.