Jimmy is a Bootlegger

The First World War has ended. Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney) returns to New York City to find all the jobs gone - taken by the men who remained home during the war. As The Roaring Twenties (1939) begin, Eddie falls into a new career - bootlegging - and enters into the world of organized crime.

Let's start by admitting that, no matter who else we discuss in this space, this is James Cagney's movie. Period. When he is on the screen, it's him you are watching. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Bogart fan, but this is one where Cagney shines. His Eddie Bartlett is a man of depth. We watch him change because of the circumstances of his life; we don't like most of those changes, but because it is Mr. Cagney playing him, we understand them. Director Raoul Walsh encouraged Mr. Cagney to improvise a bit, which adds to his impact (including a scene where he punches out two men with one throw!)  (TCM article).  From beginning to end, James Cagney is the linchpin of the film. 

 

Humphrey Bogart (George Hally) also provides a fascinating character - he's a monster from the moment we see him. Unlike Eddie, he seems to have no reason for doing the things he does. He enjoys inflicting pain and death. There are no shades to George's character - he is a murderer who we would like to forget (and do, when he disappears immediately after the war). What Mr. Bogart brings to the role is someone you can genuinely hate - Bogart is not afraid to make George horrific, with no attempts to gain the audience's sympathy.

A great deal of our conversation centered on Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane). I, for one, find her hard to like or sympathize with. From the start, we discover she is a liar (she'd misled Eddie into thinking she was a woman in her twenties, when she is actually a high school student). She's self-centered, caring only for her career, and very willing to use Eddie to get ahead. She's well aware that he loves her. She tells him she doesn't love him, yet she takes expensive gifts from him, while she carries on a relationship with Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn). Because she is played by Ms. Lane, who is an engaging actress, you want to like her, but Jean is a passive person, who floats from man to man.  One wonders why all these men are smitten with her; it is perhaps because they are that we get distracted from the reality of Jean - that she is a thoughtless woman who likes Eddie because of what she can get from him.  Perhaps the character needed a firmer hand in the writing; as written, she's not a person that one can countenance.

Gladys George, however, is perfect as Panama Smith. She was not the first choice for the part - it was originally intended for Ann Sheridan; Lee Patrick and Glenda Farrell had also been cast at various points  (The Films of James Cagney by Homer Dickens). It is hard to imagine any of them playing the character. Panama's love for Eddie is selfless - she is truthful with him, even when he doesn't want to hear it (especially about Jean). With her husky voice, it's easy to accept her as a "tuneless canary" (the name given to her by a minor character); she also is the epitome of the tough broad after which she was patterned - Texas Guinan. 

Also worth noting is the performance of Frank McHugh (Danny Green). A gentle man who gets pulled into bootlegging  through his friendship with Eddie, he's too kind for the business and eventually pays the price. Mr. McHugh gives him a simplicity and sympathy that makes him believable.  Jeffrey Lynn (Lloyd Hart), on the other hand, has the thankless task of being "the other man." Like Jean, Lloyd works with Eddie, while protesting his distaste for the business. It's not a great part because the character is very underwritten.

New York reporter Mark Hellinger wrote the 1938 story The World Moves On, on which the film is based.  He was writing about real people that he had encountered (AFI catalog). Mr. Hellinger also served as a producer on the film.

The New York Times review by Frank S. Nugent was not enthusiastic, however he praised both Mr. Cagney and Ms. George (who "breathed poignance into the stock role of the night club hostess") for their work. Given that it was released in 1939 (and had stiff competition), no Oscar nominations were given, but Mr. Cagney won the National Board of Review for Best Actor.  On a side note, Carol Burnett did her own take on the story as "The Boring Twenties." As always, Ms. Burnett (as Panama Smith) is hysterical. 

This is an engaging film; if you are an admirer of Mr. Cagney or Ms. George, it is an essential. It was also one of my father's favorite films. We'll leave you with a trailer to introduce you to the action:

Yankee Doodle Jimmy

From the stage of I’d Rather Be Right, George M. Cohan (James Cagney), famed actor and the composer/lyricist of Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), is summoned to Washington DC to meet President Roosevelt. At the President’s request, Cohan recounts the story of his life.

This post is part of the Politics on Film Blogathon, hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association.
 
James Cagney gives the performance of a lifetime as Cohan. Though the role was offered to Fred Astaire (Mr. Astaire said no - he felt he was wrong to portray Cohan; he was right), and finally was given to Mr. Cagney, who was eager to play the part (TCM article). Mr. Cagney had always considered himself a hoofer - his first job in the theatre was dancing in the chorus (Library of Congress biography) - and he was eager to get away from the gangsters to which his career had been relegated. He'd also on occasion been accused of being a communist (his activities in the Screen Actors Guild were part of the issue), and playing Cohan showed him as the ultimate American patriot.

Mr. Cagney was a perfectionist, and demanded long rehearsals to perfect his dancing.  He was coached by Johnny Boyle, a vaudevillian who was highly regarded as an Irish-American tap dancer. At the same time, he was not averse to improvisation - when he first meets Mary Cohan (Joan Leslie), Mr. Cagney improvised most of his "business." The stair dance at the conclusion of the film was also spur of the moment. The dancing style, however was very reminiscent of Cohan's style (you can see some brief clips of Mr. Cohan dancing in this video). His dynamic dancing makes the film - when he is on screen you cannot take your eyes off him.  He's no singer, but as Joan Leslie pointed out "Jim doesn't sing, because he doesn't sing worth a darn. He'd talk it, and every now and again, he'd hit a note...but he had some much energy and such a presence that it doesn't seem like he couldn't sing." (Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film by Alan K. Rode).

Joan Leslie is a strong counterpart to Mr. Cagney. She gives Mary just the right amount of naivete in the beginning, and slowing moves the character into a knowing and supportive partner. Ms. Leslie had an excellent singing voice, and could dance a bit; she follows Mr. Cagney's lead, as he improvises some of their scenes together, she responds easily.  Ms. Leslie is playing a primarily fictional character.  George M. Cohan was married twice - to Ethel Levey and Agnes Nolan. When he agreed to the film biography, he stipulated that he didn't want either of his wives discussed. Warner Brothers decided to create an amalgam of the two women and give her a different name, thus abiding by Cohan's requirement and still having him be married - as well as provide a motivation for the song "Mary's A Grand Old Name."

Yankee Doodle Dandy is very much a Cagney family affair. James Cagney's brother, William, served as the producer, and sister Jeanne Cagney appears as Josie Cohan. The easy relationship between the brother and sister, combined with the talents of Rosemary DeCamp (Nellie Cohan) and Walter Huston (Jerry Cohan) make for a strong family unit. Ms. DeCamp was actually 11 years younger than Mr. Cagney. Her autobiography comments on the difficulties she and Ms. Cagney had learning the complex dance routines (Tigers in My Lap by Rosemary DeCamp).

Walter Huston, however, had a theatre background - he'd worked in Vaudeville, and among his fourteen Broadway credits was the musical Knickerbocker Holiday. He has what is perhaps the most moving scene in the film - the death of Jerry Cohan. According to Rudy Behmer (in his commentary on the DVD), Michael Curtiz broke down sobbing as he watched Cagney perform. He ruined at least one take and can be heard in the background of the film if you listen carefully.

The film also features strong performances by Richard Whorf (Sam H. Harris) and Irene Manning (Fay Templeton). George Tobias (Dietz) appears as a would-be theatrical impresario. And S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall (Schwab) has one scene as the man who stages Cohan and Harris first production. Though the scene is fine, Mr. Cagney was initially upset that Mr. Sakall was mugging through the filming - he asked Mr. Curtiz to tone Sakall down. Much of his work ended up on the cutting room floor.

Obviously, a lot of the history is incorrect - the frame story in particular is not anywhere the actual story.  World War II broke out while Yankee Doodle Dandy was being filmed (Ms. DeCamp related the company huddled around a radio on the set, listening to Franklin Roosevelt deliver his address to Congress). I’d Rather Be Right, however,  ran from November 1937 to July 1938. And Roosevelt gave Cohan the Congressional Gold Medal (NOT, as stated in the film, the Congressional Medal of Honor - the Medal of Honor is a military award) in May of 1940.  It had been awarded in June of 1936, but Cohan (a Democrat), disliked unions and though an early Roosevelt supporter was not fond of Roosevelt's pro-union stance. The photo below (from the Library of Congress), shows George M. Cohan receiving the Gold Metal from the President. Mr. Cohan died in November of 1942, a few months after the film was released (AFI Catalog).

Bosley Crowther's review in the New York Times was glowing: "as warm and delightful a musical picture as has hit the screen in years, a corking good entertainment and as affectionate, if not as accurate, a film biography as has ever—yes, ever—been made." A Roger Ebert review from 1998 was also complimentary.  The film received three Academy Awards (for Actor - Mr. Cagney, Sound Recording, and Scoring of a Musical). It was also nominated for five awards: Picture, Supporting Actor - Walter Huston, Director, Original Screenplay, and Film Editing).  In 1993, it was added to the National Film Registry. It is #18 on AFI's list of musicals, #100 on the original 100 Years, 100 Movies, and #98 on the 10th Anniversary list.

If you'd like to read more about this exceptional picture, take a look at "‘A Great American Service’: George M. Cohan, the Stage, and the Nation in Yankee Doodle Dandy" by  Elizabeth Titrington Craft from The Oxford Handbook of Musical Theatre Screen Adaptations Edited by Dominic McHugh Oxford Handbook Online and this American Heritage article. If you've never seen Yankee Doodle Dandy, treat yourself and get hold of a copy. In the meantime, here is the trailer:

This post is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association Blogathon, Politics on Film. Please visit the website to read some of the other wonderful posts.

Barbara Runs an Orphanage

Steve Bradford (James Cagney) owns a steel company. He worked his way up from the bottom, and is now wealthy and powerful. But, he longs for something he threw away years before. As a young man, he impregnated his girlfriend, but refused to acknowledge her or his child. Unmarried and childless, Steve wants to find the son he abandoned 20 years before. He arrives at The Haven, the orphanage where his child was placed, to ask the supervisor, Ann Dempster (Barbara Stanwyck) for information on the boy's whereabouts - information Ann cannot give him. While there, Steve befriends unwed mother Suzie Keller (Betty Lou Keim), who awaits the birth - and adoption - of her own child. Reminded of the family he rejected, Steve finds himself becoming closer to Suzie, as he tries to open the records that will lead to his son.

These Wilder Years (1956) is a film trying to make a point, and it does a good job of it. In 1956, once a child was given up for adoption, the natural parents had no rights - after all, most adoptions were results of unwed relationships, and the mother was considered morally suspect (see The Adoption History Project for more information on the topic). Children of adoption were discouraged from seeking out their natural parents; records were closed, ostensibly to protect the child. It wasn't until the 1970s that a movement began to open adoption records, and allow birth parents and their offspring to connect.  (Not that this was the first film about adoption - Our Very Own in 1950 had already tread the ground, though the marital status of Gail's parents is underplayed. And Blossoms in the Dust (1941) had looked at adoption through the lens of the illegitimate child.). Thus, the idea of a parent - an illegitimate parent - wanting to contact his child was fairly new and perhaps dicey.

Let's get it on the table that there isn't ANYTHING that James Cagney cannot do. Naturally, he is excellent in this film - he is able to make you both like and loathe Steve Bradford simultaneously. As the facts about Steve's past actions are revealed, a lesser actor would lose his audience. Cagney, however, keeps the viewer engaged - his eyes reveal the disgust that he feels for himself; thus, you root for him to find some semblance of peace. 

That Stanwyck and Cagney only appeared in the same film this one time is a shame, as they are wonderful together.  Stanwyck has the capacity to go toe-to-toe with this tough guy and not blink, yet at the same time retain her dignity and femininity. Ann's integrity shines from Stanwyck; at the same time, she portrays a sympathy for him that is genuine. However, you never worry that she will pull the routine of sacrificing her integrity for the man she loves. If Ann does start to love Steve (though the real "romance" here is Steve and Suzie),  it is not something that gets in the way of her ability to perform her job. Stanwyck, however, was not the first choice for the role - both Myrna Loy and Helen Hayes were considered. In fact, it appeared Ms. Hayes would do the part until she abruptly withdrew due to "scheduling conflicts." (AFI catalog)

This is a film that is very much about counterpoints. We have Steve and his unseen lover, compared to Suzie and her unseen lover. We have the two lawyers, the scrupulous James Rayburn (Walter Pidgeon) and the slimy Leland G. Spottsford (Edward Andrews). Finally, we have the two sons that are the results of the affairs - one an adult, the other just born, whose lives are impacted by the actions of their parents. But (without spoilers), the ending for all are satisfactory, if not necessarily the ending each person wanted.

According to the AFI catalog, Debbie Reynolds was offered the role of Suzie, but turned it down because she was uncomfortable with playing an unwed mother (perhaps she was afraid of being typecast. That same year, she played an unwed mother of sorts in Bundle of Joy - a musical remake of Bachelor Mother). Susan Strasberg was also considered, but ultimately the part went to the relative unknown Betty Lou Keim. Ms. Keim had already done some television, but this was her first feature film, and the trailer to the film (below) advertised a new star in the making. But that stardom never came. After a few more films and television performances, Ms. Keim married actor Warren Berlinger and retired from acting in 1960. The marriage produced four children and lasted until her death in 2010, at the age of 71.
Two other young actors got a boost to their careers in this film. Don Dubbins (Mark Nelson) had done some uncredited parts in feature films, and had been appearing on television. But, as a result of this part, Mr. Dubbins was cast in Tribute to a Bad Man (1956) with James Cagney (this TCM article states that Mr. Cagney requested him for the film). Mr. Dubbins would work steadily in television (primarily) until his retirement around 1988; he died from cancer in 1991; he was 63.  Mr. Dubbins appeared in episodes of three television series: Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to Heaven. The star of those shows also appeared for a nanosecond in this film - Michael Landon made his film debut as Boy in Poolhall (if you blink, you miss him. We did!)

The New York Times' Bosley Crowther gave the film a negative review calling it "hackneyed and slushy," but we disagree wholeheartedly. We suggest you give it a try, and leave you with a scene featuring Ms. Stanwyck and Mr. Cagney:

The O'Hara Boys Love Olivia

Ma O'Hara (Mary Gordon) lives with her three sons, Police Officer Pat  (Pat O'Brien), Fireman Mike (Frank McHugh), and Danny (James Cagney),  the black sheep of the family (and Ma's darling) who is trying to forge a career as a fight promoter (much to brother Pat's disgust).  The Irish in Us (1935) looks into the lives of the family as Pat plans for a marriage to Lucille Jackson (Olivia De Havilland) - without telling Lucille.

Sure, this is a rather silly movie, but we enjoyed it.  The interplay among the three O'Hara brothers is spot on, and, not surprising, when James Cagney is on the screen, you really can't take your eyes off of him.  Equally wonderful is the relationship between Cagney and Mary Gordon, who plays his mother.  You can sense the affection within the family group, and Ms. Gordon, especially paints a picture of a woman who is the thread that binds the family unit together.

Though the plotline is so-so, this TCM article points out that director Lloyd Bacon, well aware of the script's limitations, encouraged the actors to ad-lib during the production.  As a result, the dialogue has a bounce and energy to it.  And while boxing match at the end does seem a bit prolonged, it gives the character of Pat time to recover from the circumstances that have alienated him from his youngest brother.  O'Brien and Cagney do a wonderful job of creating a brotherly dynamic that it made us imagine Pat and Danny as children, with Danny always getting into scrapes from which big brother Pat needed to rescue him.

 

Normally, we love Allen Jenkins, but his Carbarn Hammerschlog is a bit over the top.  One wonders how Danny could possibly see this rather insane man as a successful boxer (but that is Danny - always looking for the underdog!).  It's one of the weaker aspects of the plot, but does serve as a means of getting Cagney into a boxing ring (the AFI Catalog states that Cagney did his own boxing in the picture). 

We're also treated to a picture of bygone era in New York City - a time when you knew all your neighbors, and it was a fact of life that everyone knew what the other person was doing.  One scene in particular - Ma O'Hara passing a bit of butter wrapped in a napkin to her neighbor via the clothes-line between their apartments, brought up memories of my childhood, when my mother would lend a bowl or some eggs to the neighbor through a narrow kitchen shaft window!

The strength of the film is that strong sense of family.  Pat's anger at Danny's haphazard lifestyle centers more on his fear that Danny will not be able to help support the family when Pat marries and moves out than on any jealousy or dislike of his brother.  And the relationship between Ma and Lucille also emphasizes the family as a unit - Ma is immediately welcoming to a potential new member of her family.  Lucille senses that she is now an O'Hara, and seems to find in Ma the mother that she has lost (Lucille has a father, but it seems he may be widowed).

We'll end this discussion with a scene from the film, as Danny and Lucille get to know one another:

Joan's with Jimmy

We return to the pre-code era for Blonde Crazy (1931).  James Cagney stars as Bert Harris, a bootlegger and would-be con man who has an eye for the ladies and his sights set on the big con.  When Ann Roberts (Joan Blondell) arrives at the hotel where Bert works as a bellhop looking for a job, Bert helps arrange that she get it - assuming there will be a little quid pro quo in the romance department.  He quickly discovers that Ann is no pushover (which only makes Bert like her more).  He convinces her in joining him on a con - convince hotel guest (and lecher) Rupert Johnson (Guy Kibbee) to go out with Ann, and pony up some cash when a scandal is threatened.

Audience reaction  to this film (within our group) was mixed. Most of us enjoyed it, while one member did not care for the various con jobs that interspersed the story. But we uniformly enjoyed the combination of Cagney and Blondell. They are marvelous individually and sizzling as a couple.  Cagney sparkles as the vainglorious Bert, and when he gets his comeuppance, his reactions are spot on.  Similarly, Blondell is well able to convey the ambivalence that  Ann feels, a basically honest person driven to duplicity in the world of Depression America.  Mae Marsh (according to the AFI Catalog) was the original casting choice for Ann.

Joan Blondell had already been in 14 films and shorts when she received star billing in Blonde Crazy.  Prior to this film, she appeared as the second banana in films like Night Nurse, Illicit, and Big Business Girl.  She'd even appeared with Cagney in Sinner's Holiday (1930) and The Public Enemy (1931).  She would continue to be a lead at Warner Brothers throughout the 1930s, finally leaving to become an independent in 1939.  She continued to work in film until the end of the 1940s.  As film work dried up for the actress (who was now in her 40s), she moved to television, where she worked (including the occasional film role) until her death at age 73 in 1979.  Married three times (all of which ended in divorce), the ones best knows were to Dick Powell - which ended when Powell became involved with the younger June Allyson, and to Mike Todd (Blondell divorced him after he spent all her savings with his lavish lifestyle). 

This was not Ray Milland's (Joe Reynolds) first role in films.  He'd started in silent films, mostly in small parts, as Raymond Milland (his birth name was actually Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones), a name he would use in many of his films during the 1930s.  It really wasn't until 1940 that he began to get starring roles - The Doctor Takes a Wife, which we've already discussed, was one of those leading roles.  Four years later, he would appear in one of his best roles - the haunted Rod in The Uninvited. The following year, he would win the Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic at the end of his ropes in The Lost Weekend (his competition included Gregory Peck for The Keys of the Kingdom and Gene Kelly for Anchors Away).  In this film, he gets to run the gamut - and does it well.  His Joe Reynolds seems a loving, good man - the opposite of Cagney's Bert.  Ultimately, we discover that Joe is a dishonest cad, and Milland does a good job of making the transition, as well as making him an interesting foil for Bert.  Married for 54 years to Muriel Weber, Milland worked in both film and television until 1985; he died of cancer the following year.  His 1976 autobiography, Wide-Eyed in Babylon gave an amusing view of his years as a Hollywood leading man.

Also in the cast are Louis Calhern as Dapper Dan Barker and Noel Francis as Helen.  Ms. Francis' career was relatively brief - she appeared in 45 films between 1929 and 1937, many of the uncredited appearances.  Mr. Calhern, however, had a much longer career. He started in the silent era (in 1921), and continued working, primarily as the wealthy businessman or nasty conniver (as he is here).  He was the dying sybarite in The Man in a Cloak and  the oily businessman waiting for the world to discover the death of his rival in Executive Suite.  In his final film, he was as the deliciously lechy Uncle Willie in High Society.  He died that same year, 1956, while on location in Tokyo for the comedy The Teahouse of the August Moon.  

With multiple characters in the film getting away with all kinds of crooked activities, a scene with the lovely Ms. Blondell in a bathtub (and Mr. Cagney trying to get in for a gander), and another where Bert invites a more-than-willing young lady up to an empty hotel room, it's clear why this is easily placed as a pre-code film.  My fellow blogger at Pre-code.com notes in his review that the film has "everything lascivious about Depression-era film making and moralizing in one convenient package."  And despite a wishy-washy New York Times review, according to this TCM article, it did rather well at the box office.   The reason? James Cagney - just listen to him say "HON-eeey" a time or two and you'll be won over as well.

We'll close with this trailer (with the film's original title, Larceny Lane); you'll get an idea of just how Cagney will captivate you.  And, as the trailer says, together, Cagney and Blondell "are dynamite". 

Bloomer Girl Olivia

The Strawberry Blonde from 1941 is one of those wonderful movies that I think people just don't know about.  Here our Ms. de Havilland plays Amy Lind, a gutsy nurse whose best friend is Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth), the titular Strawberry Blonde.  Olivia is just a delight as she attempts to shock James Cagney (as T.L. "Biff" Grimes) with her suffragette ideas and outspoken manners.  One of my favorite scenes is Virginia, laying out her plan to entice Biff and Hugo Barnstead (played as a complete slime by Jack Carson) over, without looking forward.  "That will show them we're good girls and they can't trifle with us" asserts Virginia. "What did we come for if not to be trifled with?" questions Amy with some indigence.  Here is part of that scene:


It is rather a shame that Olivia and James Cagney did not get to do more pictures together. They are a quite delightful pair.  And again, combined with the stellar character actors that inhabit this movie, this movie is a lot of fun.  Rita Hayworth, in what is essentially a supporting part, is excellent as the at first naive, and later hard-as-nails Virginia.  Watch her in the final scene.  Her very voice will make you cringe.  George Tobias as Nick, Biff's best friend Nick, is adorable.  And then there are the always wonderful Alan Hale (as Biff's father) and Una O'Connor (as a next door neighbor to Mr. Grimes).  Oh, let's not leave out George Reeves as the obnoxious college man who lives next door to Biff and Amy.

The movie is told in flashback, a technique that works beautifully here, as we see the growth of Biff and Amy.  We know something really awful has happened to them, but not what or why.  We know that Biff has reached a crossroad, but not how he will deal with it.  The ending is satisfying, and we come to love these two people, who discover their love for each other though adversity and conflict. If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and try to catch it the next time it is on.  I think you will like it.

 

Precode, Busby and Cagney

We decided it was time to go back to some lighter fare, and since Footlight Parade had a brief moment in Wild Boys of the Road, we opted to start there.  It goes without saying that this movie is worth seeing if only to watch James Cagney dance (and act. Then again, he could read a telephone book, and I would watch).  But this is a fun movie, with the added attraction of Joan Blondell. A little tap dancing from Ruby Keeler, a song from Dick Powell - this is a movie not to be missed.

In some senses, the plot is not important here.  It's the musical numbers you pay closest attention to.  Indeed, most of the more suggestive bits of this movie are in the musical numbers: "Honeymoon Hotel", with the silhouette of the apparently naked ladies; "Sitting on a Backyard Fence" (did Andrew Lloyd Weber see this before making Cats?), and, of course, "Shanghai Lil".  Billy Barty's Mouse/Little Boy is just oh -so naughty!!  Here is the "Shanghai Lil" number:



Busby Berkeley has this way of making his number ever so slightly off-color, yet they are so spectacular, that you end up going "did I just see that"?  But this suggestion goes with the lush sets of the musical numbers; it compliments and enhances the over-the-top and unique vision that is Berkeley.  And then there is Cagney: brash, gutsy, sexy, and with a dancing style that is hard to imitate (the closest I ever saw was Mikhail Baryshnikov in his wonderful tv special Baryshnikov on Broadway). We so rarely get to see Cagney dance; double pleasure here.

More Berkeley next time.

Other Men's Women

 After Bill (Grant Withers) succeeds in ducking his marriage to Marie (Joan Blondell), his pal Jack (Regis Toomey) offers to put him up. Jack's wife, Lily (Mary Astor) has no objections, but as time goes on, Bill and Lily start to have feelings for one another.

Other Men's Women is rather an odd movie. The consensus of our group was that it didn't quite know what it wanted to be: a romance for the women, or an action-adventure movie for the men. It did have both elements, with the love story between Grant Withers and Mary Astor playing out within the context of railroad men.  Mary Astor's character, Lily, disappears for most of the end of the movie, and one wonders why she would leave her now-blind husband even with the danger of a ensuing flood.

We did enjoy this early James Cagney appearance. His characterization of Eddie was a delight - from his first appearance atop a railroad car to the scene where he meets his girl friend at a fancy club in work clothes - then proceeds to strip down to the tux he had donned underneath.  Add to that a little dance step of joy, and you can't help but smile at the man who will launch to "overnight" success as Tom Powers in only two months. He was an amazing dancer; it's a shame he didn't get to do more of it, but it does make what we have even more to be appreciated.

The juxtaposition of the beginning and ending scenes, both set in the same cafe, really gave you a good look at the development of Grant Wither's Bill White.  A nice advantage of seeing these on DVD is the ability to go back and compare the two scenes. 

Here's a brief scene with Mary Astor and Grant Withers:


Next week, on to The Purchase Price.