Lady Killer (1933)

Absolutely amazing

Blistering performances.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Arrogant movie usher James Cagney (as Dan Quigley) is fired from his job for rudeness, chewing gum, and shooting craps in the men's room. Played for a fool by scheming Mae Clarke (as Myra Gale), Mr. Cagney turns the tables on the slit-dressed woman and joins her gang. All goes well until an innocent maid gets seriously hurt during a heist, instigating a police investigation. To avoid capture, Cagney leaves New York for Los Angeles. He quickly builds an impressive career as a Hollywood "he-man" star. Cagney meets pretty and successful movie actress Margaret Lindsay (as Lois Underwood) while playing an Indian chief. All seems great, until the old gang wants in on the action...Cagney is great fun to watch, but "Lady Killer" bounces around so much we get lost. Every 20 minutes, or so, it seems like you're watching a different movie. There is no difficulty in following the changes as they occur, but there are times when you wonder if the movie that started might have ended, and another begun. Each time Clarke reenters the picture, it's time to scratch your head...Don't blink after about 20 minutes, it's when as Cagney lightly kisses Clarke's (clothed) left breast. Cagney's grabbing of Clarke by the hair and throwing her out of his room happens after about 54 minutes of running time. Cagney's character was in a violent mood, having just left a bad movie reviewer stone cold in a men's room (hopefully, he lived). We know those being punched out and dragged about weren't hurt, but two dozen monkeys are not treated nicely. The monkey segment is when Cagney celebrates Ms. Lindsay birthday by releasing the animals, to wreak havoc. In many cases, it appears as if stage hands and/or crew people are abusively throwing the monkeys into camera range.***** Lady Killer (1933-12-09) Roy Del Ruth ~ James Cagney, Mae Clarke, Margaret Lindsay. Leslie Fenton

Roy Del Ruth directed this gangster comedy as Jimmy Cagney plays a recently fired movie usher named Dan, who ends up with criminals, learning their ways, but who takes the rap for one of their crimes, and goes on the run to Hollywood where he becomes a famous movie star, attracting the attentions of his old associates who want in on the action, or they'll expose him... Mae Clarke plays his love interest, and has an amusing scene that reminds you of the famous "grapefruit" sequence from "The Public Enemy". Good Cagney Performance, but film isn't particularly funny as comedy, and overly familiar as a gangster picture. Innocuous and mostly forgettable.

Look out, world! Jimmy Cagney's coming to Hollywood and whether they use bullets or make-up the con artists haven't got a chance, in this raucous send-up featuring a New York crime boss who lands himself where the real action is – on a theater marquee.Cagney is a wise guy named Dan Quigley who can't make it as a movie usher, so he raises his sights from lavatory dice games to breaking into rich folks' homes with the help of a nasty gang. When that goes bad and the gang leaves him flat, Quigley finds a new line in Hollywood, first as an extra, soon after as a "Famous He-Man of the Screen." But what will happen when the old gang shows up for a piece of the action?The marquee in lights near the start of the film advertises someone called "The Prince Of Pep." He might as well be Cagney in this streamlined star vehicle, written entirely to showcase his fast patter and easy charm. Cagney's so good they don't even bother to build a coherent film around his character, and it hardly matters.If you want to see a great Cagney film, there are perhaps a couple dozen better candidates. But if you want to see why the guy clicked so hard in the days of early sound, and still packs a punch 80 years later, this should be on your short list.Cagney's lines here are priceless. To a dog being held by a theater manager who just fired him: "Listen, Fido, this guy's got a wooden leg. Try it sometime!"To a group of card sharps who just cleaned him out: "I think I'll stick to checkers."To the same group, after he's figured out their scam: "You kick back with my fifty bucks, or I'll fold your joint like an accordion!"Just seconds later, he proposes a partnership. "You got a sweet racket here. Maybe I can show you a few new wrinkles.""Lady Killer" was made just before the Hays Code was seriously enforced, which makes for interesting viewing. Reviewers here have already pointed out a scene when we see Quigley sneak Mae Clarke's character Myra a peck on the breast. The film takes even greater advantage of the liberal mores then still in effect by letting Quigley get away with his crimes. Sure, he goes straight, sort of, but only because he finds a better racket than potentially homicidal B&Es. There's no moment of Quigley coming to regret his wicked past, as censors would have required just months later.That makes for a more entertaining Cagney vehicle, but a somewhat disjointed film. Director Roy Del Ruth keeps things moving quick, but in odd directions in tone, turning "Lady Killer" from a semi-serious gangster story to a genially goofy Hollywood satire. In his DVD commentary, Drew Casper calls "Lady Killer" a "shyster satire." It might also be called a "crooked comedy;" no one is on the level, whichever side of the law they're on.So in Hollywood, we see Quigley break big after really slugging an extra in a mock prison break scene, and further his path toward stardom by faking fan letters. It's shallow stuff, but fun, especially as it all plays so fast. Other than the star, pacing is "Lady Killer's" ace in the hole.Clarke should have graduated from the grapefruit league with this performance. She and Cagney resume their fireworks from "Public Enemy," this time with even more outrageous stunts, but Clarke, here the first- billed female, does wise work making sure we enjoy her comeuppance. Even her catty asides to Cagney, or the way she shamelessly plays with her hair while shaking him down for (more) dough, is on par with Barbara Stanwyck's star-making wickedness.But make no mistake, "Lady Killer" is Cagney's baby, and he makes it work, despite the tone shifts and the odd title (Quigley's not a killer himself, and doesn't play with women's affections). You root for the guy despite his crookedness, and that's all that matters in the end.

The early James Cagney comedy "Lady Killer" chronicles the life of fast-talking grafter Dan Quigley from nobody to somebody. Dan (Cagney) starts out as an obnoxious dice slinging, usher at a Warner Brothers' studio. After he is fired him for insubordination, Dan stumbles into the illegal gambling racket. He retrieves a purse that a beautiful young lady has left in the Randolph Hotel. Dan takes the purse to the lady and finds himself participating in a penny ante poker. Predictably, Spade Maddock (Douglass Dumbrille of "Female") and his henchmen Smiley (Russell Hopton of "Car 99"), Pete (Raymond Hatton of "Motorcycle Gang"), and Duke (Leslie Fenton of "The Public Enemy"), fleece Dan, but he gets wise to them when he encounters another man looking for Myra's hotel room. Dan uncovers the fleece and blackmails them into letting him join them. Later, he crashes his car deliberately into a wealthy woman's limo so he can access to her mansion and then relays information about her valuable possessions to his larcenous cronies. Things take a turn for the worse when a goon in Dan's outfit, Duke, clobbers an innocent maid harder than necessary. News about the maid's condition prompts Dan's gang to split and he runs for it. Eventually, our protagonist lands a job as an extra at a Hollywood studio. As it happens, the studio is searching for a new matinée idol, and Dan finds himself living high, wide, and handsome. Nevertheless, he hasn't forgotten that his former accomplices, Myra Gale (Mae Clarke), Spade, Smiley, Pete, and Duke left him in the lurch and stole the $5-thousand for his bail bond. Dan manages to get out of jail, but the local authorities aren't happy with him. They promise him 30 days in the slammer if he doesn't find a job. One day a film talent scout (William Davidson of "Seven Sinners") runs Dan down. Dan suspects the talent scout as detectives sent to arrest him so he runs from them. Bumping into a beat cop, Dan finds himself cornered by the talent scouts and he receives an invitation to an open casting call. Dan embarks on the new career and we watch him as he goes from a hard-knuckled escaped convict with a deadly right cross to a romantic leading man." "Golddiggers of Broadway" director Roy Del Ruth has fashioned a snappy, lighthearted, urbane saga that provides some hilarious behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood and gives Cagney a legitimate reason to brandish a revolver. The turning point of the film occurs after Cagney's old girlfriend Myra catches up with him. She makes an unexpected appearance at his Hollywood apartment. It doesn't help their enmity that Dan is showing off to leading lady Lois Underwood (Margaret Lindsay of "British Intelligence") how he has redecorated his pad. Presumably, the villains didn't waste their money on movies. Anyway, the gang follows Myra back after Dan banishes her from his presence. Dan gives them his entire fortune to leave him alone. Trouble is they take his money and stick around after they'd agreed to leave town. Dan is furious because they have stolen some of Lois' jewelry. He takes a gun and confronts Spade and the others about the robbery. He takes Lois' jewelry at gunpoint but as he is backing out the door, the police arrest him! This is one of the few Pre-Codes where you see the gangsters wielding Tommy guns, and the final quarter of the action is as hot as anything in Cagney's later blockbuster "G-Men." Clocking in at 76 minutes, Cagney's fifteenth movie is terrific, especially the scene were the monkeys run wild at a Hollywood starlet's party.