This was a real pre code surprise. The writers really had some fun at the expense of the gangster genre and the Hollywood studio machine. Cagney looks as if he enjoyed every minute in this film, having as much fun as he did in Footlight Parade. Highlights of this film are the scam that Mae Clark runs - dropping purses to lure men to her apartment. Cagneys bit as an Indian Chief with his Yiddish name. Cagney in bar - looking like he's about to become a lost man. My personal favorite - Cagney writing his own fan mail to get better film parts. You know this bit came from a real story in early Hollywood. Cagney tossing Mae Clark out of his apartment. That was a nice bit of stunt work on her part. The dialogue is fast, the morals loose, and the story improbable. The end is a joke, more like a Keystone Kops crossed with a gangster film. I think that might have been the point too. If it looks and smells like a send up - then it probably is. Why bother with 'reality' TV trash when there are fun films like this to discover.
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kburditt31 January 2008
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jem1325 April 2007LADY KILLER is a film of surprises. Cagney indeed plays a gangster in the film, yet LADY KILLER does not really fit into the gangster cycle of the 1930's. It's more of a light comedy filled with in-jokes than anything dark or dramatic like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES or SCARFACE.
Cagney and Mae Clarke team up again after the success of the "Grapefruit Incident" in THE PUBLIC ENEMY. Cagney's role as movie usher-turned gangster-turned film star appears to be a send-up his Tom Powers role in the previous film. Cagney and Clarke share plenty of knowing looks as her character reads out a list of the fruit in Calofornia "Oranges, pineapples..." and pauses on "Grapefruit". Fantastic! More fruity fun occurs later when Mae, having betrayed Cagney's character, has a pineapple plonked unceremoniously in her lap.
Clarke, a sexy Pre-Code girl who is sadly forgotten today, deserves special mention here. It is unfortunate her career never really took off, as she did some terrific work in early talkies such as WATERLOO BRIDGE. She plays moll and partner-in-crime to her crooked chums in LADY KILLER and does a fine job of it. In a fun early scene, Cagney finds out that Mae is more than just an innocent doll who daintily dropped her purse on accident. She is revealed to be have a drawer full of purses, and is in cahoots with gangsters! Cagney once again kicks poor Mae around again in LADY KILLER, yet this time it's oddly fun. After Clarke breaks into Cagney's room and spoils his evening with his film-star girlfriend (the pretty Margaret Lindsay, much better here than in DANGEROUS), Cagney grabs her by her hair, kicking and screaming, and throws her out into the hall. Great Pre-Code fun!
LADY KILLER possesses a good script and the plot, whilst largely unbelievable, is quite fast-paced and offers some good surprises. In no other Cagney film will you see him donning Indian headdress and face paint, unleashing a cage of monkeys on a room full of Hollywood big shots and acting as an absurd Italian lover, chomping garlic and being pushed into a water fountain by Lindsay. There are some truly outrageous, off-beat classic moments in this film, with Cagney receiving a slap on the buttocks from a possibly homosexual film executive who then proceeds to take a good long look down at Cagney's...ahem...nether regions!
An absolute gem of a film.
8/10. -
Lady Killer (1933)
I love these multi-part stories, where one set of scenes shifts to a whole new set, and then they eventually intertwine. And I also love movies that show the inside of Hollywood, with actual recreations of movie sets and movie shoots.
Lady Killer has both, and James Cagney, too. It's fast, furious, funny, and shot with a bright, glinting intelligence. Not quite a gangster film, it does have crime and some crooked thugs. And not quite a comedy, it pulls out quite a few laughs, mostly because Cagney is a card. There are two fabulous first ladies (and they naturally must view for our man), Mae Clark and Margaret Lindsay, and a slew of second men who hold up their characters with caricature.
In all, there is no Warner message here, except maybe the virtue can sometimes prevail. It's just a lot of great scenes, witty dialog, and a play of good guys against bad guys. Look for some stunning rain scenes in California (yeah, I know), and for a huge range of interior and exterior set ups, fairly elaborate for Warner Bros. budgets.
For Cagney fans, it's a riot to see him take on, briefly, a series of roles as Indian chief, Italian lover, and prisoner on work detail. The latter, of course, is close to the real roles that made him famous, and his role here is actually a little lighter than that, a bad guy who is all wisecracks and cheerfulness. Look for some insider jokes, like the poster (and mention) of the Edward G. Robinson film, and the movie ushers wearing hats all with the Warner Brothers logo on it.
Great stuff. I loved it even as I knew it wasn't quite a masterpiece. Oh, and the new (2010) Warner DVD is sparkling, a first rate print! -
stevebear#120 April 2000If you like James Cagney, and I sure do, you'll love this comedy melodrama from the pre-code years at Warner Brothers. Cagney portrays a cheap hoodlum who falls in with a gang of petty con artists, gets wrapped on the knucklesl by the long arm of the law, and winds up becoming a movie matinee idol. It's fun all the way, with enough wise-cracking dialogue, rapid action, car chases, gunfire, and double-dealing to satisfy any fan of the early gangster films, yet it's a lively, tongue-in-cheek comedy from start to finish. Enjoy!
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Jimmy Cagney plays a gangster in this film. However, despite having seen him play such a role in countless other films, this one is unique and well worth seeing because it STILL dares to be different.
Cagney is a wanted man back East, so he gets the idea of going to the West Coast to hang out and wait for things to die down. However, once there he is discovered by Hollywood and stars in gangster films because he is "so natural and believable". Well, despite his very shady past, Cagney tries to go straight and likes the life of a star. However, old associates realize who he is and try to blackmail him.
The film is a light comedy that invigorates the standard gangster genre. For its uniqueness and excellent acting and writing, the film gets an 8. -
slokes18 October 2013Look 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. -
utgard1428 July 2014New York criminal (James Cagney) takes it on the lam and winds up in Hollywood. There he gets a job working in movies, first in bit parts and eventually as a leading man. But when his old gang hears about his newfound success, they come knocking on his door and risk ruining everything for him.
I hesitate to call this a gangster picture like everybody else seems to be doing. Cagney's character starts out the movie joining a gang but it's a gang of confidence men. Then they graduate to robbing houses before someone is shot and they have to leave town. These aren't racketeers or guys shooting it out with tommy guns. So, in my view, they're criminals for sure but not what I would call gangsters. Not that it matters much in the end. This movie reunites Cagney with his Public Enemy costars Mae Clarke and Leslie Fenton. Clarke is a treat to watch and has great chemistry with Cagney. Lovely Margaret Lindsay plays the movie star Cagney falls for. I'm a fan of hers so of course I enjoyed her in this. Highlights include Cagney dragging Clarke out of his room by her hair and Cagney forcing a movie critic to eat his own review. A fun crime comedy from Warner Bros. with another great Cagney role. -
gerrythree21 September 2006"Lady Killer" represents a combination of talents Hollywood will never see again. There is fast talking James Cagney, who starts the movie as a dice playing, gum chewing usher who makes wise guy, but funny, comments to everyone. In Cagney's opening scene, he just makes it to a count out of the 25 ushers, held on the roof of the movie theater they work at. All wear Warner Bros. uniforms, including a cap with the WB logo on it. As Cagney advances in life, he becomes a partner in a gambling operation. One of his confederates slugged too hard a maid and almost kills her during a home robbery, another criminal activity Cagney's gang is involved in. Cagney tells the confederate (played by a snarling Leslie Fenton), what does he think, the police are dumbbells. Dumbbell was a favorite word of screenwriter Ben Markson, who used it to good advantage in another movie he co-wrote, "Gold Diggers of 1933."
Roy Del Ruth does his usual super job, cramming a ton of action into 76 minutes. There is one scene,where the cab of Mae Clarke's character is stopped at one of those old traffic devices, which has two signal vanes, one marked stop, and the other go. The stop signal goes up, another of Cagney's partners,Douglas Dumbrille, happens to be in the adjacent cab, he gets into Clarke's. He tells her "things are plenty hot in New York, I just jumped my bail and beat it out here by plane," to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Cagney is being questioned by the LA police, who previously picked him up at the train station on a New York warrant. Cagney tells the police chief, he went West for the climate, on account of his asthma. This scene represents the first mention I know of asthma in a mainstream movie. Later, after Cagney is sprung loose, Brannigan, the cop (played by Robert Elliot, almost typecast to cop roles in the 30s) who first pulled him in at the train station, tells him that if he doesn't find a job, he will be picked up as a "vag" (for vagrant) and get 30 days in jail.
When you look at this scene, notice the outline of the Venetian blinds on the office wall, and the dark shadows falling on the the faces of the Chief, Brannigan and Cagney's character. This scene, and the subsequent scene of Cagney trying to keep a low profile in a pool hall, unshaven and furtive, look as if they were from a film noir movie, only these scenes were made more than 12 years before the film noir cycle started.
The scenes showing Cagney working as a movie extra show how movies were made in the early 1930s, at least according to Roy Del Ruth. There is a scene of Cagney as an Indian chief on an imitation horse riding in front of a back projection screen, the movie director shouting, with a heavy European accent, "Ride, That A Boy!" Later, on a 15 minute lunch break, box lunch in hand, Cagney identifies himself to his future girlfriend, Margaret Lindsay as a Chief with the name, said in Yiddish, Pain In The Ass. I could be off in the translation, but Cagney used a Yiddish phrase.
The movie plot has one unexpected connection to real life. In 1939, there was a New York gangster named Greenbaum, nicknamed "Big Greenie." As I recall, from reading Burton Turkus's book, "Murder, Inc." years ago, Greenbaum fled to the West Coast, where he worked as an extra in movies while avoiding Lepke's killers. Greenbaum knew too much, and Lepke eventually managed to have "Big Greenie" killed.
"Lady Killer" was made in 1933 fast, by great talents. I saw it playing the laserdisc of the movie, part of the double laserdisc of James Cagney movies that Image released in 1992. The second movie on the LD set, "Blonde Crazy," made in 1931, is good also, but the advances made in movie making in two years are really something, comparing the two movies.
There is only one slight flaw in "Lady Killer." In every other pre-Code movie I saw from Warner Bros., when someone reads a telegram, you see the telegram message on screen, the telegram made by the prop department. When the LA police chief shows a telegram to Cagney, explaining the situation, he tells him New York authorities asked him to hold Cagney's character. You never see the actual telegram message, Warners usual practice then, a practice not usually followed by other studios. Maybe Warners' prop department did prepare a fictitious telegram but movie director Roy Del Ruth thought it looked "fakey." -
1930s_Time_Machine19 May 2022If you want to know how James Cagney become such a huge star, just watch this - not quite this story about a con man who becomes a Hollywood star but how he outshines the rest of the cast. Even though they are all passable actors, Cagney is somehow in a different league. The downside was that by outshining his co-stars, their contributions make the whole film seem a little amateurish. The upside was that to keep up with him eventually everyone had to get up to his standard but this hadn't quite happened by 1933.
This film is super-fast, super-snappy and both reasonably funny and gripping at the same time. Overseen by Warner's production head Daryl Zanuck, it was written specifically for Cagney to highlight his own particular talents and loveable rogue personality.
Warner Brothers knew exactly what they were doing - making a star and making a lot of money but didn't account for Cagney's demands for staggeringly enormous wages. They did their sums and reluctantly always gave in - just watching him in this you can see why. -
AlsExGal5 August 2021When you think of James Cagney, you think of a gangster in films like The Public Enemy, where he smashed that grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face. But Cagney won his Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy. He also received nominations for Angels With Dirty Faces and Love Me or Leave Me.
Here he shows just how far his range extends in a romantic comedy which also includes Mae Clarke in a bigger role than you are probably accustomed to seeing her. There is a lot of action in this 76 minute film. Cagney is a theater usher who gets fired and ends up following Mae as she is trolling for suckers to get fleeced by her partners in a card game. He joins the group and they pull bigger more sophisticated cons until a trigger happy gang member kills a servant during a home robbery.
He and Mae head to Los Angeles, and when the LA police hold him for what happened in New York, Myra and one of the gang make off with Cagney's money. The LA police ultimately have to let him go, but penniless he gets increasingly shaggy and ragged looking. This causes him to get picked up for a series of bit parts by a local movie crew exactly because of his scruffy looks. One of the fascinating bits here is seeing how movies were made at the time. He hooks up with star Margaret Lindsay and uses his conning skills to make himself a star. (As an aside, Lindsey made 12 films that year, her second year as an actress.)
Soon, Mae and the gang find him and they want to pick up where they left off, using Cagney to get into posh places that they can rob. He tries to get them out of town, but they see dollars in LA and are going nowhere. How will this all work out? Watch and find out. And like I said, there's a lot of action for 76 minutes and Cagney really shows he can do romance, comedy, and gangster all in one film. -
cordaro941811 September 2008Hustler gets hustled, goes to Hollywood and hits big.
Hustler's friends arrive to hustle him again... and get hustled in return.
All this and the boy gets the girl too.
Very simple Cagney gangster type film, but lighter on the bullets. It rolls along at a fair pace and sews itself up pretty well.
With revisits from some 'Pubic Enemy' cast-mates, Cagney does a great job turning out 'A' list material in a 'B' list film, just as his career was built on.
If you're an Cagney fan or a fan of 'Dream Factory' old school films, bring some popcorn. -
ccthemovieman-14 February 2008For anyone who enjoys James Cagney, this is a must-see. Yes, it's early in his career, but it's vintage Cagney: cocky, quick-tempered but humorous and likable as always. I am excited to see it finally coming out on DVD in March of 2008.
Instead of being a gangster throughout the story, he starts off that way in New York, runs off to Los Angeles and then goes straight after being hired as a Hollywood extra in a movie. He becomes a star but then his old gang catches up with him and he has to deal with them.
Along the way, three of the supporting actors combine with Cagney to make this a very fast- moving 74-minute film. They are Mae Clark, as the female villain "Myra Gale," Margaret Lindsay at the good woman "Lois Underwood," and Douglass Dumbrille as "Spade," the former leader of the New York gang. All are very convincing in their roles under the able work of director Roy Del Ruth.
You can tell this was a pre-code film just looking at Lindsay's ample cleavage, something that would have been covered up a bit more if the film had been made the following year. Other than that, and a few minor innuendos, the film is pretty clean, morally speaking.
One thing you certainly wouldn't see in today's films was the scene showing Cagney grabbing Clark by the hair and dragging her across the room, then booting her out in the hallway! (This is the same actress who received the famous grapefruit-in-the-face from Cagney in "Public Enemy.")
Anyway, yes the film is dated in much of the dialog and attitudes but it's so entertaining, so much fun to watch that it would still appeal to a good-sized audience today, too. -
Though dated quite a bit, Lady Killer is still enjoyable today though the film is the victim of some bad editing and plot holes.
James Cagney gets fired from his job as a movie usher and gets picked up by Mae Clarke who's the moll and come-on for a gang of crooks who have many sidelines. Currently they are running a poker game and Cagney gets taken. Of course he discovers it shortly, but instead of turning them in, he joins them.
But murder he doesn't figure on after he fingers a job at a rich widow's mansion. He beats it to California on the lam and gets work as an extra. But through a little chicanery gets a featured role in a film and becomes a movie star. Of course the old gang looks him up and there are consequences.
There's some bad editing in Lady Killer. Cagney starts courting star Margaret Lindsay and in a scene that must have been cut she expressed to him to have monkeys, elephants and yodelers at her birthday party. It was a joke because in what we do see, Cagney brings all those things to her party and Marx Brothers like chaos results. It was a very funny scene, but it had no foundation.
There's one interesting scene that is a commentary on the times. When Cagney arrives in Los Angeles, he's immediately picked up by the LAPD and held for questioning for those New York activities. They let him go for lack of evidence, but threaten that if he doesn't get a job in two days he'll be picked up on a sodomy rap. Though the word they use is an offensive euphemism.
When Cagney is spotted by some agents from the studio looking for various types as actors his natural instinct in this next scene is to run. Not a good thing to have a sodomy rap hung on you whether it was true or not. He had every reason to fear it. Then this was before the code, in two years the topic was never even mentioned.
Lady Killer is typical of the type of film that Cagney was being used in by Warner Brothers, enjoyable for his fans, risqué a bit, but badly edited as well. -
Doylenf18 October 2006Very dated JAMES CAGNEY flick has him fighting to keep control over two leading ladies: good gal MARGARET LINDSAY who's a Hollywood actress, and bad girl MAE CLARKE who's the moll in a gangster's gang. On the lam after a robbery turns into murder, Cagney winds up in Hollywood as a bit player who soon graduates to stardom. His old gang from New York wants to blackmail him so they turn up and the heat is on.
It's the kind of story tailor-made for an actor like Cagney who takes to his street tough role like a duck to water. He gives pretty rough treatment to Mae Clarke again, this time not slapping her in the face with a grapefruit but pulling her across the room by her hair and then tossing her out in the hall and throwing her suitcase after her.
It's all on the implausible side and ends with a feverish car chase with the police tipped off that the gangsters are trying to kill him. Good triumphs over evil and Cagney is cleared of all charges in time for a standard happy ending.
Fairly entertaining, brisk little caper but nothing special. Only Cagney's ardent fans will want to catch this one. -
Michael_Elliott25 February 2008Lady Killer (1933)
*** (out of 4)
James Cagney plays a movie usher who gets fired and then gets mixed up with some gangster being led by Douglas Dumbrille and Margaret Lindsay. Soon a crime goes wrong so Cagney runs off to Hollywood where he starts work as an extra but quickly becomes a movie star. This is an enjoyable little comedy that works pretty well as a spoof of Hollywood and it gives Cagney a chance to make fun of his own image. Cagney is very good in his role, which once again shows him as a cocky, high tempered thug but there's also other moments including Cagney playing an Indian as well as showing off his comic side. Mae Clarke plays Cagney's love interest in Hollywood and the two are very good together with that infamous scene of Cagney dragging her across the floor by her hair. Both Lindsay and Dumbrille add nice support in their roles. One of the film's highlights is when Cagney orders two dozen monkeys to a party where they escape and cause all sorts of trouble. There's also plenty of nice gags aimed at Hollywood and directors. The film starts to run out of steam during the final act but if you're a fan of Cagney or films of this era then this is certainly worth checking out. -
lastliberal31 January 2008When you think of James Cagney, you think of a gangster in films like The Public Enemy, where he smashed that grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face. But Cagney won his Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy. He also received nominations for Angels With Dirty Faces and Love Me or Leave Me. Here he shows just how far his range extends in a romantic comedy which also includes Mae Clarke in a bigger role.
There is a lot of action in this 76 minute film. Cagney is a theater usher who gets fired and ends up following Mae as she is trolling for suckers to get fleeced by her partners in a card game. He joins the group and they pull more cons until a trigger happy gang member kills a maid. He and Mae head to Los Angeles, where he gets picked up for a series of bit parts because of his scruffy looks.
One of the fascinating bits here is seeing how movies were made at the time. He hooks up with star Margaret Lindsay and uses his conning skills to make himself a star. (As an aside, Lindsey made 12 films that year, her second year as an actress.) Soon, Mae and the gang find him and they pick up where they left off. He tries to get them out of town, but they see dollars in LA. They hit Lindsey, who is his girlfriend, and he strikes back, but ends up back in jail. But, he ends up turning the tables at the end.
Like I say, a lot of action for 76 minutes and Cagney really shows he can do romance, comedy, and gangster all in one film. -
whpratt131 January 2008Thought I had seen all of James Cagney's films, but this film was a complete surprise to me and I enjoyed the unbelievable talents of Cagney in this film which is filled with comedy and drama. Cagney plays the role as Dan Quigley who is an usher in a movie house and gets himself fired for not abiding by the rules. Dan meets up with a bunch of con-men who try to cheat him out of fifty bucks and he discovers their racket and then decides to join them in other crooked adventures. Dan decides to go to Los Angeles, California and is soon discovered by a Hollywood producer who needs a person who looks like a crook and so Dan starts getting some bit parts in films and begins to be discovered as a great actor. Dan also meets up with Myra Gale, (Mae Clarke) who is a big film star and they get along just great until Lois Underwood, (Margaret Lindsay) is found in his bedroom by Myra and the relationship cools off rather quickly. This is a very entertaining film and Cagney is at his very best as far as I am concerned.
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blanche-26 September 2012Roy del Ruth directed this early pre-code Cagney film, "Lady Killer" from 1933, also starring Mae Clarke, Margaret Lindsay, and Douglas Dumbrille.
Cagney plays Dan Quigley, a movie usher who, after he's fired, find a woman's (Mae Clarke) purse. He tries to catch her but can't. So he goes to her house and returns it. She's Myra Gale, and she invites him in for a drink. Turns out some men are at her place gambling, so Dan joins them and loses $50. As he's leaving, he sees another man coming up the stairs with a purse. Dan says he's related to Myra and will return it. When Myra sees him at the door, she tries to shut it but he forces his way in, goes into the back room and demands his money back. Then he offers to expand the operation so they can all make money. The guys agree.
Soon the dough comes rolling in, and the gang go to a society woman's house, where Dan pretends to have had an accident. He's carried into the house and cases the joint. The ambulance (his cohorts) picks him up and takes him to the hospital. Then they rob the house. Unfortunately they do it the same day, and soon the cops are onto the gang. They all take off, and Dan is picked up in LA on a New York warrant. When he asks Myra to bring him his money so he can post bail, she splits with the money, leaving Dan to fend for himself. He's finally released due to lack of evidence.
After the police threaten to arrest him as a vagrant, Dan finds a job as a film extra. He and a friend write dozens and dozens of fan letters and the studio notices, and he becomes a film star! He falls for fellow film star Lois Underwood, but runs afoul of the old gang. Now that he's making good, they hold his bad deeds over his head and want help casing Hollywood mansions.
Interesting film with lots going on in something like 76 minutes. Cagney is terrific, and he and Mae share an in joke when she reads the fruits grown in California, one of which is "grapefruit." We see a bit of behind the scenes movie making. Also, "Lady Killer" has some noirish touches, though this is a decade or so before noir.
Fun film with a nice mix of humor and drama carried by Cagney's strong performance, ably assisted by Clarke and Lindsay. -
MartynGryphon21 August 2008Lady Killer, despite it's tough and sinister sounding name, is actually a thoroughly entertaining Romantic Comedy released at the tail end of 1933, a time when prohibition had just been rescinded, the new FDR administration vowed to lift America from the depression and movie audiences couldn't get enough of James Cagney. Throughout the early '30's, Warner Brother's, keen to give the public what they wanted, kept Cagney busy churning out new Cagney vehicles at an almost exponential rate. These were the formative years for Cagney, long before Pat O'Brien had given him the affectionate nickname 'The Professional Againster' (due to his many fall outs with Warner's), Cagney did as he was told and in this, his fifth and final movie of 1933 he did not disappoint neither his fans nor Jack Warner himself.
Cagney plays Dan Quigley, a theatre usher who is as just as unsuited to his job as he is the white tailcoat and cap he is forced to wear. After receiving several warnings about his rudeness to customers and illegal dice games in the men's room, he is fired, but Quigley's street smarts mean that he won't be out of work for long.
After seeing a beautiful young lady drop her purse he plays the Samaritan by returning it to her apartment, obviously looking for a 'reward' though perhaps not one of the financial kind. the woman Myra (Mae Clarke), at first flirts with him until interrupted by her 'brother in law' Spade Maddock (Douglass Dumbrille). Spade invites Quigley to join the poker game that he and a few friends are having and Quigley, a keen gambler, readily agrees. However, he's soon cleaned out, and after bidding everyone a fond farewell, makes his exit. Upon leaving the apartment, he meets another man on the stairs returning another 'dropped' purse to Myra's home. Realising he's been 'played', he forces his way back into the apartment threatening to tell the cops everything if his money is not returned. The gang, both blackmailed and impressed by him then allow him to join the gang for a share of the take. It's not long however before Quigley is running the show, and Quigley's transformation from Usher to Gangster is complete.
Months later, the gang under Quigley's leadership, own a successful nightclub and carefully choose their next con victims from the wealthy hoy palloy that regularly frequent their joint. After one of his gang critically injures a maid on one robbery and murders a butler on another, Quigley draws the line. By his own admission, he is a thief and a grifter, but not a murderer. With the gang now wanted, Myra and Quigley lam out to California but the police arrest him on arrival. Instead of bailing him out, Myra, thinking she too will be arrested and being prompted by the two faced Maddock, skips town.
After being released due to lack of evidence, a penniless Quigley is left to roam the streets of Los Angeles until a movie talent scout, looking for 'tough guy types' signs him up. After making a suitable impression in a prison movie, his parts start to increase. He meets Lois Underwood, (Margaret Lindsay), a young studio starlet. The chemistry between the two is there from the start, and they are both so down to earth, that neither cannot see a problem with a romance between extra and star.
However, Quigley has no intention of remaining an extra for very long realising that there's big money to be made in this 'picture racket'. After hilariously writing hundreds of his own fan letters and employing a stooge to post them to the studio from various corners of the country, the star roles are not too long in coming and Dan Quigley becomes the new star of Hollywood. Sadly, Quigley's transformation from Gangster to Movie Star was always going to be overshadowed. With his new found fame, comes new found recognition, and Quigley's old gang arrive in town looking to use his shady past as a means to blackmail him into helping them commit robberies of the Hollywood elite. Quigley, determined to go straight, bribes them to leave town but when the homes of several movie stars are robbed, Quigley puts two and two together. The LAPD who, who still aware of Quigley's past, suspect him of guiding the robbers to their targets convinced that 'once a thief, always a thief'. It is only when Lois's house is targeted that Quigley decides enough is enough and with his career, his romance and his very life in danger decides to sort things out once and for all.
Cagney, as always, is a dynamo of energy throughout this movie and he is a joy to watch, as is Mae Clarke as Myra. However, Margaret Lindsay's performance as Lois didn't grab me as it should have. I loved Lindsay as an actress, but found her character here quite two dimensional and slightly annoying. Douglass Dumbrille makes a great villain as no other actor of the time could play the dis likable 'slimy' characters as well as he could. The best scene for me was the unforgettable scene where Cagney drags poor Mae Clarke by the hair through TWO hotel rooms before booting her butt out into the hallway. Mae Clarke was a real trouper and she sure put up with a lot from Cagney in those early years (remember the grapefruit?).
My other favourite scenes are when the critic is made to 'eat his words', and the adorably cute little monkey's. The latter perhaps was a scene that needlessly prolonged the movie but funny all the same.
Of all the movies Cagney made in 1933, this is not the best (I'll reserve that honour for Footlight Parade). But at the end of the day, It's still a Jimmy Cagney movie and his very presence in ALL but two or three scenes means that you're never allowed to forget it either.
Enjoy. -
rmax30482321 August 2015Warner Brothers used to grind out these programmers with all the players, crew, writers, and directors under studio contract as if the films themselves were White Castle hamburgers, one after another, all the same except for a twist here, a variation there. This is a nearly perfect example.
I don't know how many times I've seen clips of this movie in documentaries dealing with Warner Brothers or James Cagney's career. Here's Cagney being stopped by a bum on the streets of 1933 Los Angeles and asked for enough to buy a cup of coffee. Cagney slaps a bill into hand and barks, "Here! Now go buy yourself a PERKALATER!" Cagney dressed as an Indian riding a fake horse. Cagney, after having shoved a grapefruit in Mae Clark's face in a previous picture, dragging Clark by the hair through two rooms and kicking her in the behind when he throws her out. Cagney, having ridden a bouncing wooden horse for hours, is too sore to sit down, and when a passing woman asks how he feels, Cagney answer in Yiddish.
The story begins in New York, with Cagney part of a gang of thieves. With the police closing in, the others betray Cagney and he finds himself alone and broke in Los Angeles. Then he's hired as an extra and has much more luck than I did, although I'm more handsome and by far the better performer. "Three bucks a day and a box lunch a horse wouldn't eat!" He wangles his way to stardom before his ex partners show up and begin hounding him. It ends in a car chase and shoot out.
It's a 30s gangster movie -- and why not? It was the era of the "motorized bandits" -- Pretty Boy Floyd, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde. It's Cagney at his most cocky and graceful. He spins around with a gun in one hand, the other hand dangling loosely at the wrist. He smiles, he sneers, he looks doubtful. He's kinetic all over. The very hairs on his head do a little toe dance. -
zelig-1112 September 2008A worthy predecessor of 'Get Shorty'. Both stories share a similar basic plot revolving around a gangster trying to switch from the crime racket to the film racket. It has the same frequent unexpected Tarantinoseque changes of tone from comedy to bursts of REAL violence:
As we witness the quick rise of Cagney from an usher to a crime lord and into a Hollywood Star we also can see the political development of Warners' Gangster movies cycle as well: from Cagney as a loser, a tragic hero in 'Public Enemy' (1931) to a winning cooperative agent of the law in 'G Men' (1935). However, 'Lady Killer' is very reflexive in regard to this process constantly drawing witty analogies between the crime system and the Hollywood system. This is a very good mix between a gangster movie and a screwball comedy. The screwball part involving a love story between Cagney and a Hollywood starlet (Margaret Lindsay) is a little bit undeveloped but this is a small complaint - Cagney is at his prime here: constantly switching moods and customs, shooting wisecracks in Yiddish and generally kicking every and any ass in sight he never lets the movie bore us even for one second. -
arthur_tafero29 August 2021This film's plot is as likely as a snow storm in Miami. But despite the unbelievable turns of fate in the film, Jimmy Cagney makes it all worthwhile. A small-time hustler graduates to the big time in crime, but refuses to get involved in murders. He runs to Hollywood and becomes a star. Now anyone who wants to believe this plot so far, should see me about buying a bridge in Brooklyn I have for sale. Forget about the plot; just enjoy the ride.
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In the 1930s, Warner Brothers became the go-to studio for making films involving social drama themes---particularly stories about crime and its effect on society. Its three principal male actors who developed a specialty in playing roles in this genre were Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. They achieved major fame from the realistic and often violent way they depicted criminal behavior during this period of economic unrest brought about by the Great Depression.
However, in the midst of starring in many "gangster-type" movies, each of these actors departed from being type-cast and chose to "spoof" their other work by tackling comedy. Cagney was the first with a pair of comic criminal satires---"Lady Killer " (LK) (1933) and "Jimmy the Gent"(1934). Robinson soon followed with "A Slight Case of Murder" (1938). Finally, Bogart appeared in "All Through the Night" (1942). LK may be the best of this group of films because of its energetic pace, nonstop action, inspired combination of comedy and melodrama and the sheer fun Cagney and the other actors seemed to have at poking holes in their usual anti-social characters.
In particular, Cagney excelled in projecting wit, vitality, cockiness and optimism at a time when life was especially hard on members of the underclass. Just as Footlight Parade (1933) captures the young Jimmy Cagney in a definitive example of his unique and under appreciated dancing skill---LK gave him a rare opportunity to demonstrate his special aptitude for physical comedy. This was often missed because so many of his hit movies dealt with serious social issues.. Cagney was so believable as the theater usher/criminal/movie actor character in LK that many in the audience actually felt that they were watching the "real" Cagney on the screen---a transformation perhaps more dramatic than any realized in the work of either Bogart or Robinson.
The idea that a mobster would move to Hollywood to escape the law and successfully adopt the guise of an actor in the process is outrageous yet compelling in its audacity. That Cagney would then become a real star as part of the narrative only adds "icing to the cake." Was Cagney really.what he pretended to be--and if so---which role reflected his true character?
Hollywood often took itself quite seriously when it engaged in self-satire. Cf. A Star Is Born.(1937) and. Sunset Boulevard (1950). In LK, the narrative borders on the outlandish, which only adds to its enjoyment as movie entertainment. All the actors seem inspired by participating in this thoroughly offbeat.and delightful film. It is our loss that the multi-talented James Cagney never was given another similar opportunity to play.a zany comic character.
In any event, we have LK---and that is a major plus in a long career that had so many others! -
oscaralbert19 February 2017. . . in Warner Bros.' urgent 1933 warning flick LADY KILLER, in which Warner's psychic prognosticators cast Jimmy Cagney as the potential destroyer of our USA Homeland, that Deplorable White House Resident Rump. Between the 46 and 48 minute mark of LADY KILLER, Cagney unleashes a crate of two dozen Capuchin Monkeys at actress "Lois Underwood's" housewarming party (which is Warner's warning about the caliber of Rump's Basket of Deplorable Cabinet Choices that could be expected IF or when the Billionaire's Rich People Party suddenly is allowed to run characters from the Doonesbury Comic Strip--check out the 1989 run--for Our Nation's Most Hallowed Office: polls show that Mickey Mouse would have SWEPT the Undemocratically Racist Electoral College in EVERY Presidential Election held since 1932 HAD MICKEY ONLY BEEN nominated by the Repubs!). Cagney\Rump's crate of Terrorist Capuchins in LADY KILLER immediately set about destroying Lois' priceless antiques and furnishings, as well as her expensive light fixtures, while contaminating all the food she's set out for her guests (symbolizing We the People of America). Anyone exposed to REAL News these past few weeks (as opposed to Fox's Fake and Unhinged "Reports") will immediately notice that Cagney\Rump's Capuchins are eerily accurate in predicting the Havoc in store for We Patriotic True Blue Loyal Normal Union Card Americans who are NOT Corrupt Billionaires: Each member of Rump's Cabinet of Horrors is carefully selected by his Puppetmaster Vlad "Mad Dog" Putin's Red Commie KGB as the person best suited to totally DESTROY the departments which they've been appointed to ruin. Most of them are on record as being life-long cranks and charlatans viciously opposed to these vital organs of the U.S. Government. Thus the Energy Secretary--aided by Secretary of State Rex "Exxon Valdez Tillerson and Environmental Pollution Agency (EPA) chief Tom "The Mad Fracker" Pruitt (look for the latter's Doppelganger swinging from the chandelier) will ruin our domestic energy grid like the Capuchins ransacking Lois' fixtures, the Health Secretary Tom Price will contaminate our food like a chimp peeing in the punch bowl, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will teach us that she devolved from a more advanced branch of the Primate Family so recently that she spells worse than a Capuchin. YOU must watch LADY KILLER (Rump's fraternity nickname) to see the other 81 Warner Bros. warnings against this whole Rump\Scents Stink-O-Rama!
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AaronCapenBanner3 November 2013Roy 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.