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IMDbPro

Picture Snatcher

  • 19331933
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 17m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
112,333
46,961
James Cagney and Alice White in Picture Snatcher (1933)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:01
1 Video
12 Photos
CrimeDrama
Ex-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. Mr Nolan, her father, doesn't li... Read allEx-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. Mr Nolan, her father, doesn't like that relation at first, but McLean, Kean's boss, convinces him of Kean's good nature. B... Read allEx-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. Mr Nolan, her father, doesn't like that relation at first, but McLean, Kean's boss, convinces him of Kean's good nature. But Kean uses his relation to Patricia to make a photo of an execution. Due to this, Nolan ... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
112,333
46,961
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Lloyd Bacon
    • Writers
      • Daniel Ahern(based on a story by)
      • Allen Rivkin(adaptation)
      • P.J. Wolfson(adaptation)
    • Stars
      • James Cagney
      • Ralph Bellamy
      • Patricia Ellis
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Lloyd Bacon
    • Writers
      • Daniel Ahern(based on a story by)
      • Allen Rivkin(adaptation)
      • P.J. Wolfson(adaptation)
    • Stars
      • James Cagney
      • Ralph Bellamy
      • Patricia Ellis
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 37User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews

    Videos1

    Picture Snatcher
    Trailer 1:01
    Picture Snatcher

    Photos12

    James Cagney and Alice White in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    Patricia Ellis in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney and Alice White in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney, Patricia Ellis, and Robert Emmett O'Connor in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney and Ralf Harolde in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney and Patricia Ellis in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney, Georgie Billings, Cora Sue Collins, and Patricia Ellis in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney and Ralf Harolde in Picture Snatcher (1933)
    James Cagney, Patricia Ellis, and Alice White in Picture Snatcher (1933)

    Top cast

    Edit
    James Cagney
    James Cagney
    • Danny Kean
    Ralph Bellamy
    Ralph Bellamy
    • McLean
    Patricia Ellis
    Patricia Ellis
    • Patricia Nolan
    Alice White
    Alice White
    • Allison
    Ralf Harolde
    Ralf Harolde
    • Jerry
    Robert Emmett O'Connor
    Robert Emmett O'Connor
    • Police Lt. Casey Nolan
    Robert Barrat
    Robert Barrat
    • Grover
    G. Pat Collins
    G. Pat Collins
    • Hennessy - Fireman
    • (as George Pat Collins)
    Arthur Vinton
    Arthur Vinton
    • John - Sing Sing Head Keeper
    Tom Wilson
    Tom Wilson
    • Leo
    Maurice Black
    Maurice Black
    • Speakeasy Proprietor
    • (uncredited)
    Stanley Blystone
    Stanley Blystone
    • Prison Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Don Brodie
    Don Brodie
    • Hood
    • (uncredited)
    James P. Burtis
    James P. Burtis
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    • James Peters - Drunken Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    George Chandler
    George Chandler
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Cora Sue Collins
    Cora Sue Collins
    • Jerry's Little Girl
    • (uncredited)
    Gino Corrado
    Gino Corrado
    • Barber
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Lloyd Bacon
    • Writers
      • Daniel Ahern(based on a story by)
      • Allen Rivkin(adaptation)
      • P.J. Wolfson(adaptation)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The scene of Danny photographing an execution is based an actual incident in which Chicago-based crime photographer Tom Howard (who was the grandfather of 'George Wendt') surreptitiously snapped the famous photo of convicted murderess Ruth Snyder's January 12, 1928 execution in the electric chair at Sing Sing for the New York Daily News.
    • Goofs
      When Danny is showing the journalism students around the newspaper plant, he has two pencils in his jacket's handkerchief pocket. But throughout the cuts that follow, the pencils keep changing positions.
    • Quotes

      [Danny is giving a tour of his newspaper's printing room]

      Journalism Student: Yes, here it is - white wood pulp, plain white... Why, today it's raw, but tonight it's cooked with printer's ink, photographic art, the sweat of creative effort. Tomorrow it goes out and hundreds of thousands of men and women feed their starving, mediocre souls on the indiscretions and adventures of others. And then, a little while later, what is it?

      Danny Kean: Don't you know? They use it to wrap up herring.

    • Connections
      Featured in Brother Can You Spare a Dime (1975)
    • Soundtracks
      That's All That Matters To Me
      (1932) (uncredited)

      Music by Herb Magidson and Sam H. Stept

      Played throughout the film as well as at the beginning and the end.

    User reviews37

    Review
    Top review
    Newsgal
    I'd like to recommend this to you for a couple reasons.

    I'm right now doing a survey of films that feature newsrooms. Its a simple sort of fold that wouldn't work today. Amazingly, right after seeing this, I saw the new "Superman Returns." Horrid little move, but it reminded me that Superman was invented in the 30s and that's why we have Lois as a reporter.

    In the 30s there were hundreds of movies set in newsrooms. Its roughly the same as a movie about the movie business, since the creation of stories and modeling of life was essentially a writer's game in that era. And the newsroom was one of the few places where women could be strong, sexy and articulate. And wow is this dripping with sex.

    In those days, women could be nurses, teachers, secretaries or whores. Or if they were particularly clever, they were reporters. It was a sort of shorthand, lost today. If your movie put you in a newsroom, it was a stage where stories were made. And to have a woman weave stories and in some way control the world. That was something.

    The story here is Cagney's typical gangster, head of a gang but imprisoned. He gets out and instead of returning to his gang, takes a job as a reporter. Actually — to make the folding good — as a photographer, hence the title. You can pretty much guess the story, knowing that he is both ruthless in invading lives and sweet on the daughter of the cop who "sent him up."

    Here's the really interesting part: the sexy, precode blond is a reporter in the same pool. She's the girl of Cagney's boss but hot for Cagney. He's being chased by another broad too. To both he's mean, but the encounters with them are directly sexual.

    Its odd. We see her as distinctly available, a silly blond. But we also know she is a crackerjack mind underneath. One scene: Cagney by subterfuge has obtained a picture of the execution of a murderess. He is chased all over town but makes it to the newsroom just under deadline. Breathlessly, he dictates the story to our sexy blond to type. He speaks in blunt gangster slang and we laugh at the notion that such a description would appear in the paper.

    She types furiously, then the editor reads it aloud and it is three times as long, cleverly and articulately written. Big joke. No one notices. Bigger joke.

    Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
    helpful•28
    8
    • tedg
    • Jun 30, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 6, 1933 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Ha entrado un fotógrafo
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 17 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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