Picture Snatcher (1933) User Reviews (39)

Energetic Cagney Film

[mrb1980 · 8/10 · 9 August 2005]

Frantic, fast-paced film of ex-con Cagney getting a job at a local scandal sheet working for Bellamy and producing exclusive photographs for the paper. First he poses as an insurance adjuster to steal a photo, then through chicanery he manages to obtain a forbidden photo of a woman in the electric chair. Satisfying story conclusion has Cagney getting the girl and Bellamy playing the chump--again.

This film moves like lightning, guided along by Cagney's seemingly inexhaustible energy. Lots of snappy dialog, great acting, and fine direction make this quite a little gem. Great 1930s feel, and watch quickly for Sterling Holloway (wearing outrageous glasses!) as a journalism student. Highly recommended.

Early Papparazzi

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 24 June 2005]

James Cagney, who was always so intense, as the 'bad guy' in most of his movies, seems to be having a great time in "Picture Snatcher', this 1933 film directed by Lloyd Bacon.

In fact, Danny Kean, is first seen being released from jail, after serving three years, but he has had enough of the crime life. He tells his criminal friends he wants out. Not knowing what to do, he decides to try his hand at photo journalism by applying to be a news photographer at the Graphic News. The friendly editor, Al Mclean, decides to give him a break.

Thus begins Danny's adventures as a news photographer that gets the right picture, at the right moment for his paper. He also finds happiness with Pat, the lovely daughter of a friendly policeman. At the same time, he is being the object of a co-worker's desire, something he wants no part of, since he has decided to go straight.

The great James Cagney is a joy to watch in the film. He was a charismatic actor that is always excellent no matter what he did. Another surprise is Ralph Bellamy, who played the editor that decides to give the ex-con a break. The lovely Patricia Ellis is the object of Danny's affections. Alice White plays a bad girl that wants to get Danny for herself.

The film will not disappoint fans of Mr. Cagney for the change of pace it represented and the fun one gets by watching it.

Good fun with Cagney trying to go straight.

[alfiefamily · 7/10 · 24 November 2004]

At seventy-seven minutes in length, "Picture Snatcher" contains just enough action and comedy to support this little trifle.

Cagney is terrific as a former mobster who gets released from prison and tries to make a go of it as a photographer for a local newspaper rag, which is edited by Ralph Bellamy.

This film is from the first scene, where Cagney shows affection for the guards and warden, has a ridiculous story line all the way thru to the end. But it moves along at a breakneck pace and has several very good performances, so although we might know it's ridiculous, we really don't care.

Alice White is terrific as a gun moll on the make for Cagney. Bellamy is good as Cagney's drunken editor.

But the film belongs to Cagney, who turns in another terrific, under - appreciated performance.

7 out of 10

Newsgal

[tedg · 30 June 2006]

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.

It May Not Be Illegal, but is it legitimate?

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 27 September 2005]

Paroled convict James Cagney is determined not to return to a life of crime and decides to go to straight. He wants to get into journalism, but the only place that will hire him is the Graphic Record, the National Enquirer of its day. And not as a reporter, but as a picture snatcher. Now we would call Cagney a papparazzi.

Still and all it's a job and Cagney is pretty resourceful at getting sensational pictures. He photographs an electric chair execution and his ruthlessness gets his girlfriend's father in some heat. But later on he redeems himself with his knowledge of the criminal underworld.

Considering at where papparazzi are in the social pecking order these days, the viewer of Picture Snatcher is left to wonder just how legitimate Cagney has gone. Joe Pesci almost sixty years after Picture Snatcher was done did a period piece called The Public Eye which explored the same concerns. I think the viewer would like both films and Picture Snatcher if they are Cagney fans.

nice precode

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 9 June 2015]

Jimmy Cagney stars in "Picture Snatcher," a 1933 film also starring Ralph Bellamy. Cagney is a prisoner who is finally released and impresses the editor of a tabloid-type newspaper with the photo he's able to get of a murder victim. He is hired.

This precode has lots of sexual innuendo, loose women, physical abuse against women - you know, all the stuff of precode.

Cagney is terrific in this fast-moving film that really shows his talents. In one scene, he manages to get back into prison to witness an execution. He's sitting down, one leg crossed at a 90 degree angle over the other, and when the execution begins, he quietly pulls up his pant leg and there's a camera attached to his ankle. Very funny scene.

What makes the character great is that yes, he was in prison, yes, he lies his way in to get these tabloid photos, but he has a heart, which he finally realizes and acts on.

I saw someone interviewed who said he was working in a restaurant and a hobo-like man came in wearing an old trenchcoat. It was Jimmy Cagney, probably trying not to be recognized. Whoever was being interviewed said he was the sweetest man he'd ever met in his life. Look at all the low- down guys he played.

He was definitely worthy of the devotion of my father when he was a boy - he went to see Midsummer Night's Dream because Cagney was in it.

Entertaining.

subtle? Nope--but very entertaining

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 19 July 2006]

This is a rather strange early Code film that features Jimmy Cagney as a sleazy ex-con who now devotes his energies to taking pictures for newspapers. But, given his larcenous nature, he specializes in getting the pictures no one else would dare take due to good taste! For example, at an execution, he insinuates himself into the prison as a witness to the execution and snaps a photo surreptitiously--getting his paper a big scoop on the competition. While Cagney's character is sleazy, he is also rather likable in the usual plucky and swaggering way the public learned to expect during the 1930s. However, in the film, all this bravado and lack of good taste eventually came to haunt him--after all, who would want a boyfriend or husband like that?! An interesting curio that is both entertaining and original.

Tough Mug goes "Legit"

[Ugarte-5 · 10/10 · 5 April 1999]

Everyone has seen Public Enemy and Yankee Doodle Dandy, but if you're a serious Cagney buff you've got to see this flick. Made in '33 it is set in that time period. Cagney gets out of the big house and goes legit, if being a paparazzi is legit. The formula is tried and true; with pluck and luck Cagney makes good. The characters are stock, on paper, but the actors breath so much personality into them that they become individuals. Though we know Cagney will prevail, we don't know just how he will succeed, and that is where the drama comes from. The pace is quick enough that you wont go to the kitchen for a sandwich without hitting the stop button first. Great acting, a good story, a happy ending, bouncy theme music, and those great cars of the 1930s. What more do you want?

Cagney the Paparazzi

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 14 March 2015]

Freshly paroled from New York's "Sing Sing Prison", tough-guy James Cagney (as Daniel "Danny" Kean) takes a perfume bath and gets himself a new suit. After telling old gangster pals he's going straight, Mr. Cagney decides he wants a career in journalism. He approaches the tabloid "Graphic-News" for a job. Hard-drinking city editor Ralph Bellamy (as McLean) won't hire Cagney, but changes his mind when the ex-con delivers an exclusive picture for the newspaper. Cagney saves Mr. Bellamy's job and is hired as a staff photographer. Cagney arouses sexy staff reporter Alice White (as Allison), but later prefers pretty Patricia Ellis (as Patricia "Pat" Nolan)...

Cagney struts around this second-tier feature like a first-rate star. He, director Lloyd Bacon, photographer Sol Polito, editor William Holmes and the Warner Bros. crew make punk look classy. The centerpiece is Cagney's assignment to photograph an electric chair execution. Also notable is the easy sex offered by a lone female co-worker. She puts the lonely staff ladies room to good use, but Cagney is a gentleman after discovering Ms. White is considered Bellamy's girl. Also watch for bookish bit-player Sterling Holloway and three beautiful young students. Based on a story by Danny Ahern, "Picture Snatcher" was re-made as "Escape from Crime" (1942).

******* Picture Snatcher (5/6/33) Lloyd Bacon ~ James Cagney, Ralph Bellamy, Alice White, Patricia Ellis

Cagney Joins The Paparazzi!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 21 October 2006]

This was great! It's vintage Cagney: tough, cocky, funny and endearing! The film is also typical early '30s: short, entertaining, fast-moving with some wild dialog and plenty of action and humor.

Imagine the outcry today if they showed the hero pushing women around as James Cagney did here and in other films of the period. This particular story has Cagney playing "Danny Kean," an ex-con who quits his former mob and winds up at a tabloid newspaper as a member of the paparazzi! (I guess this story was ahead of it's time.) He does what he has to do get a picture for the paper, and a financial raise for his efforts.

Along the way are several very pretty women "Pat" and "Allison" (played respectively by Patricia Ellis and Alice White); a number of sexual innuendos (which wouldn't have made it in the picture had this been made a year later); and just a fun-filled corny 1930s ride.

I wish a bunch more of these entertaining films, especially with Cagney, were available.

"You're a credit to dear old Sing Sing, Danny."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 30 July 2014]

Ex-con Danny Kean (James Cagney) becomes a successful newspaper photographer by getting the pictures nobody else can because he's not afraid to take risks. He falls for a dame who turns out to be the daughter of the policeman that arrested him years before. So naturally Pops isn't pleased. But he is convinced by Danny's boss (Ralph Bellamy) that Danny has changed for the better. That is until the ambitious Danny does something that lands him in trouble and turns his boss, his girlfriend, and her father against him.

Another of the many entertaining, fast-paced films Jimmy Cagney did in the '30s. Whether they were gangster pictures, comedies, war movies, or anything else, Cagney always delivered. Nice support from Ralph Bellamy, Robert Barrat, Alice White, and Patricia Ellis. Some punchy dialogue and humor helps keep this crime drama moving. Cagney fans will love it.

Cagney at his cocky spontaneous best

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 17 June 2021]

The film opens on Danny Kean(James Cagney) being released from prison just as the cop who arrested him (Robert Emmett O'Conner as Emmett Nolan) is bringing another convict into the prison. Kean's gang is ready for him to take the lead again, but after taking a bath and his cut of the loot, Danny says what he really wants is to be a reporter and he is going straight.

He gets a job at the tabloid Graphic News by "snatching" a picture under dangerous circumstances. He then takes a shine to a girl who turns out to be the daughter of the cop who arrested him. Dad is not pleased with his daughter's new beau. Complications ensue.

Cagney's character is an ex-con you feel sorry for despite his devious ways of getting the job done once he turns legit. He adds a ton of "goodies" as he called them (improvs, adlibs, and etc.) that surprise and delight at every turn. He is like catnip to Alice White's character, who can't leave him alone, and is actually somebody else's girl.

This is actually a very good Cagney precode, maybe his best although there is stiff competition. You have the big city newsroom, Ralph Bellamy losing the girl AGAIN, a precode situation involving...the fire department?, and that criminal gang Cagney left behind at the beginning of the film? -They enter back into the plot later on. The storyline exploits the actual photo that the Daily News ran of a woman taken secretly at the moment of her execution making it more timely still.

But it is basically the rambunctious charm of James Cagney at his youthful best rescuing a Warner Brothers quickie from itself through his trademark energy, grace, and humor.

Into the Lens

[1930s_Time_Machine · 6/10 · 25 November 2022]

In just the first two minutes you know exactly what is going to happen: nothing could be more typical of an early 30s Cagney film than this.

As always he's the wisecracking cheeky chappie this time a gangster trying to go straight.....in the newspaper business! However hard he tries to stay on the level, there's something in him, a naive unappreciation of what's acceptable which just pushes him too far. His character is a little darker than usual, he's not a particularly nice person, he's rude, arrogant, dishonest and is a borderline thug so not easy to like but the skill of Cagney is that he makes you want to get to know him and once you do....you're still not quite sure whether you like him.

It's no classic but it is a very entertaining hour and a bit and that's not just because of Cagney. Although 'conveyor belt' director Lloyd Bacon was always more about speed rather than style (a Lloyd Bacon movie was not a leisurely experience) but he knew what he was doing and builds up the tension in this leaving you on the edge of your seat. Also Ralph Bellamy is surprisingly pretty decent in this - I'm more used to seeing him play the wet lettuce reading his lines as if seeing them for the first time but he can act!

An enjoyable little James Cagney comedy.

[Robby-17 · 4/10 · 8 February 1999]

As usual James Cagney provides nothing short of his usual high standard, in this light comedy/drama with a dark edge. Seeming more relevant now, especially with all the recent scandals involving the paparazzi and it's stars, this movie takes the usual 'Cagney' structure. He starts out a broke bad boy on the ropes, but with his wiley charm and dodgy dealings, does good. Cagney is impossible to hate, even when, as in this movie he becomes as obnoxious as ever. In particular the scene in which the Fireman, comes to find the man who got his picture on the front page. It is in scenes like this, that Cagney shows his deft comic touch, something so under-used in his long and prestigious career. In short The Picture Snatcher, is well worth an hour and a half of anyones time. Although by no means Cagney's best, it still holds up well against an 'Accidental Hero'. Enjoy!!!

Alice White Steals This Movie....

[kidboots · 13 August 2011]

....and with James Cagney at his crazy cocky best that is very hard to do!!! Unfortunately her type of role, indeed this type of movie would become extinct the next year when the dreaded production code came into force.

Like Robinson, Cagney loved to kid his "tough guy" persona. Here he plays Danny Kean, a tough crook who promises himself he does not want to go back "inside" again so decides to go straight and follow his child- hood dream of being a reporter. He is given a "letter of introduction" to the editor of the Graphic News - a dirty rag at the bottom of the newspaper heap!! The editor, JR (Ralph Bellamy) takes a shine to Danny,but unfortunately has a drinking problem. Another person who takes a shine to Danny is flirty Alison (Alice White) - she throws herself at Danny at every opportunity - and he throws himself at her as well. She is probably the recipient of more thrown punches than anyone else in this movie. The scenes between them are exactly what I think a sexy pre-coder should be. In one scene when Danny is hiding out, Alison comes home and immediately starts changing into something more comfortable. There is no false modesty about her, no discreetly closed doors and Danny's reaction says it all.Cagney's expressions throughout are priceless - at one point he goes through a whole scene (wanting to be alone with his girl) with just his facial expressions. The girl, the right girl, is Pat - Patricia Ellis was very sweet but to me she just looked awfully young (she was only 16).

Back to the story, Danny is relegated to being a picture snatcher as he has no experience at reporting and finds that his pugnacious personality can get him into situations were other more wary news hounds fear to tread. His first assignment has him accosting a fireman, mad with grief that his wife (and her lover) have been killed in a house fire. Danny covers his tracks by posing as a fire assessor. His next job is trickier and if he pulls it off he and the paper will be made - he has to try and get a picture of the execution of a condemned woman. This ghoulish assignment was based on real events. In 1927 Ruth Snyder was sentenced to the electric chair for the murder of her husband (it was the inspiration for "Double Indemnity"), a photographer from the Chicago Tribune took a photo with the aid of a miniature camera strapped to his ankle and the picture made headlines around the world. Danny gets the scoop but finds that his old sparring partner Officer Nolan has been demoted. Pat is his daughter and he has put his reputation on the line by vouching for Danny. Danny redeems himself by being on the spot when "Jerry the Mug" (Ralf Harolde) is gunned down and giving all the kudos to Nolan!!!

The last scene is a doozy!! Alison (who is really much better suited to Danny than insipid Pat) uses her whiles on Danny once too often, Danny puts her in a coma in the back seat, JR drives off, not knowing Alison is there, she awakes, clangs JR on the head, he drives into a pole and the last shot is of Alison screaming her head off!!! Definitely a movie not to be missed. I was surprised to see Ralph Bellamy as Cagney's side kick, as actors they were poles apart (but apparently great pals in real life) but their characters blended so well, Bellamy playing with his usual laid back understatedness.

Highly Recommended.

"In my opinion, modern journalism has descended to a deplorable level."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 18 February 2008]

The entire premise of "Picture Snatcher" is pretty weak, but put Jimmy Cagney in the lead role and you have the makings of an entertaining flick. Cagney shows all the energy and grit that made him a star as early as the 1930's, and here he's top billed as a former mobster going straight as of all things, a tabloid photographer and reporter for "Graphic News", described by journalism student Sterling Holloway as a 'filthy blot on American writing'. That pretty much sums it up, as Danny Kean (Cagney) uses all the street smarts and professional contacts he can muster to get the latest scoop.

Before I ever saw the picture, I wondered what the term 'picture snatcher' might mean, and I guess I was pretty close. The story makes it clear that the job had to do with getting photos of down and out people who can't fight back, and in that regard, Cagney's character is a whiz. His very first job involved stealing a wedding picture of a couple that made front page news when the bride was caught cheating by her fireman husband. Stories like that wouldn't even raise an eyebrow today, but it sure looked sensational back in the day. We've come quite a way in seventy plus years.

You know, I was curious about that invitation to an execution angle that revolved around the death of an inmate at the State Prison at Ossining, New York. The letter Danny Kean steals from a fellow reporter mentioned 'Sing Sing' by name in the letterhead; I wonder if that was for real. New Yorkers like myself, especially those from Westchester County will have fun with the place names and street addresses mentioned in the story. The harder part is trying to visualize them as they might have been back in the Thirties.

It was way back in 1931's "Public Enemy" that Cagney gained notoriety for that grapefruit smackeroo in the kisser against Mae Clark. If anything, he's even rougher here sending Alice White flying into a chair using her face as a launch pad, and knocking her out and flipping her into the back seat of a car when his 'real' girlfriend (Patricia Ellis) approaches. Then of course there's all the sexual innuendo and banter that's strictly pre-code; how about "Keep in step, bedroom eyes". I had to rewind that one to be sure I heard it right.

All in all, the whole tenor of the story is pretty unrealistic, even if you get past the part where Danny tells his mob he's going legit. But even so, it's vintage Cagney and that's good for something. Without him, the picture wouldn't even garner enough IMDb votes to give it much more than a five rating, but put the wise cracking hoofer in the lead and that's good enough for bonus points!

"A Blot On The Escutcheon Of American Writing."

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 17 June 2010]

This is the iconic Jimmy Cagney of 1933, the one the impressionists used to imitate. He whirls around, dances from place to place, shrugs, gestures flamboyantly, tilts his fedora at a rakish angle, clips guys on the jaw, throws women around, speaks like a machine gun and spouts wisecracks like a gusher of oil. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, you're my pal. I'm gonna letchu have it foist." He rarely got credit for his range as an actor, either in dramatic roles, as in "The Gallant Hours", or comic, as in "What Price Glory?" Recently sprung from Sing Sing, Cagney worms his way into the job as a photographer for a tabloid newspaper in New York. He accomplishes this by visiting a grief-stricken fireman who has holed up with a shotgun, then stealing the man's wedding picture from the wall. That's the wall over the bed in which the fireman's wife was found with her lover, both dead.

The photo is published and Cagney gets a raise, although in fact his taking the photo from the man's home was an illegal act. The picture doesn't need to be copyrighted or anything. It's the personal property of the bereaved fireman, just like his chair or his five-dollar bill. I'd like to get into this issue further but I'm forbidden to do so by legal discretion, common sense, and total ignorance.

Cagney's pal on the paper is the alcoholic newsman Ralph Bellamy, ashamed of himself for working on such a rag, chasing scandals.

There is a romance thrown in between Cagney and the daughter of a police lieutenant. The cop hates Cagney, an ex jailbird, figuring he's not good enough for a daughter who is going to college. (Going to college was hardly taken for granted in the depths of the Great Depression.) Cagney wiggles and fast-talks his way out of one tight spot after another and winds up with the high-class dame. Bellamy quits boozing it up. After witnessing a spectacular shoot out, the two of them get respectable jobs at a respectable newspaper.

There is more than one improbability in the plot but before you can say, "Wait a minute!", the story has zipped along and you've forgotten what your objection was. What a tempo! Not a moment of screen time is wasted. Something that propels the story is always going on.

It's undemanding fluff. An experienced hack at Warner Brothers could have rattled off this script in the time it took to type it. But it's diverting fluff. The plot may not be exactly compelling but Cagney is. You can't take your eyes off the guy. Neither can the women. Alice White keeps throwing herself at him, kissing and mauling his face. It happens to me all the time but it's a little demanding on our suspension of disbelief because, after all, Cagney was no matinée idol and was shorter than I am. I wouldn't buy the DVD but I enjoyed watching the flick.

Cagney As Photographer.

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 3 November 2013]

Lloyd Bacon directed this brisk drama that stars Jimmy Cagney as Danny Kean, an ex-convict turned newspaper photographer who isn't afraid to go the extra distance to get a dangerous or controversial photo. He falls in love with Patricia, daughter of the police officer who first arrested him! This relationship is used by Kean to get a much sought-after photo of a woman's execution, which ruins the romance, though Kean's boss Mclean(played by Ralph Bellamy) does what he can to help, and Kean goes back in action after an old friend becomes wanted by the police... Good yarn with appealing performances and well-paced direction. Cagney is in his element here, and film is entertaining.

A terrific crazy romp, never stopping, Cagney charming and sharp

[secondtake · 8/10 · 18 January 2011]

Picture Snatcher (1933)

A fast, pre-code romp, really fun. Cagney movies are so blazing in general, from his fast talking style and his frenetic body movements, this is terrific. It's not a gangster flick, though there are traces of that (he comes out of jail in the first scene), but it has the trappings of the end of Prohibition and all the fun of the cars and the times.

There are a number of interesting characters in addition to Cagney, sassy and chipper and really bright. The plot is crazy, really, with all kinds of rivalries among the thugs, the cops, the newsmen, and the women. There are some terrific newspaper scenes (like the lead typesetting machines, used for love notes by Cagney and his girl), but the title refers to Cagney's turn at being photojournalist. They don't show him in action much, but there is a key scene where he photographs a woman being killed in the electric chair. And he does it the same way the same kind of picture was taken in 1928 of Ruth Snyder at Sing Sing, the camera hidden on the photographer's calf, and the pant leg lifted at the time of the electrocution. The camera appears to be an American made Ansco, a slightly cruder version of the new small Leica style miniature camera hitting the market in the late 1920s.

But in fact photography plays a small role here. This is a movie about Cagney being his frenetic best, and that's what makes it great. I would say don't miss it. It's sweet, sassy, fun, and surprising.

Not bad, but needed a better script.

[hemisphere65-1 · 6/10 · 7 July 2021]

Cagney is great and Bellamy is pretty good, but Alice White gives the best performance!

Good, fast-paced movie, but there are many unexplained incidents that you can't ignore. The fireman who threatens the lives of several people but isn't locked up. The cop (Pat's father) who literally fired his pistol at Kean (Cagney) on a city street and it's played off as a bit.

CAGNEY LIKES A LAVENDER SMELLING BATH IN THE TUB!!

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 9 August 2003]

Have enjoyed all Cagney movies and thought I had seen them all until I viewed this film on TV. James Cagney tries to go straight after getting out of prison and has a great desire to become a photographer; he loves to smell like a rose in this picture and is depicted taking a bath in the tub while his gangster friends pour in the LAVENDER, he remarks to his friends, "Is this the same perfume that those two(2) gals had on in the car?" Ralph Bellamy,"Rosemary's Baby" '68 gives a great supporting role as a drunk newspaper man and Patricia Ellis(I) "Back Door to Heaven"'39 gives the romance Cagney is looking for. In 1933, money was hard to come by after the Great Depression and actors had to make a living in any picture that came their way. This is a great CAGNEY CLASSIC and in NO WAY should it be PICK APART!! Just sit back and enjoy a great American Irish ACTOR!!!

Early pre-code Cagney is as funny and energetic as ever...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 17 June 2010]

This is the kind of hard-hitting Warner crime caper that the studio turned out on an assembly line basis in the '30s and '40s--and since it's pre-code, lots of sexual innuendo and kissing scenes that wouldn't get past the censor a year or so later.

It's the age-old story of a convict trying to go straight and all the obstacles thrown into his path. Cagney is the ex-con who decides to quit the gang for a straight job on a newspaper. When he manages to snatch a photo off the wall of a man and woman whose marriage was destroyed by a tragic fire, the city editor (Ralph Bellamy) gets him a job as a photo reporter. From there on, the story is full of dames, booze, action-packed moments and plenty of shenanigans performed by the energetic Cagney who lights up the screen whenever he appears. Alice White is the brassy blonde that he keeps giving the cold shoulder to and Patricia Ellis is the nice gal whose father doesn't want Cagney around his daughter.

The newspaper office scenes look pretty convincing except for the moment when Cagney dictates his story to a girl using a typewriter who takes his street talk description and translates it into suitable newspaper lingo in a jiffy. Only in the movies.

It's the kind of yarn that put Cagney on the map during the '30s and is as fast moving and entertaining as any other crime film he was associated with, but not as polished as his big-time films "Angles with Dirty Faces" or "White Heat."

An under-appreciated classic. Must see.

[Lone_Prospector · 10/10 · 20 August 2011]

How anyone can give this move less than 10 stars is beyond me. This movie has everything you could possibly ask for in a pre-code classic. Part gangster movie. Part prison movie. Part newspaper movie. Lots of great fast talking banter. An electric chair scene – the condemned a woman no less. Car chases. Car crashes. Machine guns. Children dodging bullets. Jealousy, rage, retribution. And dames-a-plenty (more on that later).

Jimmy Cagney is at his absolute best as an ex-con who tries to go straight as a newspaper photographer at a less than reputable daily rag. Although he officially quit the old gang, Cagney uses his criminal instincts to get the shot (photo that is) that nobody else seems to be able to get. In the meantime, he falls for cute-as-a-button college girl, Patricia Ellis, whose father is a policeman – the same policeman that previously put Jimmy away for three years. No problem, Cagney gets Dad promoted to Captain and, temporarily at least, all is good.

The women in this picture (except for good girl Ellis) throw themselves at Cagney with reckless abandon and with absolutely one thing on their mind. Nobody even tries to pretend otherwise. Alice White, who plays one of Cagney's colleagues at the paper, is incredible as one of Cagney's many seductresses. She has to be seen to be believed. Alice Jans, an old girlfriend from Cagney's mob days, is another beast. Cagney literally carries her into the bedroom (she practically orders him to do so), until Cagney finally beats it.

To say this move was racy for 1933 is an understatement. Heck, it's racy for 2011!

A must see.

From prison to Page One.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 30 June 2014]

Fast, frantic and funny. Danny Kean(James Cagney)is a gangster released from the big house and he is determined to go straight. He lands a job with a sleazy New York tabloid using disregard and aggression to capture controversial pictures to please his boss(Robert Barrat). The city editor(Ralph Bellamy) gets props for hiring the ex-con. Along the way Danny falls in love with Patricia(Patricia Ellis), who just so happens to be the daughter of the policeman, Casey Logan(Robert Emmett O'Connor),that actually arrested him and still carries some of Danny's lead. Director Lloyd Bacon catches Cagney possibly at his finest and funniest; and may just be considered an overlooked gem for the actor. Alice White plays Allison, who would love to be Danny's girl and Ralf Harolde plays Jerry the Mug, the subject of a big money shot.

Note: This movie was inspired by an infamous photo of a convicted murderess being put to death by electrocution at Sing Sing Prison.

Getting the lowdown on early paparazzi.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 30 August 2013]

Taking the main theme from "Five Star Final" one step further, this expose on sleaze journalism covers the job of the photographer. Newly released from prison, James Cagney gets into working as a scandal sheet photographer and quickly gains a reputation as a ruthless intruder. He makes many enemies in the press when he takes a photo of a death row inmate just as the lights go out, creating friction with the cop father of his lady love (Patricia Ellis). Slutty Alice White keeps Cagney distracted, and it is very obvious that something is going on there. In fact, she makes it clear that she enjoys him knocking her around, and the more he does it, the more she wants it. Ralph Bellamy plays Cagney's journalist pal who gets him the job. Robert Emmett O'Connor is also very good as Ellis's temperamental Irish father who has a love/hate relationship with his potential son-in-law.

Among the pre-code elements are Cagney's face as he listens to a very flamboyant male radio announcer hiss out an advertisement for a ladies cigarette then later pours a cocktail down a floozie's dress after she tries to swipe it. White takes a beating from him and begs for more. But nothing beats him sneaking a camera into prison for a ladies execution. In spite of the theme, the script plays for frequent laughs, giving me the impression that this was pretty shocking to the people fighting for the code.