He Was Her Man (1934) User Reviews (31)

a post-code serious film for this lively team

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 2 July 2015]

James Cagney and Joan Blondell team up for the seventh and last time for "He Was Her Man," a Warner Brothers film from 1934.

Cagney is Flicker Hayes. He tells the police about a robbery attempt so that they can catch the two men who put him in prison. One, Dan, escapes. The other kills a cop and winds up in the electric chair.

Dan orders two hit-man to find Flicker and kill him. Flicker rents a room and meets Rose (Blondell), a young, sad woman who returns to the room to fetch her wedding dress. She is a former prostitute and needs a ride to a fishing village, where her betrothed, a Portugese fisherman (Victor Jory) is waiting to marry her.

Sounds good to Flicker - it's obscure, anyway, so he accompanies her. The two fall for one another, and no doubt have sex when the camera isn't around - it is post-code, after all. Rose doesn't want to marry her boyfriend now, she wants to go away with Flicker. He buys a bus ticket for her and they go to the bus station together.

Unfortunately, Flicker has been discovered by Dan and his thugs, who want to kill him.

A dark film with two subdued performances by the leads, who are both very good. Cagney does a great job, as always - even though he's not a flying high, exuberant criminal, he still plays a confident man, and you can't help noticing him.

Blondell, who did so many comedy roles, is dead serious here and very effective.

Others in the cast, besides those mentioned, are George Chandler, Harold Huber, John Qualen - lots of familiar faces.

Victor Jory is somewhat miscast but pulls off his role as a gentle person who truly cares for Rose.

You're not really sure how this will end. It is a lovely ending, if poignant. Well directed by Lloyd Bacon.

The production code breaks up a dynamic screen team

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 26 November 2009]

Something is missing from this film, and that something is the electricity that Blondell and Cagney had in all of their joint projects up to this time, the beginning of the enforcement of the production code.

James Cagney plays a Flicker Hayes, a safe-cracker who turns in his old gang to the police after they recruit him for a new job right after he gets out of prison. You see, Flicker knows his gang let him take the rap alone and he's looking for payback. However, before he turns them in he takes a large pre-payment from them in cash for the upcoming job which he knows will never happen. Flicker is now on the run as the members of the gang that did not get arrested have a hit out on him. While in San Francisco he runs into Rose Lawrence (Joan Blondell), a penniless woman on her way to marry a fisherman. Cagney has both romantic interest in and sympathy for Rose right from the start. He feeds her then escorts her and pays her way to the town where her fiancé is waiting. The most confusing part of the story is - why would Nick the fisherman decide to marry a prostitute he barely knows (that is the insinuation of what Rose's profession was) then - knowing she is penniless, leave her to find her own way to him? This part of the story probably had some aspect that caused it to be left on the cutting room floor thanks to the censors.

Once at Nick's house, both Flicker and Rose have trouble keeping both their pasts and their passions at bay. Plus a mysterious rancher shows up who wants to do some recreational fishing and also winds up a guest at Nick's house - there is no hotel in the small town.

Although the film is worth a look, don't look for the smart remarks and innuendos that previous Cagney/Blondell films are filled with. The hard edges of their past precodes are as hidden as Cagney's upper lip is under the odd mustache he sports throughout this film.

A nice change of pace for tough-guy Cagney.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 14 February 2010]

This film slips under the wire--being released just two weeks before the toughened Production Code was enacted. Because of this, one plot element is in the film that probably would not have been allowed just a few days later--Joan Blondell's character having been a prostitute. While the word 'prostitute' is never used, it was heavily implied--like all Pre-Code films.

The film begins with James Cagney double-crossing a couple of crooks who had done him wrong. One of the thugs is caught by the cops and sent to death row, but the other is still at-large and wants to pay Cagney back for his infamy. Cagney is no dummy, so he leaves town and hides out in San Francisco. However, he's soon discovered and beats it with Joan Blondell to a tiny fishing village to hide. It seems that Blondell's fiancé is waiting for her there and Cagney is able to talk her into keeping his real identity secret.

The fiancé, his mother and the town embrace Cagney and make him feel very welcome. However, two problems develop. First, Blondell who is intended for Victory Jory instead is falling for Cagney. Second, eventually the baddies learn where Cagney is and come to get him--and pose a threat to anyone in the town who gets in their way. I won't tell you how all this works itself out, but it certainly WON'T be the way you'd expect for a Cagney-Blondell film! Because it kept me guessing, was very entertaining and was a nice change of pace, I enjoyed it very much.

Interesting change of pace

[jaykay-10 · 3 September 2002]

Although James Cagney once again appears as a disreputable underworld figure, there is in this portrayal no strutting, twitching, snapping, or pushing people around. As a double-crosser on the run from his former cohorts, he maintains an extremely low profile - yet the menace he represents surfaces in a smirk here, a sly smile there, a barely poised but ever watchful presence with the potential for violence - perhaps the quietest Cagney criminal you will ever see.

Joan Blondell also plays a familiar type, the down-on-her-luck girl who will trade her charms for money, but here, too, the approach to the part is much more subdued than what we find in her wisecracking gold-digger roles. World-weary, somber, reflective, resigned: there is no contradiction in her projecting a streetwise yet vulnerable woman who, though still young, has seen too much of life.

If the two stars don't exactly set off sparks (as each did playing opposite others), they give solid, honest performances - as does Victor Jory in a key supporting role. This film does not deserve to be forgotten.

Sinner's Hideaway

[lugonian · 6/10 · 5 September 2011]

HE WAS HER MAN (Warner Brothers, 1934), directed by Lloyd Bacon, in spite of its torch song sounding title for a musical film, is actually an offbeat melodrama starring James Cagney (with mustache) and Joan Blondell for the seventh and final time on screen. With Cagney naturally playing a vengeful tough guy with good qualities, it's Blondell, usually bright eyed and sassy, going against type as one of the most saddest characters ever portrayed. Often classified as their weakest collaboration, the Cagney and Blondell pairing still contains their usual star chemistry mainly because they're two of a kind.

The plot gets underway at a Manhattan Turkish Bath where "Flicker" Hayes (James Cagney), a professional safe-cracker just released from prison, makes negotiations with crooks, Dan Curly (Bradley Page) and Frank "Red" Derring (Ralf Harolde) for their latest job. Because they're the ones responsible for sending him up, Flicker pulls a double-cross by notifying the chief of police (Willard Robertson) about the upcoming robbery that's to take place at the warehouse of the Empire Wholesale Drug Company. Caught in the act, Hayes makes his escape out the window as Curly is killed in a shoot-out with the law and Derring arrested for the killing of Patrolman Arthur Murphy. Because Derring was sentenced and executed for the crime, Curly hires fellow mobsters Ward (Harold Huber) and Monk (Russell Hopton) to get Flicker. In San Francisco, "Pop" Sims (Frank Craven), an informer for the mob, spots Flicker, now going under an assumed name of Jerry Allen, registered at the hotel, and notifies Curly of his whereabouts and instructions. Seeking refuge in Room 419, "Jerry" comes across a woman named Rose Lawrence (Joan Blondell) entering his room with the hotel key to retrieve a wedding dress she had hidden under the mattress before her eviction for lack of money to pay her bill. Because Rose is desperately broke and hungry, Jerry supplies her with food and assistance. Told of her upcoming wedding to Nick Gardella (Victor Jory), a man she met through a bellboy while boarding at the hotel, Jerry accompanies her by bus to an obscure fishing village in Santa Avila, unaware that he's being followed by Sims. Once there, Rose finds her love towards Jerry getting stronger and decides on going away with him after telling Nick that she can't go through with the wedding. Realizing both his gun and Pop, going under the assumed name of Jim Parker, have both disappeared, Jerry decides to leave town without telling Rose. He heads on over to the bus station the very same moment Ward and Monk arrive at Rose's bunk house asking about Jerry's whereabouts, with intentions on doing her harm if they don't get the information they want.

Taken from a story by Robert Lord, HE WAS HER MAN lacks the general humor and excitement commonly found in many Cagney films thus far. No doubt this was an attempt in trying something more dramatic and entirely different for its leading stars, even to a point of lifting that memorable love theme from the 1932 success of ONE WAY PASSAGE (Warners) starring William Powell and Kay Francis. For being a Cagney film, Blondell is the one who gets full attention this time around. Although not clearly indicated, her character is that of a former prostitute who's fallen to hard times, using a kind-hearted fisherman for financial support. Her performance might have lead to stronger parts in latter films, but really didn't, for now anyway. She then returned to her usual sassy comedies the public loved so well. Co-star Victor Jory, best known for his villainous types, is unusually cast or miscast as an understanding Italian accented fisherman, a role that might have best suited that of a J. Carroll Naish whose Italian dialect would appear more natural than Jory's. Also in support are Sarah Padden as Jory's mother; George Chandler and James Eagles. John Qualen, who specializes in playing Swedish characters, is laughable here with buck teeth that appears to have been borrowed or stolen from a rabbit.

Being the least known and overlooked of the Cagney and Blondell collaborations shouldn't be the reason to avoid viewing HE WAS HER MAN whenever it turns up on Turner Classic Movies. Often classified as one that was never be sold to commercial television might be true to some degree. Not counting other states that televised classic movies on the late show, HE WAS HER MAN did get a rare television broadcast in 1974 as part of the afternoon movie on Philadelphia's own WPHL, Channel 17, a home of obscure and famous Warner Brother films prior to 1975. Over a decade later, HE WAS HER MAN turned up on a public television's WNJM, Channel 50, in Montclair, New Jersey, around 1989-90, before becoming one of several Ted Turner cable channels in later years. Regardless of slow pacing and certain scenes to leave viewers wondering than satisfied, it's the agreeable combination of Cagney and Blondell that makes this 70 minute production worth while. (**1/2)

Great acting, reality and true beauty makeup this imperfect picture in a far from perfect world

[Nate-48 · 6/10 · 15 January 2003]

James Cagney is one of the ten greatest actors of all time. Joan Blondell is absolutely beautiful. There are several great character actors in here including Harold Huber as a standout. It is not a great movie, but it is a real movie. It was released shortly before the production code ended a great deal of artistic freedom.

Subdued Gangster/Romance That Keeps You Guessing

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 5 April 2014]

Interesting Low-key Gangster Outing for James Cagney and Joan Blondell who also Dials it back a notch for this Melodramatic Love Triangle. It Works Well in a Romantic kind of way, but the Tension is Never Ramped Up and Cagney is so Smooth and Sedate that He seems to be Hiding Under the Seldom Adorned Mustache and a Cool Demeanor.

The Supporting Cast is Watchable with Victor Jory Affecting as an Immigrant with a Stereotypical Good Natured and Jolly Mom that just Loves Her "Nick". These Types of Mothers can be Distracting when Viewed Today as just too Lovable, Corny, and Sweet.

The Movie is Usually Overlooked as Rather Routine, Especially for the Two Stars who Made Seven Films Together (this was the last). The Movie was on the Cusp of the Code and Except for Joan Blondell's Profession being Obviously a Prostitute there is No Other Pre-Code Activity.

The Ending comes Fast and is Surprising. Overall the Movie is Certainly Worth a Watch for the Fine, if Restrained Acting, and the Story is Intriguing as it Waivers and the Viewer is Never quite sure where it is all Headed.

Mainly for Cagney/Blondell fans, but not bad

[tarmcgator · 6/10 · 26 November 2009]

This was Cagney's and Blondell's last film together, as well as the last film for each released prior to the onset of the Production Code Administration (the "Hays Office"). It's mainly of interest to admirers of these two justly celebrated screen stars, mainly because of the downbeat story and characterizations.

Warner Brothers apparently didn't think much of HE WAS HER MAN (lousy title) and wasn't interested in spending much money on developing it. Despite the presence of two of their biggest stars, this film has the look and feel of a "B" picture, as evidenced by its 70 minute running time. Cagney apparently didn't like the film either. The awful haircut he wore in his previous film, JIMMY THE GENT, and the mustache sported by Flicker Hayes in this film, were symbols of Cagney's increasing dissatisfaction with the roles he was getting, though it would be another year or so before he would try to break his Warner Brothers contract.

The film's premise is promising. Career safecracker Flicker Hayes (Cagney) double-crosses a couple of fellow criminals after they frame him for another job. In the double-cross, one of the hoods kills a New York cop and is sentenced to die in the electric chair. Flicker flees to San Francisco, seeking a hide-out. A small-time Frisco hood, Pop Sims (Frank Craven), fingers Flicker for the New York mob. Two gunmen, J.C. (Harold Huber) and Monk (Russell Hopton), head for California to take care of Flicker.

Meanwhile, Flicker (now calling himself "Jerry Allen") meets Rose (Blondell), a survivor who apparently has been selling her sexual favors to various men -- one of whom, surprisingly, has now offered to marry her. (The screenwriters make much of the written marriage proposal -- this was the era when "breach of promise" was still an actionable tort in most states.) Rose, despite her immediate attraction to Jerry, is on her way to join her fiancé in his little fishing village near Frisco. Jerry is attracted to Rose, too (and it's strongly implied they have a sexual encounter just hours after meeting), but he also smells a good place to hide out, and he offers to stake her and take her by bus to her new home.

The fiancé', Nick Gardella (Victor Jory), is a salt-of-the-earth fisherman who tells Rose that her past life will be forgotten once they are wed. (There's more to Nick and Rose than the screenplay tells us, or could tell us under the censorship standards of that era. Nick met Rose "professionally." Here's a guy in his thirties, living with Mom in little, out-of-the-way Santa Avila -- and he seems pleased to marry a woman about whom he knows little save she's a prostitute?) Rose and Jerry arrive in Santa Avila and the wedding plans get underway. Jerry wants to stay and hide, but Rose is increasingly torn between Nick and her attraction to Jerry. Pop Sims follows Jerry to Santa Avila, posing as sports fisherman, to set up Jerry for the arrival of J.C. and Monk.

That's a lot of plot for such a slight film, and it gets better, but the "B" picture limitations get in the way. It would have been nice if the studio would have allowed a little more air into the story, fleshing out the characterizations -- especially the relationships among Rose, Jerry and Nick -- and expanding the film to 90 or 95 minutes. (The quick attraction between Rose and Jerry is especially sketchy and needs more time.) This could have been the much better movie that the story hints at.

Flicker/Jerry does the right thing by Rose and Nick, though apparently he pays for it with his life. (Another interesting point: Under the Production Code Authority, a movie killer had to pay for taking a life -- unless the killer is a lawman or soldier -- either by being arrested or by dying himself. We don't actually see Flicker/Jerry getting killed, and his likely assassins aren't punished. One wonders how this outcome would have been altered by the Hays Office just a short time later.) The film ends with a subdued wedding between Rose and Nick -- a happy occasion tempered by our knowledge of Flicker's apparent fate.

Fans of Cagney/Blondell will find both actors dialing back their usual exuberance/perkiness in this film and playing characters who are more like real people than in many of their other early Warners' films. Jory tries to be a little too ethnic, but he effectively portrays Nick's essential kindness and decency. Huber and Hopton, as the gunmen, are surprisingly human, as is James Eagle(s) in a small role as their driver. Sarah Padden, as Nick's mother, is a bit over the top but charming, and it's interesting to hear John Qualen in a small role sans his trademark Scandinavian accent. Frank Craven's Sims is an interesting character too -- sinister but folksy. The dependable Lloyd Bacon directs with his usual understated style but should have made more of the exotic isolation of "Santa Avila."

To summarize: HE WAS HER MAN is an unusual Warner Brothers film of the period, made as Hollywood was feeling the heat from the Legion of Decency and other pressure groups that would lead to the institution of the Production Code Administration in mid-1934. It's of interest mainly for Cagney and Blondell fans who want to see them in quieter roles that sharply contrast with their usual energy. Outside those contexts, though, I doubt you'll be favorably impressed.

(Does anyone know if this film, or plot, was ever remade? Seems like something that Warners would use again, though I can imagine if they did so before 1945 they would have brightened it up considerably. One can imagine RKO doing something nicely noirish with the same story c.1948.)

P.S. -- A "C" from the Legion of Decency? Not according to the listing of such "C" films in Wikipedia. What was its rating?

A change of pace for the Warner Brothers crime drama.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 9 June 2020]

Solid performances by James Cagney and Joan Blondell make this crime melodrama a little bit different than most of the film that they had done previously. This lacks the wisecracking characters, street wise dialogue and delightfully eccentric supporting players, focusing more on the souls of the major characters than achieving laughs simply to keep its audiences attention. Cagney is involved with the mob, and he has made the scapegoat for a crime that falls through, resulting in him having a hit put on him. Old acquaintance Joan Blondell, whom he was once involved with, tells him that she is going to marry a fisherman, and he escorts her out of town not only to hide from the gang after him but to try to win her back in the process. When he encounters Blondell's fiance Victor Jory and mother-in-law to be Sarah Padden, he realizes it's going to be tough to get her away from the idealistic Jory. Cagney's constant presence makes Blundell confused, and eventually she decides that she needs to follow her own heart and run off with Cagney. But the mob, still on Cagney's trail, shows up suddenly, and that puts a damper in their plans.

This isn't necessarily a kinder and gentler Cagney, but one who doesn't over emote in that big tough cityspeak way, and Blondell is much gentler than the wisecracking dames she usually plays. She's thoughtful, filled with heart, obviously confused and determined to make the right moral choice for once in her life. Under playing it beautifully, Blondell is superb. Find performances by Jory and Padden helps make their earthy characters less of a stereotype. At times, Jory seem to be hiding behind a very hot temper, but there is obviously a spirituality in him that prevents that from erupting. Frank Craven, John Qualen and Bradley Page appear in major supporting roles, and as interesting qualities to their characterizations. This soft-spoken crime drama may have its violence and ruthless characters, but it is unique in the Warner Brothers catalog that was great for those type of films, but didn't always need to be the archetype of how crime dramas were written.

Doing her wrong

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 6 July 2020]

Other than that the premise sounded very interesting on paper, my main reasons for seeing 'He Was Her Man' was to see James Cagney and Joan Blondell (who were wonderful together and always had great chemistry that should be more lauded) in their seventh and final pairing, to see Victor Jory against type and for director Lloyd Bacon (not one of my favourites but his films were always well made and he will always be remembered for how he transformed the musical genre). This type of film is up my alley too.

'He Was Her Man' is worth the look and its selling points are Cagney, Blondell and their chemistry. At the same time, 'He Was Her Man' disappointed and of Cagney and Blondell's seven pairings it is for me joint weakest along with 'The Crowd Roars' (their others are good to great). This is the much better looking film, but compared to the duo's other outings it felt rather bland and suffered from code restrictions, the only film of theirs really where that was the case.

There is definitely a good deal to like here in 'He Was Her Man'. It was very interesting to see Cagney and Blondell bringing different sides to familiar roles they always did so well. They are more subdued here but never in a way where they seem disengaged or that their spark is gone. Cagney does have his toughness and Blondell is emotive and has moments of sass (their other films show this off a lot better though). Their chemistry still ignites in its own way. The supporting cast standout by far is Jory, the sensitivity and charm he gives to a different role for him was effectively moving.

Bacon's direction shows off his usual visual mastery, again beautiful framing and very atmospheric use of shadow done imaginatively. The film does look great and actually one of the better-looking films of Cagney and Blondell together. There is some sharpness in the dialogue, some energy and some tension. It does start off very well, with some grit and toughness.

With that being said, Cagney and Blondell's other films had a lot more of those things and to far stronger effect. There could have been more snap and sizzle and the edge, tautness and snap seen in the duo's other films are not present anywhere near as strongly here. On paper, the story for 'He Was Her Man' was perfect pre-code material and should have a tough as nails and suspenseful approach.

Due to code restrictions, 'He Was Her Man' had the disadvantage with not being able to get away with as much, with Cagney and Blondell's other films they were all pre-code so had more daring content, and some of the story later on was somewhat too low key for this type of story and a bit too safe. The ending felt rushed and tacked on, as well as at odds tonally. Other than Jory, the supporting cast were competent but nobody stood out enough.

Summing up, interesting but this great duo's final pairing doesn't reach full potential sadly. 6/10

Cagney and Blondell in a mediocre screenplay, but still fun to watch.

[Art-22 · 5/10 · 15 February 1999]

With James Cagney and Joan Blondell headlining the cast, what more can you want? A good screenplay, that's what! The disappointing ending had me shaking my head, especially after I finally got used to Cagney in a mustache. And I never figured out who the "he" in the title was. Either Cagney, with whom Blondell falls in love after he seduces her in San francisco and in Victor Jory's house, or Jory himself, who was going to marry Blondell knowing she used to be a prostitute. Jory plays a Portuguese fisherman, but his accent is very phony, and none of the supporting cast was exceptional. There's some good suspense at the end but the film let me down. Still, I did like watching the two stars.

The film was released a few weeks before the production code was more rigorously enforced. Blondell's character caused the Catholic Church to place the film on its "condemned" list.

Serious Entertainment From Cagney & Blondell

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 5 October 2002]

A young San Francisco woman, who's lived rough, is torn between the Portuguese fisherman she admires & the petty criminal she adores.

HE WAS HER MAN is a particularly good example of the sort of crime drama which Warner Bros. did so well in the early 1930's. Intelligent romantic dialogue and gentle humor, in addition to some very fine performances, are all ingredients which make this film a solid success - even though it is nearly forgotten now. This picture was produced just before the implementation of the Production Code and the climax, while completely appropriate, will surprise some viewers.

Jimmy Cagney is entirely irrepressible, strutting through each scene like a banty rooster, shouting attention to himself without ever having to raise his voice. As a fellow on the lam from vicious mobsters who want him dead, Cagney plays a character not in control of his own circumstances - a rarity for him, which makes him at once more vulnerable and more human. Joan Blondell nicely underplays her part as the tough luck lady he befriends, avoiding any of the sass & sizzle from her comedic films which would be out of place here.

At the other end of the spectrum from the grim roles with which he would become associated, Victor Jory is excellent as the quiet, decent fisherman who deeply loves Blondell. His performance is one of the major assets of the film.

Bradley Page, Russell Hopton, Harold Huber & Ralf Harolde play various Manhattan crooks & killers, with Frank Craven especially good as a genial, albeit sinister, shadow. Solid support is given by Sarah Padden as Jory's exuberant old-world mother & John Qualen as the local delivery man.

Outdoor location shooting took place around Monterey, California. While the film's setting, the seaside village of Santa Avila, is completely fictional, the Monterey Bay area has long enjoyed a strong Portuguese contingent as part of its fishing industry.

Paperback Programmer

[TheFearmakers · 7/10 · 1 October 2023]

James Cagney dime-novel-style programmer has his character Flicker Hayes, newly released from prison, dangerously double-crossing the hoods who'd double-crossed him as two more goons plan to keep on his trail...

Beginning in San Fransisco where he meets Joan Blondell, as a prostitute setting her mind on marrying a simple fisherman in a John Steinbeck Monterrey style seaside town...

She has a seemingly benign passenger in Cagney's Hayes, both hiding out in completely different ways. Cagney's surprisingly soft-spoken here, but not nearly as much as dutiful Victor Jory as the fisherman who doesn't care about Blondell's racy past...

This is merely a distraction to Cagney's story that, in itself, distracts from what the movie, HE WAS HER MAN, is leading to - with armed goons on the way, it doesn't look likely he'll survive...

Veteran (even at that time) character-actor Frank Craven fits nicely into the mellow pre-Noir - in one of Cagney's more artistic ventures at the end of the decade, CITY FOR CONQUEST, he played a happy-go-lucky bum who provides the roman chorus narration -- here he's a con man "rat" with a trick up his sleeve, ultimately at Cagney's expense: our previously selfish crook is headed toward a crossroad since Blondell loves him madly...

The fishing village connected to the passage seaward is like a dream milieu to the first early Cagney programmer that's more a crime-related fable than his usual con-man connected heist thriller...

What it lacks in the usual edgy excitement or spontaneously sarcastic humor is made up for within the creative storyline in this page-turning melodrama with a more poetic than satisfying, noir-esque conclusion.

"You make me...I don't know how to say...not afraid for anything."

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 5 April 2014]

James Cagney plays masculinely-named ex-con Flicker who rats out his criminal buddies because they were responsible for his going to prison. Now Flicker has to hightail it out of town so he escorts ex-prostitute Rose (Joan Blondell) to a small fishing village where she is supposed to marry Portuguese fisherman Nick (Victor Jory). Staying with Nick and his mother, Flicker quickly grows to like them. But Flicker and Rose have fallen in love, which complicates things. Meanwhile, Flicker's location is discovered and two hit men are sent to rub him out.

Cagney's character is a cocky ladies' man, as they typically were, but he does evolve throughout the movie. Cagney's also sporting a mustache in this one. At first I thought maybe he just drank some chocolate milk and forgot to wipe his mouth but nope, it's a 'stache alright! Victor Jory's Nick is the saintly salt-of-the-earth common man type that you saw so much of in Depression-era movies. It's style (Cagney) vs. substance (Jory) in the battle for Joan Blondell's heart. Nice supporting cast includes Harold Huber, Frank Craven, and John Qualen, among many other recognizable faces. It's a middle-of-the-road picture in the oeuvres of both Cagney and Blondell. The last of seven they made together. It's not a bad movie but the somber tone is a tough sell when you have two firecracker actors as leads.

Jimmy On the Lam

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 20 October 2007]

He Was Her Man finds Joan Blondell torn between two men, petty crook James Cagney who's on the lam and Victor Jory the simple Portugese fisherman who's town Cagney has taken it on the lam to.

Blondell's a former working girl who's also been around the track a few too many times. But she's looking for some kind of salvation in a marriage with Jory. But then Cagney comes along and she's ready to forsake all that.

Cagney is a safecracker who apparently took a bad rap for some partners who doublecrossed him. He pays them back in kind by taking his cut up front and then squealing on the two of them. One dies after killing a policeman in the electric chair, but the second puts out the word to the criminal underworld that Cagney's wanted. That's why Cagney's on the run.

Sadly enough He Was Her Man will never rank at the top or even the middle group of Cagney films. I think it was botched in the editing department to keep it down to a 70 minute length, pretty skimpy for a feature film now. My guess is that the Code was just coming into force and Warner Brothers was trying to keep the film respectable, but probably edited out some needed parts for the story to make sense.

Compared to films like Smart Money and Footlight Parade, the team of Cagney and Blondell came a cropper with this one.

A Bittersweet Ending To Both The Movie AND Of A Movie Team.

[MartynGryphon · 10/10 · 6 February 2009]

Her Was Her Man, directed by Lloyd Bacon, was sadly, the last of the seven James Cagney/Joan Blondell movies of the early '30's. In my opinion, they were the first great 'Movie Team' of the 'talkie' era. We all remember Hepburn & Tracy, Flynn & De Havilland, Powell & Loy, yet the Cagney & Blondell partnership seems forgotten in comparison.

To make it sadder still, the plot of this movie is a lot darker and melancholic than their others and I feel that it's a shame their final scene together of the partnership never had that happily ever after ending.

Cagney plays Flicker Hayes, a gangster who, newly released from jail, is hell bent on exacting his long awaited revenge on the gang that left him to take the rap. He becomes a 'stoolie' and rats to the cops about a forthcoming job which results in a gang member being arrested, tried and executed. His old gang obviously do not respond well to this, and won't rest until Hayes is firmly under the sod and a contract is put out on his head.

He lams out to San Francisco where he assumes the inconspicuous alias of Jerry Allen. It is here that he runs into a down on her luck woman called Rose Lawrence, (Blondell). Rose is on her way to a small fishing town down the coast to marry a man who, while well aware of her shady past, is still keen to marry her regardless. Lawrence sick of the hand to mouth life she has been leading has accepted. Hayes too sees the attraction and before their first meeting is over the two have fallen very much in love. However, Lawrence is determined that her days of following the wrong guy are long over and intends to see her proposal through.

Hayes takes her under his wing determined that she's the girl for him and that she's not destined to become the wife of some dull fisherman. She's still unaware of who he really is and the real reason he's in California. It is leaving San Francisco that he is recognised by a small time informer called Pop Sims, (Frank Craven), who spends no time at all in calling New York to tell Hayes's old gang of his whereabouts who immediately dispatch two hit men to finish the job.

Hayes delivers Lawrence to the home of Nick Gardella, (Victor Jory), the decent, kind and good Portuguese fisherman Lawrence is engaged to. Hayes is welcomed warmly by Nick and his sweet mother, who both start to treat him as one of the family as opposed to a visitor.

Meanwhile, Pop Sims, has also hit the Gardella home masquerading as a hobby fisherman named Jim Parker. The Gardella's seemingly endless hospitality is extended to him also and Sims now is perfectly placed to guide the hit men straight to the front door of the Gardella home.

Lawrence is having second thoughts about the marriage as she sees Nick as nothing more than a kind man who gave her an offer of a legitimate life when all seemed bleak, coupled with her insatiable love for Hayes. Hayes is also mad about her and they agree to run away before the marriage to spend their lives together. Hayes soon has second thoughts about it, as he sees Nick and his mother as genuine, upstanding, decent people whom he can't betray and likewise loves Lawrence enough not to ruin her first, and perhaps only, chance of a decent life. He leaves only hours before the wedding, but when he hears that the hit men are already on the way to the Gardella home, he rushes back to save his friends.

He arrives just in time and convinces the hit men that nobody there knows who he really is and that he will go peacefully to his doom if they leave Rose and the Gardella's alone. They agree, and Hayes is led away to his death. As the church bells ring after Rose & Nick's Wedding, it not only heralds the start of two peoples life together but the ending of a gangster's worthless life.

Released just at same time as the Production Code was being strictly enforced, it makes no mention of the fact that Blondell's character was so obviously an ex-hooker but it is certainly suggested numerous times, as is the fact that Cagney & Blondell's character obviously had a sexual encounter the very night they met. All of these things led to the movie being rated C 'Condemned' by the Catholic Legion of Decency who had a 30 year stranglehold on the movie industry. If this film had been made even one year before, then the sanitisation that made the movie seem a little stagnant in parts would not have been there.

It is also the only Cagney film where he doesn't even raise his voice and while we all admire his 'hood with a heart' performance, I missed the tough talking and also the action which is also kept to a sanitised minimum.

Praise has to go to Victor Jory in his portrayal of Nick. An all round decent Joe. I've always relished his bad guy roles, especially the role of Yancey in 'Dodge City', but seeing him play a good guy has made me realise how much I've underestimated and misjudged his talents.

I've found that most of the movies I've seen that was made between 1934-1935, (and that's a lot), seemed to be struggling to keep their plots in compliance with the newly enforced code. He Was Her Man, was no exception.

Enjoy!

Superb characters acted beautifully but in a very dull story

[1930s_Time_Machine · 4/10 · 9 December 2022]

You'd expect some fun, wisecracks and excitement from a Warner Brothers Cagney-Blondell movie but you will be sorely disappointed. This film has a very different feel, the usual sense of optimism and hope is replaced with fatalism and an acceptance that life doesn't always get better. This doesn't make this film easy to enjoy. Lloyd Bacon's uncharacteristically turgid and moody direction also doesn't make this something you will be instantly captivated by.

If you can however stick with it, it is rewarding because the story about broken people hopelessly trying to make something of their lives is quite moving. The problem is the writing; it sacrifices plot for character development. Through what seems a long running time where very little happens you realise that these characters are all very lonely people desperate for comfort and fooling themselves that good times are just around the corner. You know that their dreams are never going to become real. In a way it's saying to you: this isn't a movie, it's real life.

Cagney is not his usual loveable, cocky rogue in He Was Her Man, his false bravado and transparent charm is wafer-thin but he genuinely wants to be a good person. You just know that he's too weak to be the person he wants to be.

Joan Blondell is extremely somber, nothing like the 'sassy dame' we've become accustomed to. Her acting in this is exceptional, really exceptional - her sadness and longing for happiness which she knows is impossible floods out of the screen at you. Each flutter of her eyelids breaks your heat. Her performance is so touching that you wish that you yourself could do something to help.

If only this beautifully acted film was a bit more exciting it would have been special but as it stands it's just not that entertaining.

Good for Cagney and Blondell fans

[drjgardner · 5/10 · 24 June 2016]

Straight-shooting Joan Blondell and Jimmy Cagney paired up in films like "Public Enemy" (1931), "Blonde Crazy " (1931), "The Crowd Roars" (1932), and Footlight Parade" (1933) and this film has probably the least chemistry between the two. That doesn't mean that the two of them don't do their usual good job, and that's really all you have in this easily forgotten film about a safe cracker on the run with a former prostitute who wants to settle down in a small fishing village with a tender nice guy (played by Victor Jory which is one of his rare good guy appearances).

At this time in his career Cagney was having problems playing the tough guy killer, so he did a number of films in which he wasn't a criminal ("Picture Snatcher", "Winner Take All", "Here Comes the Navy") but none of these was really successful, so his non-crime dramas were interspersed with crime flicks and this is one of those examples. But nothing matched "Public Enemy", "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Each Dawn I Die", and "The Roaring Twenties", at least until his magnificent performance in "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

The film is great for fans of Cagney or Blondell, but otherwise forgettable.

Well done somber drama.

[st-shot · 8/10 · 15 September 2011]

There's an effortless polish to this Cagney Blondell team up unlike most of their many couplings fused with brash give an take. More subdued and perhaps worn out from life they project a restrained melancholy that informs this moody overachiever that deviates from the era's formula.

Flicker Hayes (Cagney) takes it on the lam after he sets up two of his associates during a heist. A cop is killed and one of the crooks gets the chair for it. The other puts a contract out on Hayes head who has hooked up with mail order bride Rose (Blondel) in Frisco and follows her to a sleepy fishing village in order to lay low as well as deal with his conflicted feelings about Rose. Hit men in the mean time have been dispatched to the village.

Well edited with imaginative composition director Lloyd Bacon does an excellent balancing act of keeping He was Her Man's outcome masked until the very end. Subtly and with great economy he establishes the relationship between Flicker and Rose then heightens the drama and tension by introducing a beyond decent hard working sensitive groom to be increasing the pressure on Rose.

Cagney has the usual jaunty confidence but this time withdrawn from throwing punches and spraying lead to back it up. Victor Jory's sensitive understanding fisherman gives crucial weight to the film's ability to sustain itself by being a formidable opponent to Flicker. It is Blondell though amid her predicament without resorting to hysteria in conveying a lugubrious despair along with Bacon's tempered approach that gives He was Her Man a touch of morose beauty.

Disappointing early Cagney picture!

[trw3332000 · 3/10 · 4 September 2002]

Warner Brothers Pictures were very prolific and they kept James Cagney busy in the early 30s. Pictures usually had snappy dialogue and swift pacing in his early career, but not this time! Very preachy and sentimental story with little for Cagney to do. I guess I can't get used to him in mustache. Backgrounds and locales interesting, especially early gas station/cafe with slot machine. Look for John Qualen(trying to sell ring in Casablanca) as Dutch, the local yokel.

Fine, Subtle pre-Code era Film With the Stars at Their Best

[bensonj · 15 January 2013]

I'm really glad to see the many thoughtful, positive comments about this film on IMDb, because it's one of my favorite pre-Code era films. The film books don't give it good marks: Halliwell ("not quite smart enough"), Hirschhorn's Warner book ("pallid stuff"), Homer Dickens ("not a very good film"), Maltin ("disappointing"). Don't believe these folks! Perhaps part of the problem is that this sentimental tale, while not an unfamiliar story, is nothing like the Cagney action films and comedies that preceded it. It just isn't what critics and viewers would expect. Interestingly, one critic, Howard Barnes, writing at the time the film was released, comes a little closer: "It is James Cagney's gift to execute a characterization with such clarity and conviction that (the film) becomes exciting and engaging through his participation ... he moves with fine restraint and assurance, making the screen drama a rather effective hodgepodge of melodrama and sentiment." Effective it is, but far from being a hodgepodge, the story is constructed unusually well for Warners at the time: no padding, no abrupt truncated bits, each sequence weighted properly in terms of the others. The melodrama is kept to a bare minimum: one can imagine a big action shoot-out scene at the end, with Cagney dying in her arms, and numerous other chances for standard melodrama, all avoided. Certainly, a key to the success of the film is Cagney's immensely subtle, nuanced performance; always charming, but never for a moment not a heel. As with the similar character in CEILING ZERO, Cagney knows to play the role as though he's a good guy and let the story tell the truth about the character. Blondell's performance, too, is extraordinary; the usual archetypical brassy blonde is here unexpectedly vulnerable. But the script is a full partner in these characterizations. Blondell's past is not glossed over: "I met him right here in this hotel, he was in the big city for a good time, the bellboy introduced us, you can figure it from there." There's Cagney's predatory request for sex in their first scene, taking advantage from the first moment of the fact that she likes him and that she's almost obligated and really has little choice. Of course, one looks ahead and can assume that Cagney will probably be killed and she'll marry Jory. But there are so many possible bad paths to this conclusion, and none taken here. In fact, it's a measure of the film's success that there's considerable tension built, and one isn't really sure during the watching exactly how it will play out. Not only is the story well told, but the dialogue is excellent, with the characters speaking their mind, though often indirectly. Exposition is masterfully integrated with the characterization in the dialogue. There's a large cast of fully drawn minor characters, too. Perhaps some would find Jory's Portuguese fisherman a bit much (though I am glad to see the IMDb comments are generally very favorable), but in the context the character works. And it's so nice to see Jory not the villain for once. What I love about the better early-Thirties films is that they don't point the viewer to an obvious interpretation of each scene, and their structure is fluid and not predictable in its details. The subtle moments don't call attention to themselves and may be missed by viewers used to a more straightforward style. This is a fine film with outstanding performances from Cagney and Blondell, and if you avoid it because of the "experts" you'll be missing a rewarding film.

... And she can have him.

[Fred_Rap · 4/10 · 1 May 2011]

In his early years of stardom, James Cagney had a volatile working relationship with the brass at Warner Brothers. He rebelled against the interchangeable tough guy vehicles routinely foisted upon him, and if this standard issue product is any example, he had every right to grumble. It's a dour, slackly paced retread of "They Knew What They Wanted," and probably the least representative, most disappointing of Cagney's early showcases.

As directed by Lloyd Bacon, this one doesn't even have the saving grace of the star's dynamic energy. Perversely, he plays a low-key, laid-back ex-convict (with polished diction, no less) on the lam from vengeful gangsters who hide out among Portuguese fishermen on the California coast.

Perhaps Cagney's moribund performance was his way of blowing a raspberry at the lame material (earlier that year, he shaved his head in protest over the far superior "Jimmy the Gent"), and his lack of enthusiasm seems to have been shared by his co-stars. Joan Blondell, leading lady to Cagney in seven previous films, turns in one of her rare sullen performances as a hooker torn between the ex-con and a naive villager. It's a dispiriting spectacle to watch the Depression-era's most vivacious good-time girl reduced to a cloying, lachrymose sob sister, not to mention an ignoble end to a memorable screen partnership.

Candor and Truth

[mayo2338 · 10/10 · 21 January 2003]

This movie would merit a ten were it only for Victor Jory's depiction of an affable, sincere, ingenuous soul. But it haply has the merit of having been released just prior to the sanctimonious moral codes having been foisted on us. Cagney is ebullient and bursting from every scene with the passion, vigor and elan that made him justly renowned. The beauty of Joan Blondell is only enhanced by her realistic depiction of a good-hearted woman who has necessarily made her way in the Depression by bestowing sexual favors. It is refreshing truth .

Flat

[view_and_review · 3/10 · 19 April 2024]

1934 doesn't seem like it was a good year for Joan Blondell. So far I've seen her in "I've got Your Number," "Smarty," and "He Was Her Man," and they were all bad. And, as a tandem, this was the worst movie I've seen James Cagney and Joan Blondell paired in of the five I've now seen them headline.

In "He Was Her Man," a recently released convict named Flicker Hayes (James Cagney) was hired to crack a safe. Instead, he double crossed the guys and called the police on them. One was shot and killed while the other got away. Flicker beat it out of town and headed to California.

While he was holed up in a hotel in San Francisco Flicker met Rose Lawrence (Joan Blondell) who was on her way to Santa Avila, CA to get married to a Portuguese man named Nick Gardella (Victor Jory).

We could draw the conclusion that the two were intimate in that San Francisco hotel. They were in the same room together, a romantic soundtrack was playing and the scene faded to black with Flicker taking off Rose's jacket. Furthermore, the next time we saw the two of them, Rose was behaving very fidgety with Flicker like a guilty woman or like a conflicted woman who wanted to distance herself from the man causing her conflicted feelings.

All suspicions were confirmed later on when they reached Santa Avila. Nick (her fiance) had to go fishing and Rose wanted to go with him. It was a strange request because he was going to be working on a boat with several other men. Why was she so desperate to go with him?

If I'd learned anything from watching these early-thirties movies it is that a woman who begs to go with her man or begs him to stay with her, is a woman who doesn't trust herself alone.

Well, later that night she had sex with Flicker and fell in love with him (or maybe she fell in love then had sex). If it was merely a question mark before, it was a period now, and it only confirmed that women back then couldn't be trusted alone with another man. I can't count the movies in which a woman was left alone with another man and she either fell in love with him or was emotionally confused because of him.

Even though Rose chose the wrong guy, she would get a mulligan. Flicker went on to be killed while Nick went on to marry Rose even after she told him of her infidelity. Nick was one of those guys who was so happy Rose chose him that she could've done anything and he would've still married her. It's a happy ending today, but wait til the honeymoon period is over.

Free on YouTube.

Underrated and enjoyable to watch

[gbill-74877 · 8/10 · 23 October 2016]

I seem to like this film more than most, maybe because of the difference in tone it presents to the usual gangster fare. It's nice to see Joan Blondell in a more subdued role, and she pulls it off well, knowing her past taints her, off to marry an immigrant fisherman (Victor Jory) who will accept her anyway, but finding herself drawn to Cagney. It's nice to see the gravitas in her 'serious face'. Cagney is in the role of a safe cracker who has double-crossed some guys and is on the run, not knowing that he's being closely tracked. Innocent to all of this is the family they're staying with, who lead simple but happy lives, and who look forward to their son's marriage to Blondell. I have to say, the mom (Sarah Padden) is a joy to watch as Cagney ingratiates himself to her.

Cagney and Blondell are more low-key than their usual screen personas, and this is not movie with a lot of action, but there is real tension in both the story lines – whether Blondell will go forward with her wedding, and whether Cagney will survive. The depth of their feelings does come out in more than one tender scene, and in fact, all three of them – Blondell, Cagney, and Jory – are altruistic, adding a sweetness to the movie. It seems some are unhappy with the ending as well, but I thought it was quite good (and side note, wow on the glimpse we get of the low-cut dress). I also liked how it was shot on location in Monterey, California. Underrated and enjoyable to watch.