I could tell from the trailer for SINNERS' HOLIDAY that this is a film I could very well do without viewing--but I tuned in to see Cagney in his debut performance.
This is a museum piece, creaky in plot and development with abysmal stage dialogue and unnatural performances from GRANT WITHERS and EVELYN KNAPP, both of whom get top billing but neither one able to act their way out of a paper bag.
JAMES CAGNEY has the thankless role of the son caught up in a murder charge, a n'er-do-well punk with a trampy girlfriend (JOAN BLONDELL in unflattering make-up and hairstyle), and a harridan for a mother (LUCILLE La VERNE), the woman who gave The Witch a voice in Disney's "Snow White" several years later. None of these characters have any depth or engage the viewer for more than a few seconds. La Verne is particularly unpleasant in the central mother role.
Summing up: Nothing good to say about this one, except that Cagney alone deserves praise for his crying scene. He really throws himself into the part.
This is obviously a quickie churned out by the Warner factory in the early '30s as a part of their crime drama series.
This is a museum piece, creaky in plot and development with abysmal stage dialogue and unnatural performances from GRANT WITHERS and EVELYN KNAPP, both of whom get top billing but neither one able to act their way out of a paper bag.
JAMES CAGNEY has the thankless role of the son caught up in a murder charge, a n'er-do-well punk with a trampy girlfriend (JOAN BLONDELL in unflattering make-up and hairstyle), and a harridan for a mother (LUCILLE La VERNE), the woman who gave The Witch a voice in Disney's "Snow White" several years later. None of these characters have any depth or engage the viewer for more than a few seconds. La Verne is particularly unpleasant in the central mother role.
Summing up: Nothing good to say about this one, except that Cagney alone deserves praise for his crying scene. He really throws himself into the part.
This is obviously a quickie churned out by the Warner factory in the early '30s as a part of their crime drama series.