A worthy predecessor of 'Get Shorty'. Both stories share a similar basic plot revolving around a gangster trying to switch from the crime racket to the film racket. It has the same frequent unexpected Tarantinoseque changes of tone from comedy to bursts of REAL violence:
As we witness the quick rise of Cagney from an usher to a crime lord and into a Hollywood Star we also can see the political development of Warners' Gangster movies cycle as well: from Cagney as a loser, a tragic hero in 'Public Enemy' (1931) to a winning cooperative agent of the law in 'G Men' (1935). However, 'Lady Killer' is very reflexive in regard to this process constantly drawing witty analogies between the crime system and the Hollywood system. This is a very good mix between a gangster movie and a screwball comedy. The screwball part involving a love story between Cagney and a Hollywood starlet (Margaret Lindsay) is a little bit undeveloped but this is a small complaint - Cagney is at his prime here: constantly switching moods and customs, shooting wisecracks in Yiddish and generally kicking every and any ass in sight he never lets the movie bore us even for one second.
As we witness the quick rise of Cagney from an usher to a crime lord and into a Hollywood Star we also can see the political development of Warners' Gangster movies cycle as well: from Cagney as a loser, a tragic hero in 'Public Enemy' (1931) to a winning cooperative agent of the law in 'G Men' (1935). However, 'Lady Killer' is very reflexive in regard to this process constantly drawing witty analogies between the crime system and the Hollywood system. This is a very good mix between a gangster movie and a screwball comedy. The screwball part involving a love story between Cagney and a Hollywood starlet (Margaret Lindsay) is a little bit undeveloped but this is a small complaint - Cagney is at his prime here: constantly switching moods and customs, shooting wisecracks in Yiddish and generally kicking every and any ass in sight he never lets the movie bore us even for one second.