James Cagney and Joan Blondell made seven films together between 1930 and 1934, portraying characters that were romantically involved in three of them. The other two were "Sinners Holiday" (1930) and "He Was Her Man" (1934). I haven't seen that last one yet, this picture entices me to look it up real soon.
As in all his early flicks, Cagney is full of energy and wise cracks portraying his character Bert Harris, a bellhop at a Midwestern hotel. Right after he meets Ann Roberts (Blondell) and sets her up with a job as a linen girl, he offers to bring up some 'hooch' and sandwiches! Whoa - I had to replay that scene a couple of times. I've heard the word used in other films of the era but it always catches me off guard, just one of the perks that come with watching films from the Thirties before the Code restrictions came along.
Louis Calhern and a young Ray Milland make appearances along the way and engage in a series of scams and shakedowns with and against the principal stars. Bert chases Anne throughout the story, but because she gets tired of the grifting life, eventually marries Dapper Dan Barker (Calhern), an irritating character Bert refers to at one point as a 'smack-off'. It was gratifying to see Barker taken for $6500 in the horse race scam, that was the kind of smack-off he deserved.
I'm glad I'm not the only one to register a thumbs down with the way the picture ended. I just didn't understand Dan Barker's angle setting Bert up to take a fall with the police. Barker's thirty grand was still gone no matter which way you slice it, even if the non-negotiable bonds were recovered. One explanation perhaps is that he never blew the thirty grand to begin with, but the story could have let us in on that little secret without making the ending so abrupt and confusing. Very unsatisfactory.
Otherwise though, an entertaining entry from the early Thirties that nicely showcases it's top billed stars and gets them together for a smooch by the end of the story. And just in case you forgot to count, Blondell smacked Cagney four times!
As in all his early flicks, Cagney is full of energy and wise cracks portraying his character Bert Harris, a bellhop at a Midwestern hotel. Right after he meets Ann Roberts (Blondell) and sets her up with a job as a linen girl, he offers to bring up some 'hooch' and sandwiches! Whoa - I had to replay that scene a couple of times. I've heard the word used in other films of the era but it always catches me off guard, just one of the perks that come with watching films from the Thirties before the Code restrictions came along.
Louis Calhern and a young Ray Milland make appearances along the way and engage in a series of scams and shakedowns with and against the principal stars. Bert chases Anne throughout the story, but because she gets tired of the grifting life, eventually marries Dapper Dan Barker (Calhern), an irritating character Bert refers to at one point as a 'smack-off'. It was gratifying to see Barker taken for $6500 in the horse race scam, that was the kind of smack-off he deserved.
I'm glad I'm not the only one to register a thumbs down with the way the picture ended. I just didn't understand Dan Barker's angle setting Bert up to take a fall with the police. Barker's thirty grand was still gone no matter which way you slice it, even if the non-negotiable bonds were recovered. One explanation perhaps is that he never blew the thirty grand to begin with, but the story could have let us in on that little secret without making the ending so abrupt and confusing. Very unsatisfactory.
Otherwise though, an entertaining entry from the early Thirties that nicely showcases it's top billed stars and gets them together for a smooch by the end of the story. And just in case you forgot to count, Blondell smacked Cagney four times!