LeonLouisRicci 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.

Fred_Rap 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.

calvinnme 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.

Evan J. Chase 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.