SimonJack For as big a star as James Cagney was in his day, he is one of the least remembered or watched in the 21st century. That's because the type of films he made were so set in their time and not of enduring entertainment. Cagney was a very talented actor who could sing and dance as well. He made some very good movies, a few of which carry on with audiences. But for the most part, the bulk of his tough-guy criminal and convict character films are a thing of the past. That said, "Lady Killer" is something unique in that it has Cagney in that role but then transitioning to a guy who goes straight. Hollywood came calling, and his Dan Quigley soon makes his mark in films. Some of his former associates in crime catch up with him and try to use him to pull off jewel robberies of the famous of Hollywood. Douglass Dumbrille is Spade Maddock, whom Dan eventually helps bring down. Another different aspect of this Cagney character is that he didn't go for killing, which some of his cohorts didn't worry about. In many of his gangster films, he portrayed a mad or crazed tough guy who would just as soon shoot somebody as argue with them. Some others of the cast here are good as well. This film doesn't have particularly good production qualities. Unlike the films with set stages that came across quite well, when Hollywood sent to the outdoors it was iffy in these early years. The problems with staging, shooting and editing really show up here in the car chase scenes. Overall, this is a light comedy crime film in which James Cagney is a good guy – well, better than most of the rest, at least.

dougdoepke A tough guy turns gangster, but ends up a fall guy for the gang. Getting a break, he goes to LA where he winds up a movie star thanks to his tough demeanor. But can he escape his past.I love it when Cagney snarls at double-crossing crook Dumbrille. It's the classic tough guy in fine form. But whose idea was it to dude him out in foppish period costume, then curl his hair, and finally talk about gay parties getting busted. Of course, by that time, he's playing a foppish role in a movie. In short, it's all a put-on since he's now playing a role. Still, I expect the pre-Code innuendo was somebody's inside joke. Trouble is Quigley (Cagney) can't shake his gangland associations once he turns movie celebrity. Nor can he shake a double-crossing moll Mae Clarke once he starts romancing movie queen Margaret Lindsey.The gangland action is pretty standard, pepped up by Cagney's rough edges like manhandling the devious Clarke. However, once he gets into Hollywood, the movie-making sets are a lot of fun. Sort of like seeing how dreams are made, including the one we're looking at. And how about those antique flivvers flying down the road, as everybody's chasing everybody else at movie's end. Half the fun of these oldies is catching the styles of the day. No, this one's not as captivating as The Public Enemy (1931). Still, it's got the Irish dynamo in his prime, backed up by Warner's "ripped from the headlines of the day" production team. So what else can an old movie freak like me ask for.

Robert J. Maxwell Warner Brothers used to grind out these programmers with all the players, crew, writers, and directors under studio contract as if the films themselves were White Castle hamburgers, one after another, all the same except for a twist here, a variation there. This is a nearly perfect example.I don't know how many times I've seen clips of this movie in documentaries dealing with Warner Brothers or James Cagney's career. Here's Cagney being stopped by a bum on the streets of 1933 Los Angeles and asked for enough to buy a cup of coffee. Cagney slaps a bill into hand and barks, "Here! Now go buy yourself a PERKALATER!" Cagney dressed as an Indian riding a fake horse. Cagney, after having shoved a grapefruit in Mae Clark's face in a previous picture, dragging Clark by the hair through two rooms and kicking her in the behind when he throws her out. Cagney, having ridden a bouncing wooden horse for hours, is too sore to sit down, and when a passing woman asks how he feels, Cagney answer in Yiddish.The story begins in New York, with Cagney part of a gang of thieves. With the police closing in, the others betray Cagney and he finds himself alone and broke in Los Angeles. Then he's hired as an extra and has much more luck than I did, although I'm more handsome and by far the better performer. "Three bucks a day and a box lunch a horse wouldn't eat!" He wangles his way to stardom before his ex partners show up and begin hounding him. It ends in a car chase and shoot out.It's a 30s gangster movie -- and why not? It was the era of the "motorized bandits" -- Pretty Boy Floyd, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde. It's Cagney at his most cocky and graceful. He spins around with a gun in one hand, the other hand dangling loosely at the wrist. He smiles, he sneers, he looks doubtful. He's kinetic all over. The very hairs on his head do a little toe dance.

ZIV 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.