Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Sameeha Pugh It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

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.

Michael O'Keefe A classic tale of crime and show business? When Dan(James Cagney) loses his job as movie theater usher, others help him realize he has talent...maybe a true talent as a crook. When the police start to close in on Dan and his cronies in crime, it is not exactly lay low; but head to some kind of new start in California. He just stumbles into the motion picture business. Time for Dan to go straight as his tough guy attitude lands him in the movies. It doesn't take long to become cream of the crop and Dan likes it on top. But is he going to stick to the straight and narrow when his former criminal friends discover that truly it is him on the silver screen. Will blackmail bring the matinée idol down? A talented supporting cast features: Mae Clarke, Douglass Dumbrillel, Leslie Fenton, Margaret Lindsay, Henry O'Neil and Douglas Cosgrove.

Bill Slocum Look out, world! Jimmy Cagney's coming to Hollywood and whether they use bullets or make-up the con artists haven't got a chance, in this raucous send-up featuring a New York crime boss who lands himself where the real action is – on a theater marquee.Cagney is a wise guy named Dan Quigley who can't make it as a movie usher, so he raises his sights from lavatory dice games to breaking into rich folks' homes with the help of a nasty gang. When that goes bad and the gang leaves him flat, Quigley finds a new line in Hollywood, first as an extra, soon after as a "Famous He-Man of the Screen." But what will happen when the old gang shows up for a piece of the action?The marquee in lights near the start of the film advertises someone called "The Prince Of Pep." He might as well be Cagney in this streamlined star vehicle, written entirely to showcase his fast patter and easy charm. Cagney's so good they don't even bother to build a coherent film around his character, and it hardly matters.If you want to see a great Cagney film, there are perhaps a couple dozen better candidates. But if you want to see why the guy clicked so hard in the days of early sound, and still packs a punch 80 years later, this should be on your short list.Cagney's lines here are priceless. To a dog being held by a theater manager who just fired him: "Listen, Fido, this guy's got a wooden leg. Try it sometime!"To a group of card sharps who just cleaned him out: "I think I'll stick to checkers."To the same group, after he's figured out their scam: "You kick back with my fifty bucks, or I'll fold your joint like an accordion!"Just seconds later, he proposes a partnership. "You got a sweet racket here. Maybe I can show you a few new wrinkles.""Lady Killer" was made just before the Hays Code was seriously enforced, which makes for interesting viewing. Reviewers here have already pointed out a scene when we see Quigley sneak Mae Clarke's character Myra a peck on the breast. The film takes even greater advantage of the liberal mores then still in effect by letting Quigley get away with his crimes. Sure, he goes straight, sort of, but only because he finds a better racket than potentially homicidal B&Es. There's no moment of Quigley coming to regret his wicked past, as censors would have required just months later.That makes for a more entertaining Cagney vehicle, but a somewhat disjointed film. Director Roy Del Ruth keeps things moving quick, but in odd directions in tone, turning "Lady Killer" from a semi-serious gangster story to a genially goofy Hollywood satire. In his DVD commentary, Drew Casper calls "Lady Killer" a "shyster satire." It might also be called a "crooked comedy;" no one is on the level, whichever side of the law they're on.So in Hollywood, we see Quigley break big after really slugging an extra in a mock prison break scene, and further his path toward stardom by faking fan letters. It's shallow stuff, but fun, especially as it all plays so fast. Other than the star, pacing is "Lady Killer's" ace in the hole.Clarke should have graduated from the grapefruit league with this performance. She and Cagney resume their fireworks from "Public Enemy," this time with even more outrageous stunts, but Clarke, here the first- billed female, does wise work making sure we enjoy her comeuppance. Even her catty asides to Cagney, or the way she shamelessly plays with her hair while shaking him down for (more) dough, is on par with Barbara Stanwyck's star-making wickedness.But make no mistake, "Lady Killer" is Cagney's baby, and he makes it work, despite the tone shifts and the odd title (Quigley's not a killer himself, and doesn't play with women's affections). You root for the guy despite his crookedness, and that's all that matters in the end.