In the 1930's, Warner Brothers nearly lost their two biggest stars, Bette Davis and James Cagney, when they took on the big boys by desperately trying to get out of their contracts. Cagney managed to make two films for independent studio Grand National which are nowhere nearly as good as most of the films that he had already done. If making these two films did any good, it was to improve the overall quality of what he would get for more than a decade afterwords. Of the two films, "Great Guy", is the closest to what he did at Warners.
This is an expose of how some grocers attempted to rip off their customers by adding weights to their goods to make more money and the rackets behind it. They don't even stop there, going after other businesses as well, with James Burke along Cagney's side as opposed to chasing him as the stereotypical buffoon cop. Burke makes his character much more unique than normal, adding a charming Irish accent to his performance. Cagney takes on the rackets with gusto, even turning down the racket leader's offer of a payoff by literally kicking him out of his office. Of course, this leads to more trouble, but Cagney is prepared to deal with it.
Cagney's leading lady is none other than his grapefruit gal, Mae Clarke, and this time around, she's nagging him over eating his spinach. Unfortunately, she works for a crooked philanthropist, Henry Kolker, who has his dishonest hands in the mayor's office. Mary Gordon and Edward Brophy are among the other Cagney co-stars from Warner Brothers supporting him with Gordon shining as an orphanage director about to be fired by a corrupt mayor whom Cagney goes out of his way to aide. Brophy shows his true character going up against Kolker who thinks Brophy is kissing up to him to get ahead. What rises this above typical crime drama is the fact that it takes a simple, unbelievable scam and makes it believable front page news. Better than average B second feature is filled with great one-liners and character performances and deserves better reviews than major film guides give it.
This is an expose of how some grocers attempted to rip off their customers by adding weights to their goods to make more money and the rackets behind it. They don't even stop there, going after other businesses as well, with James Burke along Cagney's side as opposed to chasing him as the stereotypical buffoon cop. Burke makes his character much more unique than normal, adding a charming Irish accent to his performance. Cagney takes on the rackets with gusto, even turning down the racket leader's offer of a payoff by literally kicking him out of his office. Of course, this leads to more trouble, but Cagney is prepared to deal with it.
Cagney's leading lady is none other than his grapefruit gal, Mae Clarke, and this time around, she's nagging him over eating his spinach. Unfortunately, she works for a crooked philanthropist, Henry Kolker, who has his dishonest hands in the mayor's office. Mary Gordon and Edward Brophy are among the other Cagney co-stars from Warner Brothers supporting him with Gordon shining as an orphanage director about to be fired by a corrupt mayor whom Cagney goes out of his way to aide. Brophy shows his true character going up against Kolker who thinks Brophy is kissing up to him to get ahead. What rises this above typical crime drama is the fact that it takes a simple, unbelievable scam and makes it believable front page news. Better than average B second feature is filled with great one-liners and character performances and deserves better reviews than major film guides give it.