Picture Snatcher (1933)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

There's nothing hugely significant going on in this film, but it's a fun vehicle for James Cagney has him as a former hood who decides to "go straight" by working as a photographer for a sleazy tabloid. His boss, Ralph Bellamy, has a drinking problem and a woman problem (Alice White). He falls in love with a journalism student (Patricia Ellis), whose father happens to be the cop who sent him up the river to Sing Sing. After embarrassing the father (Robert Emmett O'Connor) by snatching a picture of an execution, Cagney and Bellamy must figure out a way to get back in his good graces and get hired at a real paper.Ellis is lovely, Cagney is full of fire, and although there's a few too many scenes of Cagney pushing White around, on the whole I thought it was a fun film with a lot of particularly amusing 1930s "slice of life" moments. Cagney plays his iconic character, a tough guy willing to compromise himself morally to get ahead, but this time he's less self-destructive and more the all-American go-getter. Very funny cameo with Sterling Holloway (as a nerdy journalism student), lots of interesting characterizations from lesser known performers like Ralf Harolde, who plays a "dirty rat" willing to expose his wife and children to danger to save himself. By no means a major classic, but will be a lot of fun for Cagney's fans.

Snappy Tabloid Journalism Story with James Cagney Developing into a Photographer out to get the Goods on those who are Down and can't Fight Back. But in this Yellow Journal Yarn He is so Energetic, Lighthearted, and Light on His Feet it All seems in Good Fun. The way the Picture is Handled it is, although the Subject Matter is Very Lurid at Times.Not the Pre-Code Sexual Stuff that has Pretty Dames Baring Some Skin and Making with the Bedroom Eyes, or Cagney Slapping them around when Their Sexual Advances are Unwelcome. But the Actual Assignments. Photographing a Woman at the Moment of Her Execution for Murder (with a camera smuggled into Sing Sing), a Firemans Breakdown after He finds His Wife in Bed with Another, or the Finale that is a Rousing Shoot em' Up with Machine Guns Blasting Away with Children in the Crossfire.This is some Pretty Gruesome Goings On Amidst the Comedic Banter and the Overall Tone of the Delivery that the Film Takes On. But Overall, it Works to the Benefit of Entertainment and the Film has a Distinctive Edge and Feel that After the Code would be Gone for Decades.

Lloyd Bacon directed this brisk drama that stars Jimmy Cagney as Danny Kean, an ex-convict turned newspaper photographer who isn't afraid to go the extra distance to get a dangerous or controversial photo. He falls in love with Patricia, daughter of the police officer who first arrested him! This relationship is used by Kean to get a much sought-after photo of a woman's execution, which ruins the romance, though Kean's boss Mclean(played by Ralph Bellamy) does what he can to help, and Kean goes back in action after an old friend becomes wanted by the police... Good yarn with appealing performances and well-paced direction. Cagney is in his element here, and film is entertaining.

Picture Snatcher (1933) *** (out of 4) Fast paced, hard hitting drama from Warner Bros. has a gangster (James Cagney) being released from prison when he decides to go straight and gets a job for a tabloid newspaper as a cameraman. Everything is going fine until he breaks all the rules to take a picture of a woman in the electric chair. This is a pretty interesting film especially today when there's so much controversy surrounding tabloid photographers so I guess this new trend was around back in the day as well. Cagney is energetic as ever and Ralph Bellamy delivers a strong performance as the alcoholic editor. A good little pre-code that, according to the Robert Osbourne intro, was made because Warner wanted a gangster picture but due to all the controversy surrounding them, put Cagney in as the photographer.