Lady Killer (1933)

Sorry, this movie sucks

not horrible nor great

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

New York criminal (James Cagney) takes it on the lam and winds up in Hollywood. There he gets a job working in movies, first in bit parts and eventually as a leading man. But when his old gang hears about his newfound success, they come knocking on his door and risk ruining everything for him.I hesitate to call this a gangster picture like everybody else seems to be doing. Cagney's character starts out the movie joining a gang but it's a gang of confidence men. Then they graduate to robbing houses before someone is shot and they have to leave town. These aren't racketeers or guys shooting it out with tommy guns. So, in my view, they're criminals for sure but not what I would call gangsters. Not that it matters much in the end. This movie reunites Cagney with his Public Enemy costars Mae Clarke and Leslie Fenton. Clarke is a treat to watch and has great chemistry with Cagney. Lovely Margaret Lindsay plays the movie star Cagney falls for. I'm a fan of hers so of course I enjoyed her in this. Highlights include Cagney dragging Clarke out of his room by her hair and Cagney forcing a movie critic to eat his own review. A fun crime comedy from Warner Bros. with another great Cagney role.

Hustler gets hustled, goes to Hollywood and hits big.Hustler's friends arrive to hustle him again... and get hustled in return.All this and the boy gets the girl too.Very simple Cagney gangster type film, but lighter on the bullets. It rolls along at a fair pace and sews itself up pretty well.With revisits from some 'Pubic Enemy' cast-mates, Cagney does a great job turning out 'A' list material in a 'B' list film, just as his career was built on.If you're an Cagney fan or a fan of 'Dream Factory' old school films, bring some popcorn.

When you think of James Cagney, you think of a gangster in films like The Public Enemy, where he smashed that grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face. But Cagney won his Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy. He also received nominations for Angels With Dirty Faces and Love Me or Leave Me. Here he shows just how far his range extends in a romantic comedy which also includes Mae Clarke in a bigger role.There is a lot of action in this 76 minute film. Cagney is a theater usher who gets fired and ends up following Mae as she is trolling for suckers to get fleeced by her partners in a card game. He joins the group and they pull more cons until a trigger happy gang member kills a maid. He and Mae head to Los Angeles, where he gets picked up for a series of bit parts because of his scruffy looks.One of the fascinating bits here is seeing how movies were made at the time. He hooks up with star Margaret Lindsay and uses his conning skills to make himself a star. (As an aside, Lindsey made 12 films that year, her second year as an actress.) Soon, Mae and the gang find him and they pick up where they left off. He tries to get them out of town, but they see dollars in LA. They hit Lindsey, who is his girlfriend, and he strikes back, but ends up back in jail. But, he ends up turning the tables at the end.Like I say, a lot of action for 76 minutes and Cagney really shows he can do romance, comedy, and gangster all in one film.

Thought I had seen all of James Cagney's films, but this film was a complete surprise to me and I enjoyed the unbelievable talents of Cagney in this film which is filled with comedy and drama. Cagney plays the role as Dan Quigley who is an usher in a movie house and gets himself fired for not abiding by the rules. Dan meets up with a bunch of con-men who try to cheat him out of fifty bucks and he discovers their racket and then decides to join them in other crooked adventures. Dan decides to go to Los Angeles, California and is soon discovered by a Hollywood producer who needs a person who looks like a crook and so Dan starts getting some bit parts in films and begins to be discovered as a great actor. Dan also meets up with Myra Gale, (Mae Clarke) who is a big film star and they get along just great until Lois Underwood, (Margaret Lindsay) is found in his bedroom by Myra and the relationship cools off rather quickly. This is a very entertaining film and Cagney is at his very best as far as I am concerned.