If that haircut is to make you think that 'Jimmy' is a bit of a thug, it certainly works. His character in this is not easy to like but if Mr Cagney puts his mind to it, he could make anyone endearing which is exactly what he does here.
Getting someone to invest their emotions in somebody who on the surface seems unlikeable always creates a stronger bond and is a very clever trick employed in this. If you start off disliking someone but then flip your opinion 180 degrees you personally have made a conscious commitment to that decision and because whatever we think we believe is right, that bond, that empathy will be stronger. If there's something in a person you think you can see which nobody else can is why they say 'opposites attract.'
You might recognize the plane crash at the start - it's from that Douglas Fairbanks picture made the previous year, PARACHUTE JUMPER. That incidentally, like this one also has Miss Misery-guts in it - did that woman ever smile? Although a curious choice for a light-hearted bit of fluff like this, she's the female lead and is predictably completely credible. She doesn't add much fun though.
She plays his business rival running a similar but much better organized company finding homes for unclaimed fortunes - for a healthy cut of course. On paper however she is not his actual rival; she's actually just an employee of a complete slime ball who fronts that other firm. As this film progresses you realize that it's the Bette Davis character who is the only intelligent, competent and honest one who can do this job. Only she knows how the business really works, only she can sort everything out and make sure the right thing is done and only she can see that one man is a slime-ball and the other one it's her pet project to reform. So, although this is a comedy it does put across quite a strong feminist message, especially for 1934!
Probably the least feminist aspect of this film however is the best reason to watch it - Alice White. Since her monumental fall from grace a few years earlier, Alice White, the archetypical flapper-girl and the cutest, sexiest girl in the whole world, who for just a couple of years was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood was now just getting a few bit parts every year. For her millions of fans (well there should be!) it's a little sad to see her now (if you can call 1934 now) as just as comedy relief playing the ultimate dizzy dumb blonde (as I said, not quite hitting the feminist angle as well as Bette Davis) but she is brilliant in that role also you can't help but fall a little in love with her even though she's only on screen for about ten minutes.
Getting someone to invest their emotions in somebody who on the surface seems unlikeable always creates a stronger bond and is a very clever trick employed in this. If you start off disliking someone but then flip your opinion 180 degrees you personally have made a conscious commitment to that decision and because whatever we think we believe is right, that bond, that empathy will be stronger. If there's something in a person you think you can see which nobody else can is why they say 'opposites attract.'
You might recognize the plane crash at the start - it's from that Douglas Fairbanks picture made the previous year, PARACHUTE JUMPER. That incidentally, like this one also has Miss Misery-guts in it - did that woman ever smile? Although a curious choice for a light-hearted bit of fluff like this, she's the female lead and is predictably completely credible. She doesn't add much fun though.
She plays his business rival running a similar but much better organized company finding homes for unclaimed fortunes - for a healthy cut of course. On paper however she is not his actual rival; she's actually just an employee of a complete slime ball who fronts that other firm. As this film progresses you realize that it's the Bette Davis character who is the only intelligent, competent and honest one who can do this job. Only she knows how the business really works, only she can sort everything out and make sure the right thing is done and only she can see that one man is a slime-ball and the other one it's her pet project to reform. So, although this is a comedy it does put across quite a strong feminist message, especially for 1934!
Probably the least feminist aspect of this film however is the best reason to watch it - Alice White. Since her monumental fall from grace a few years earlier, Alice White, the archetypical flapper-girl and the cutest, sexiest girl in the whole world, who for just a couple of years was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood was now just getting a few bit parts every year. For her millions of fans (well there should be!) it's a little sad to see her now (if you can call 1934 now) as just as comedy relief playing the ultimate dizzy dumb blonde (as I said, not quite hitting the feminist angle as well as Bette Davis) but she is brilliant in that role also you can't help but fall a little in love with her even though she's only on screen for about ten minutes.