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Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

So much average

Instant Favorite.

Pre-Coder starring James Cagney as a hotel bellboy with a knack for conning people who falls for Joan Blondell and gets more than his fair share of trouble for it. Mixed bag but enjoyable enough. Jimmy's the main reason to recommend this one. He's delightfully cocky and energizes every scene. The way he moves and talks throughout the picture is fascinating to watch. He was still relatively new to movies but you would never know it by how confident his performance is here. Starts out like a comedy but turns more serious when Louis Calhern and Ray Milland enter the picture. It's not quite as enjoyable from that point on.

James Cagney is "Blonde Crazy" in this 1931 film also starring Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern, and Ray Milland.It's worth mentioning Charles Lane, who played the hotel desk clerk at the beginning of the film. Lane died in 2007 at the age of 102 and his last credit was in 2006! Lane is really a piece of Hollywood history, just as the stars of the film were.Cagney is a hotel bellhop, Bert Harris, who convinces the Kewpie-doll blonde Ann Roberts (Blondell) to join him in his life of crime. The crimes consist of some mighty clever scans to fleece rich people -- and, in one case, getting back at the con man who stole from them. Despite their partnership, neither can admit their feelings for one another. Ann falls for a broker (Ray Milland) and trouble follows.The two stars are wonderful, so young and energetic. Cagney calls Blondell "Hawn-EEE" which I'm sure he came up by himself. Blondell with her huge eyes is adorable. You really find yourself rooting for the two of them. In an early role, Louis Calhern is smooth as silk, and Milland provides an attractive lure for Ann.This is a nice piece of Americana. It's 1931 and people are out hustling. Sort of like today. Very enjoyable.

This is one of those very early talkie/precodes that I wish would come out on DVD. At this point in its history - 1931 - Warner Bros. was the mass producer of urban dramas and films that realistically portrayed the depression. Some of the films Warner made during this time were quite forgettable, and others had something special. This film is one of those special efforts, largely due to the acting skills of Joan Blondell and the great James Cagney and the on-screen chemistry they had. Cagney's character (Bert Harris) starts out as a bellboy in a midwestern hotel who is instantly attracted to Joan Blondell's character (Anne Roberts) when she applies for a job as a hotel maid. Bert wants a career as a confidence man and talks Anne into going into business with him as a partner. They work their way up from that small midwestern town into larger stakes in New York. Along the way Cagney runs into someone who ends up taking him instead of vice versa, Dan Barker, played by Louis Calhern. Calhern always excelled at playing the part of a slippery type, and his performance here is no exception. After settling the score with Dan, Anne wants out of the racket so she can marry a nice young man she has met along the way, and this seems like the end of the film. However, there is one final twist at the end that reunites Anne and Bert in a way that is totally unexpected.Even though this film was made after Cagney's star-making role in "Public Enemy", he still doesn't have his gangster/wise guy personna down yet. That makes one of the unexpected pleasures of the film seeing how he is still finding his way as far as his trademark gestures go in his later roles. Highly recommended.

"Ho-nee! " That's crazy Jimmy Cagney calling to his partner Joan Blondell in this wacky early-30s comedy-drama which reminded a bit, attitude-wise, with a film he did the following year called "Lady Killer." It also was typical Cagney: a very cocky con man (as a bellhop!) and fun-to- watch character who will do and say about anything. The dialog between he and Blondell in this film is a real hoot. It features a lot of the expressions of this time period.Louis Calhern plays a competing con man who swindles Cagney, but then gets taken himself. A very young Ray Milland, in one of his first credited appearances, is so young I didn't know it was him, but recognized the voice. He looked a lot like Bob Cummings.Not a great film but entertaining for the part, as Cagney films usually were. Every time he yells "Ho-nee!" I laugh out loud. Ya gotta love him!