LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Joan Blondell: James Cagney
built 655 days ago
Joan Blondell plays Cagney's on-again off-again girlfriend. She is one tough cookie. Her Brooklyn accent, physical manner and looks are all reminiscent of a young Mae West. Critics of the day were quick to point out that Cagney and Blondell were the real stars of the movie. The rest, as they say, is history.
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This delightful and clever story made a great film to showcase the talents of James Cagney and Joan Blondell. Cagney plays Burt Harris, a wanabee con-man who snags a job for Joan Blondell (Anne Roberts) at the hotel he works at. Anne gradually develops feelings for Burt, whose first love is the almighty dollar and cannot fully reciprocate. They become partners in petty-larceny, and after an inside sting operation that leaves Burt broke, they embark on a trip to New York to settle the score. On the train, Anne meets and falls for Joe Reynolds (Ray Milland), not knowing that he understands larceny with a capital L. Anne helps Burt even the score against Dapper Dan (Louis Calhern) and then marries Joe. Now the love triangle is tested to the limit as Anne finds out the extent of Joe's criminal activity. The rest is pure Cagney as he attempts to rescue his partner, and come to terms with his own feelings for her.
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Blondell was the oldest of three children born to minor vaudevillians, and had a peripatetic, financially unstable childhood. At three, she debuted on stage. Her formal education was sketchy, so she worked as a chorus girl, then graduated to acting parts. She and James Cagney were on Broadway enjoying a Sinner's Holiday (1930) when Al Jolson bought and sold the screen rights, with the original cast, to Warners. Blondell headed west.
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Sinners' Holiday marked the movie debuts of James Cagney and Joan Blondell. They had originated their roles on Broadway where the story had been more aptly titled Penny Arcade. The show ran for only 3 weeks but was seen by Al Jolsen. He was so enamored of it that he bought the movie rights and sold it to Warner Bros. with the one stipulation that Cagney and Blondell be hired to recreate their roles. The title change had nothing to do with the plot.
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The combination of Cagney and Blondell scored a solid hit at the box office as well as with the critics. Variety described it as “Wise remarks, a fresh guy and dame stuff. Quick pace and a performance by James Cagney typically Cagney. These give Blonde Crazy a fast start and keep it going most of the way…Joan Blondell is Cagney's business partner - and what a business - who loves him in other ways besides biz but doesn't find that out until her marriage to a comparative nice boy proves a flop. Everything depends on the dialog and playing - both come through satisfactorily. Cagney and Blondell make a natural pair.
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With their New York attitudes, Blondell and Cagney were both natural talent for gangster films. They appeared together in The Public Enemy (1931) and crime dramas such as He Was Her Man (1934). But Blondell's sex appeal overpowered her tough image and the studio lined up teasing pre-Production Code comedies for her. Her blonde bob and brash personality helped make Blondell an irresistible chorus girl in Busby Berkeley's Depression-era musical extravaganzas, especially Gold Diggers of 1933 and Footlight Parade.
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