You raised your kids right.Have been waiting years for a Blu-ray release. But bcuz I'm not easy to buy for at Xmas time, it's been designated to one of my kids to put under thetree, otherwise I would have already watched & reviewed it.
My favorite Cagney performance and in my Top 10 Faves of the 1930s decade.
Gonna be a long 2 1/2 weeks.
But bcuz I'm not easy to buy for at Xmas time, it's been designated to one of my kids to put under the
Prosciutto da Pacino.
Yup, when I watched this film back in my childhood, seeing that young actor always amazed me with the resemblance, body mannerisms and speech.Just started watching this for the very first time, and as mentioned the picture quality is outstanding for a movie from 1938.
And I almost fell out of my chair during the first few minutes when I saw and heardthe performance of Frankie Burke as the young Rocky, who later in the movie is played by James Cagney. He looked and acted so much like Cagney, but c. 16 years younger, that it blew me away. Much better from my pov than the CGI they use sometimes these days to create younger versions of the same actor.
from wikipedia:
"....[Frankie Burke] grew up watching James Cagney on film in local theaters and, having been told many times how much he resembled him, figured if Cagney could become famous, so could he. Burke sold newspapers on the street corners before deciding to hitchhike to Hollywood in 1937 to meet Cagney, but when the first attempt failed, he went back to Brooklyn.[1] In 1937, Burke worked as a bellhop at a hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout, out searching for young men who resembled Cagney for a role in 1938's Angels with Dirty Faces. Apparently, the resemblance was so astounding that Burke was hired on the spot. He went on to do eighteen more films, several of which were uncredited, before his last role in 1941's Shadow of the Thin Man....
Frankie Burke - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Anyway, I also liked how Curtiz indicated the year, without flashing "1920" on the screen, by showing a newspaper headline about the nomination of Warren Harding for president. In 1938 many movie watchers would have picked up on that, but today probably not. But for good measure they also have the two young guys talking about going to the new movie of The Covered Wagon, which actually came out in 1923—but close enough lol!
I think he was Hollywood's best actor from the Golden Age. It wasn't just his acting, but his graceful body language in his acting performances.
Was this your first viewing of it?
Well he started off as a dancer on Broadway and then got typecast.I get that. Before I started writing DVDs reviews waaaay back when, I didn't know the old movies especially well.
When "Yankee Doodle Dandy" hit, I was like "Cagney? Singing and dancing??? WTF???"
Well I’m amazed (or stupid). I don‘t know how many times I’ve seen the film over past decades but until I read this thread I always thought it WAS Cagney playing a teen!I thought it was Cagney at first! I was all prepared to put in my review that it was absurd they tried to pass off Cagney as a teen... and then realized it was a different actor!
Well, he was a great actor, wasn't he?
