Purely Joyful Movie!

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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 and Joan Blondell made seven films together between 1930 and 1934, portraying characters that were romantically involved in three of them. The other two were "Sinners Holiday" (1930) and "He Was Her Man" (1934). I haven't seen that last one yet, this picture entices me to look it up real soon.As in all his early flicks, Cagney is full of energy and wise cracks portraying his character Bert Harris, a bellhop at a Midwestern hotel. Right after he meets Ann Roberts (Blondell) and sets her up with a job as a linen girl, he offers to bring up some 'hooch' and sandwiches! Whoa - I had to replay that scene a couple of times. I've heard the word used in other films of the era but it always catches me off guard, just one of the perks that come with watching films from the Thirties before the Code restrictions came along.Louis Calhern and a young Ray Milland make appearances along the way and engage in a series of scams and shakedowns with and against the principal stars. Bert chases Anne throughout the story, but because she gets tired of the grifting life, eventually marries Dapper Dan Barker (Calhern), an irritating character Bert refers to at one point as a 'smack-off'. It was gratifying to see Barker taken for $6500 in the horse race scam, that was the kind of smack-off he deserved.I'm glad I'm not the only one to register a thumbs down with the way the picture ended. I just didn't understand Dan Barker's angle setting Bert up to take a fall with the police. Barker's thirty grand was still gone no matter which way you slice it, even if the non-negotiable bonds were recovered. One explanation perhaps is that he never blew the thirty grand to begin with, but the story could have let us in on that little secret without making the ending so abrupt and confusing. Very unsatisfactory.Otherwise though, an entertaining entry from the early Thirties that nicely showcases it's top billed stars and gets them together for a smooch by the end of the story. And just in case you forgot to count, Blondell smacked Cagney four times!

Bert Harris (James Cagney) is a bellhop at a small town hotel. When a looker (Joan Blondell as Anne Roberts) arrives, he arranges for her employment in the housekeeping department.Bert is a schemer who is loose with the truth and has a love of the ladies. He says, "The world owes me a living." Despite the fact Bert is "not a collar ad", Anne is intrigued by his persona. But she is a good girl, immune to his advances. Still, they become partners and use a small-time frame to finance their move to a larger city.Being a fan of films about grifting, I really enjoy this film, which includes multiple examples of the con. The stakes get higher as the story continues. One con is reminiscent of "The Sting".It is also fun to watch pre-Code films, with their peculiar characteristics and their vernacular. Bert, though a criminal, displays an odd code of ethics that is central to the story, though unacceptable by Hays' standards.Cagney displays his usual bluster and bravado. Blondell is charming. Watch for the very young Ray Milland.

Aside from an ending that just seemed too vague and too abrupt, this is a very little enjoyable film from Warner Brothers. In some ways, it's very much a Pre-Code style film but it's not as salacious as some of the more extreme films during the era. Sure, there is a some sexual innuendo and the main characters are awfully amoral, but it other ways things are bizarrely chaste--and it's something you really need to see to appreciate.The film begins with Ann (Joan Blondell) looking for a job at a hotel. A slick bellboy, Bert (James Cagney) helps her get a job and almost immediately begins pawing at her. He's also a guy who is a bit of a huckster--and he schemes and pulls off petty grifter schemes for extra money. Want an example of the sort of dialog in this part of the film?Bert Harris: Now, you play ball with me... and your worrying days will be over. Ann Roberts: Yeah? How about the nights? Bert Harris: (smirks) Well, I'll see what I can do about those too, honey!As I said, there is a lot of innuendo. However, unlike films like "Red- Headed Woman" and "Platinum Blonde", the leading lady in this one seems to have her virtue intact throughout the film. Ann is willing to go along with some of Bert's schemes but keeps him at a distance throughout the film. Eventually, the pair get tired of penny ante stakes and quite their jobs to travel the country cheating boobs here and there. The trouble is that in the process, the pair obviously become quite fond of each other. But Ann doesn't want this sort of life forever and eventually falls for a stockbroker (Ray Milland). What's in store for Bert? Well, watch the film for the super-bizarro ending to see for yourself. I don't want to give it away but suffice to say it seems to come from out of no where and the ending of the film is incredibly vague and a bit unsatisfying-- hence my score of only 7 when it easily could have earned a higher rating up until then. The overall moral of the film seems to be EVERYONE is corrupt and what you get out of life is what you can take--a thoroughly Pre-Code moral in every way! Still, despite its dubious life lesson, the film is well acted and paced, quite enjoyable to watch and offers Cagney a part to play one of his strangest characters. This isn't the nasty criminal sort he played in "Public Enemy" nor the heroic sort he played in Post- Code films, that's for sure.