Jimmy the Gent (1934)
(Released: 2010 by The Warner
Archive Collection)
Another looong DVD
Review by Joe Torcivia
Summary: Can earnest sincerity best the facade of
class – even in a backstabbing, cutthroat profession? Just ask James Cagney! He’d know…
We open with stock shots of various disasters involving
speedboats, trains, ships, airplanes, and even race horses, yielding fatal
results. Driving this home are newspaper
headlines mourning the deaths of tycoons and other important figures with one
linking detail – each has died without a clear and apparent heir to his
fortune.
We’ll let Cagney’s character “James Corrigan”,
self-described “Genealogist” and two-bit investigator, take it from here:
“Lyin’ around in banks, all over the country, is a
lotta money! Millions o’ dollars! Wills
and legal heirs that can’t be found!
Well, I find ‘em! An’ for
a small commission – never more than 50 % -- I put ‘em in touch!”
Understand that some of these “heirs” may or may not necessarily be rightful heirs, and you have
the premise of our story.
That, and the scrappy, street-level Corrigan’s chief rival
in this shady endeavor is the outwardly sophisticated (but inwardly more scummy
than Corrigan) Charles Wallingham – and that Corrigan’s former girlfriend (…and
the gal he loves) Joan Martin has left Corrigan’s employ (and life) to work for
the seemingly aboveboard Wallingham.
Joan (Bette Davis) would like to leave the crass Corrigan
and his shady little business behind for the more cultured Wallingham, who
utters lines like:
“I must confess I
get quite a glow when I think of some superannuated spinster, or poor harassed
little clerk, to whom we shall bring the glad tidings that they’ve suddenly
come into a great fortune.”
Once the set-up is established, the bulk of the film is
divided into two main plots: (A:) A convoluted rivalry between
Corrigan and Wallingham to get different individuals named the legal heir of a
dumpster woman who died with a coat lined with stocks, bonds, cash, and jewels. (B:) Corrigan’s attempts to win back Joan by
becoming a sophisticate – hence the title “Jimmy the Gent”.
We’ll leave you to root out the details of each plotline
on your own, and suffice it to say that, like any James Cagney film, examples
of lively physicality and great dialogue abound. Here are some instances of the latter:
Corrigan mobilizes
his staff to chase down disasters and deaths; in the hope some profit can be
made.
CORRIGAN: “Mike, you go down to Civil Hospital! They
just brought in an old bachelor!
MIKE: “Is he dead?”
CORRIGAN: “No, but he WILL BE! The
doctor that tipped me off is OPERATIN’ on ‘im!”
Joan shows us just
how little trust she has in Corrigan.
CORRIGAN: “I’d give my RIGHT EYE…”
JOAN: “It’ll turn out to be GLASS!”
Corrigan tries to
impress Joan, and become more intellectually sophisticated, like
Wallingham. He gestures toward a new
fixture in his office.
CORRIGAN: “Get a load o’ this! All
kinds o’ EDUCATION!
JOAN: “What is it?”
JOAN: “Why, you idiot! It isn’t
a FIFTEEN FOOT SHELF! It’s a FIVE FOOT SHELF!”
CORRIGAN: “Dat’s for ORDINARY people! I
bought THREE o’ dem!”
Additional oddities:
Being still early in the Warner Bros. cannon, and like Cagney’s earlier
hit “The
Public Enemy”, it begins with “Warner
Bros. Pictures and the Vitaphone Corp. Present: [with the WB Shield
superimposed over the Vitaphone Pennant].
Also, like Warner films of similar vintage, every featured
character in the film is introduced by a non-still pose, with both the name of
the actor and the character he or she plays prominently displayed. In older films, I often have difficulty in
determining “who-is-who” beyond the obvious star performers. This is a nice way to remedy that – and I
wish it would have been employed more often.
“Jimmy
the Gent” is a release of “The Warner Archive Collection”. Please GO HERE to read more about this
relatively new enterprise from Warner Home Entertainment. .
As is our custom in these reviews, we’ll break it into CONS
and PROS.
The CONS:
It’s Warner Archives: That means virtually nothing in the way of Extra
Features. No Commentary track, no subtitles, no background or “Making Of”
featurette. No “Warner
Night at the Movies” that I’ve loved so much in other
packages! And, there is a needlessly limited
choice of devices on which to play it, vs. standard DVD. But, there ARE slight improvements over
previous TWAC product, as you will see in the “PROS” section.
The PROS:
It’s Warner Archives: That means we get a film that would probably not
garner sufficient support for a general release. Given a choice between “Jimmy
the Gent” as a Warner Archive Collection release, or no release at all,
I’ll gladly take a TWAC version. And,
they HAVE made certain improvements over previous releases – noted below:
Robo-Promos:
“Robo-Promos” is my term for advertisements that play automatically
before you even reach the initial menu. There
are NO “Robo-Promos” on this set, in contrast with virtually ALL of the earlier
Warner Archive sets. Good for you,
Warner Archives!
Menu: (Singular): A nice departure from the old
standard, stark dark blue Warner Archives menu.
To the left, there is an attractive photo of “The Warner Bros. Theatre”
(Was there actually such a thing?), with the marquee reading: “Now Playing: Jimmy the Gent”, and a
large image of the DVD box cover (ALSO more nicely designed than the older
“dark blue” packages) is pictured on the right of the menu. Double good for
you, Warner Archives!
The options to
“Play Trailer” and “Play Movie” are offered on this single menu.
Scene Selections / Chapter Skip:
Again, TWAC has made improvements in what was a deficiency in earlier
releases. Those releases were authored
to only move forward or backward in TEN-MINUTE INTERVALS – regardless of
where that ten minute jump will land you logically within the story. For “Jimmy the Gent” and certain other
more recent releases, the selections fall more logically within the story, even
if they aren’t pictured or listed on a “Scene Selection Menu”. Triple good for you, Warner Archives!
The Extra Feature (Singular): Theatrical Trailer for
“Jimmy the Gent”: (02:24)
Cue the usual
on-screen hype:
“He’s the BIGGEST CHISLER since Michael
Angelo! [sic]” Over an caricature of
a robed Cagney carving a dollar sign on a stone tablet.
“Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves were
pikers…compared to this red-headed son-of-a-gun!”
JAMES CAGNEY. “JIMMY THE GENT”.
“Jimmy the Gent is on the hunt for blondes,
but here’s one blonde he can’t catch up with – Bette Davis!”
“Meet Jimmy’s pals – just a couple of boids
in a gilded cage: Allen Jenkins and Alice White.”
JENKINS: “Honey, you deviate me!”
WHITE: “(Giggle!)
You say the cutest things!”
[ Joe’s Note:
Oddly, this scene (and these lines) are NOT in the movie! I checked twice! A cut scene, perhaps? ]
“He’s the classy, sassy gentleman the girls
adore… A poifect Beau Brummel, with
just a dash of caveman!”
“James (“Honey Boy”) Cagney at his fastest!
Freshest! Funniest!”
The Film:
Another entertaining interlude
with James Cagney! Does the man EVER let
us down?!
The Depression-Era urban setting (New York) was the Warner
Bros. stock in trade and they do it typically well, even in what amounts to a
lesser film for Cagney.
The Cast:
·
James Cagney as “James Corrigan”.
·
Bette Davis as “Joan Martin”.
·
Alan Dinehart as “Charles Wallingham”.
·
Allen Jenkins as “Louie”.
·
Alice White as “Mabel”.
·
Arthur Hohl as “Joe Rector”.
·
Mayo Methot as “Gladys Farmer”
·
Hobart
Cavanaugh as “Wellington”. (Phony
Southern Heir)
Overall:
Okay, so “Jimmy the Gent” may not be the
greatest of Cagney’s films… but that’s because the bar is set SO HIGH!
But, taken on its own, it’s good fun – and, at a
remarkably short length of 1:07:29, the great Warner director Michael Curtiz (“Casablanca”,
“Captain
Blood”, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”) must have directed it on a lunch
break!
“Jimmy the Gent”
was based on the story “The Heir Chaser”, by Larry Doyle and Ray
Nazarro.
As a product of “The
Warner Archive Collection”, and not a standard Warner Home Video release,
it must be reviewed and rated by a new and different set of standards. The now-standard deficiencies are known, but
we must give TWAC some points for making a few improvements over past
releases. Those improvements are not just
specific to “Jimmy the Gent”, but seem to be an across-the-board effort at
upgrading the product line as a whole. Other releases of the same general time
frame can boast similar improvements.
“Jimmy the Gent”
is recommended for fans of James Cagney, Bette Davis, urban Depression-Era
settings in general, and for those fascinated with the time period and its
filmmaking.
