The Best 35 films of James Cagney.
I grew up watching on television the Warner Brothers movies
of the 30's and early 40's, and especially the gangster films
with Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and the wonderful Jimmy Cagney. Cops and crooks -- I could not get enough. Cagney was the most magnetic, confident, likeable screen actor, and created many memorable screen characterizations over his career, with never a false note in any of his performances. Here are 35 of his very best!
of the 30's and early 40's, and especially the gangster films
with Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and the wonderful Jimmy Cagney. Cops and crooks -- I could not get enough. Cagney was the most magnetic, confident, likeable screen actor, and created many memorable screen characterizations over his career, with never a false note in any of his performances. Here are 35 of his very best!
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35 titles
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyVirginia MayoEdmond O'BrienA psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyJoan LeslieWalter HustonThe life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienHumphrey BogartA priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsDoris DayJames CagneyCameron MitchellA fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.
- DirectorJohn FordMervyn LeRoyJoshua LoganStarsHenry FondaJames CagneyWilliam PowellIn the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJames CagneyElizabeth McGovernHoward E. Rollins Jr.A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJames CagneyHorst BuchholzPamela TiffinIn West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyHumphrey BogartPriscilla LaneThree men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakJean NegulescoStarsJames CagneyAnn SheridanArthur KennedyDanny is a content truck driver, but his girl Peggy shows potential as a dancer and hopes he too can show ambition. Danny acquiesces and pursues boxing to please her, but the two begin to spend more time working than time together.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyMargaret LindsayAnn DvorakJames Cagney helped jump-start the gangster genre as The Public Enemy. Outcries against movies that glorified underworld criminals put Cagney on the side of the law in 'G' Men.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsJames CagneyDon MurrayDana WynterIn 1920s Ireland, I.R.A. members are being led by the war mongering Dr. Sean Lenihan (James Cagney), as they fight oppressive British forces.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJames CagneyJean HarlowEdward WoodsAn Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsJames CagneyDorothy MaloneJane GreerThe life and career of vaudevillian and silent-screen horror star Lon Chaney, including his contentious relationship with his neurotic wife and his premature death.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyBette DavisStuart ErwinA financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyGeorge RaftJane BryanA corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
- DirectorRobert MontgomeryStarsJames CagneyDennis WeaverWard CostelloA semi-documentary dramatization of five weeks in the life of Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, Jr., from his assignment to command the U.S. naval operations in the South Pacific to the Allied victory at Guadalcanal.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames CagneyAnnabellaRichard ConteWhen spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsJames CagneyBarbara PaytonHelena CarterStarting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsJames CagneySylvia SidneyPorter HallA dedicated American reporter in 1930s Japan is determined to expose that government's plan for world domination.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsJames CagneyWilliam BendixWayne MorrisA wide variety of persons come into Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames CagneyCorinne CalvetDan DaileyThe wartime romantic misadventures of Captain Flagg, commander of a company of US Marines in 1918 France.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienGeorge BrentAlthough loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienGloria StuartA cocky guy joins the Navy for the wrong reason but finds romance and twice is cited for heroism.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJames CagneyDon DubbinsStephen McNallyWith no law within 200 miles horse rancher Jeremy Rodak runs his spread with an iron hand and deals with rustlers even more ruthlessly.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsJames CagneyBarbara StanwyckWalter PidgeonA middle-aged man tries to reconnect with his illegitimate son, who was given to an orphanage many years ago.