You might expect the only screen pairing of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney to be a hard edged gangster drama on the order of Robinson's own "Little Caesar" or Cagney's "Public Enemy". In fact, "Smart Money" isn't a gangster flick per se, though it has it's seamy under world characters like Sleepy Sam (Ralf Harolde) and Hickory Short. Robinson even has a colorful handle of his own - Nick the Barber. You would think he got the name from cutting the throats of his victims, but he's actually a barber by profession, and a mighty lucky one at that. When his buddy Jack (Cagney) comes up with the idea to stake him for ten grand to go big time, Nick sees it as an opportunity to rise above his meager Irontown surroundings.
That's where the story gets a little sloppy for my taste. After Nick gets hustled in 'The City', there are no repercussions over the lost grubstake back in Irontown. Word of his embarrassing loss doesn't seem to faze a new group of financial backers who raise another fifty thousand dollars, which he uses to track down Sleepy Sam in 'Another City' for revenge. I got a bit of a kick out of that actually, why not just call 'Another City' New York, since 'Walter Winchell on Broadway' headed one of his columns on the fast rising card sharp Nick the Barber. Which brings up another question - how would the results from a series of private card games ever make it into the newspaper?
Robinson gets to play against a number of pretty blonds in the picture as he fancies himself a ladies man, but boy, the lines they came up with in the 1930's were something else. How about his come on to Marie early in the story - "Say you're a cute little trick"! There's also the blatant racism of the era; when Nick tears a bill in half for the black porter on the train, he states that the other half would be "at the other end of the line, if you're a good boy".
Back to Robinson and Cagney together in this film. I almost hate to say it, but Cagney's character was a bit swishy in the story, getting touchy feely with Nick more than once. Any doubt of the homosexual subtext to their relationship is put to rest near the end of the story when they argue over Irene (Evalyn Knapp) staying at Nick's apartment. When Jack demands to know 'how long is this gonna last?', Nick replies "She'll be gone in a couple of days, and then you can be my sweetheart again dearie". Do you know how many times I had to play that over to be sure I heard it right?
The one thing that's kind of intriguing if you've seen some of Cagney's very first films, he had a commanding presence in those pictures even when second billed or in a bit part. Here it looks like he might have been asked to tone it down a bit in deference to his co-star. Not to say he was laid back, considering my comments above, but it didn't look like he was willing to upstage Robinson. It's a little surprising that the two actors worked only this one time together, considering they crossed paths with other Warner Brothers contract players numerous times, like Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and Joan Blondell to name just a few.
That's where the story gets a little sloppy for my taste. After Nick gets hustled in 'The City', there are no repercussions over the lost grubstake back in Irontown. Word of his embarrassing loss doesn't seem to faze a new group of financial backers who raise another fifty thousand dollars, which he uses to track down Sleepy Sam in 'Another City' for revenge. I got a bit of a kick out of that actually, why not just call 'Another City' New York, since 'Walter Winchell on Broadway' headed one of his columns on the fast rising card sharp Nick the Barber. Which brings up another question - how would the results from a series of private card games ever make it into the newspaper?
Robinson gets to play against a number of pretty blonds in the picture as he fancies himself a ladies man, but boy, the lines they came up with in the 1930's were something else. How about his come on to Marie early in the story - "Say you're a cute little trick"! There's also the blatant racism of the era; when Nick tears a bill in half for the black porter on the train, he states that the other half would be "at the other end of the line, if you're a good boy".
Back to Robinson and Cagney together in this film. I almost hate to say it, but Cagney's character was a bit swishy in the story, getting touchy feely with Nick more than once. Any doubt of the homosexual subtext to their relationship is put to rest near the end of the story when they argue over Irene (Evalyn Knapp) staying at Nick's apartment. When Jack demands to know 'how long is this gonna last?', Nick replies "She'll be gone in a couple of days, and then you can be my sweetheart again dearie". Do you know how many times I had to play that over to be sure I heard it right?
The one thing that's kind of intriguing if you've seen some of Cagney's very first films, he had a commanding presence in those pictures even when second billed or in a bit part. Here it looks like he might have been asked to tone it down a bit in deference to his co-star. Not to say he was laid back, considering my comments above, but it didn't look like he was willing to upstage Robinson. It's a little surprising that the two actors worked only this one time together, considering they crossed paths with other Warner Brothers contract players numerous times, like Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and Joan Blondell to name just a few.