Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I seem to like this film more than most, maybe because of the difference in tone it presents to the usual gangster fare. It's nice to see Joan Blondell in a more subdued role, and she pulls it off well, knowing her past taints her, off to marry an immigrant fisherman (Victor Jory) who will accept her anyway, but finding herself drawn to Cagney. It's nice to see the gravitas in her 'serious face'. Cagney is in the role of a safe cracker who has double-crossed some guys and is on the run, not knowing that he's being closely tracked. Innocent to all of this is the family they're staying with, who lead simple but happy lives, and who look forward to their son's marriage to Blondell. I have to say, the mom (Sarah Padden) is a joy to watch as Cagney ingratiates himself to her. Cagney and Blondell are more low-key than their usual screen personas, and this is not movie with a lot of action, but there is real tension in both the story lines – whether Blondell will go forward with her wedding, and whether Cagney will survive. The depth of their feelings does come out in more than one tender scene, and in fact, all three of them – Blondell, Cagney, and Jory – are altruistic, adding a sweetness to the movie. It seems some are unhappy with the ending as well, but I thought it was quite good (and side note, wow on the glimpse we get of the low-cut dress). I also liked how it was shot on location in Monterey, California. Underrated and enjoyable to watch.

Interesting Low-key Gangster Outing for James Cagney and Joan Blondell who also Dials it back a notch for this Melodramatic Love Triangle. It Works Well in a Romantic kind of way, but the Tension is Never Ramped Up and Cagney is so Smooth and Sedate that He seems to be Hiding Under the Seldom Adorned Mustache and a Cool Demeanor.The Supporting Cast is Watchable with Victor Jory Affecting as an Immigrant with a Stereotypical Good Natured and Jolly Mom that just Loves Her "Nick". These Types of Mothers can be Distracting when Viewed Today as just too Lovable, Corny, and Sweet. The Movie is Usually Overlooked as Rather Routine, Especially for the Two Stars who Made Seven Films Together (this was the last). The Movie was on the Cusp of the Code and Except for Joan Blondell's Profession being Obviously a Prostitute there is No Other Pre-Code Activity.The Ending comes Fast and is Surprising. Overall the Movie is Certainly Worth a Watch for the Fine, if Restrained Acting, and the Story is Intriguing as it Waivers and the Viewer is Never quite sure where it is all Headed.

There's an effortless polish to this Cagney Blondell team up unlike most of their many couplings fused with brash give an take. More subdued and perhaps worn out from life they project a restrained melancholy that informs this moody overachiever that deviates from the era's formula.Flicker Hayes (Cagney) takes it on the lam after he sets up two of his associates during a heist. A cop is killed and one of the crooks gets the chair for it. The other puts a contract out on Hayes head who has hooked up with mail order bride Rose (Blondel) in Frisco and follows her to a sleepy fishing village in order to lay low as well as deal with his conflicted feelings about Rose. Hit men in the mean time have been dispatched to the village.Well edited with imaginative composition director Lloyd Bacon does an excellent balancing act of keeping He was Her Man's outcome masked until the very end. Subtly and with great economy he establishes the relationship between Flicker and Rose then heightens the drama and tension by introducing a beyond decent hard working sensitive groom to be increasing the pressure on Rose. Cagney has the usual jaunty confidence but this time withdrawn from throwing punches and spraying lead to back it up. Victor Jory's sensitive understanding fisherman gives crucial weight to the film's ability to sustain itself by being a formidable opponent to Flicker. It is Blondell though amid her predicament without resorting to hysteria in conveying a lugubrious despair along with Bacon's tempered approach that gives He was Her Man a touch of morose beauty.

This was Cagney's and Blondell's last film together, as well as the last film for each released prior to the onset of the Production Code Administration (the "Hays Office"). It's mainly of interest to admirers of these two justly celebrated screen stars, mainly because of the downbeat story and characterizations.Warner Brothers apparently didn't think much of HE WAS HER MAN (lousy title) and wasn't interested in spending much money on developing it. Despite the presence of two of their biggest stars, this film has the look and feel of a "B" picture, as evidenced by its 70 minute running time. Cagney apparently didn't like the film either. The awful haircut he wore in his previous film, JIMMY THE GENT, and the mustache sported by Flicker Hayes in this film, were symbols of Cagney's increasing dissatisfaction with the roles he was getting, though it would be another year or so before he would try to break his Warner Brothers contract.The film's premise is promising. Career safecracker Flicker Hayes (Cagney) double-crosses a couple of fellow criminals after they frame him for another job. In the double-cross, one of the hoods kills a New York cop and is sentenced to die in the electric chair. Flicker flees to San Francisco, seeking a hide-out. A small-time Frisco hood, Pop Sims (Frank Craven), fingers Flicker for the New York mob. Two gunmen, J.C. (Harold Huber) and Monk (Russell Hopton), head for California to take care of Flicker.Meanwhile, Flicker (now calling himself "Jerry Allen") meets Rose (Blondell), a survivor who apparently has been selling her sexual favors to various men -- one of whom, surprisingly, has now offered to marry her. (The screenwriters make much of the written marriage proposal -- this was the era when "breach of promise" was still an actionable tort in most states.) Rose, despite her immediate attraction to Jerry, is on her way to join her fiancé in his little fishing village near Frisco. Jerry is attracted to Rose, too (and it's strongly implied they have a sexual encounter just hours after meeting), but he also smells a good place to hide out, and he offers to stake her and take her by bus to her new home.The fiancé', Nick Gardella (Victor Jory), is a salt-of-the-earth fisherman who tells Rose that her past life will be forgotten once they are wed. (There's more to Nick and Rose than the screenplay tells us, or could tell us under the censorship standards of that era. Nick met Rose "professionally." Here's a guy in his thirties, living with Mom in little, out-of-the-way Santa Avila -- and he seems pleased to marry a woman about whom he knows little save she's a prostitute?) Rose and Jerry arrive in Santa Avila and the wedding plans get underway. Jerry wants to stay and hide, but Rose is increasingly torn between Nick and her attraction to Jerry. Pop Sims follows Jerry to Santa Avila, posing as sports fisherman, to set up Jerry for the arrival of J.C. and Monk.That's a lot of plot for such a slight film, and it gets better, but the "B" picture limitations get in the way. It would have been nice if the studio would have allowed a little more air into the story, fleshing out the characterizations -- especially the relationships among Rose, Jerry and Nick -- and expanding the film to 90 or 95 minutes. (The quick attraction between Rose and Jerry is especially sketchy and needs more time.) This could have been the much better movie that the story hints at.Flicker/Jerry does the right thing by Rose and Nick, though apparently he pays for it with his life. (Another interesting point: Under the Production Code Authority, a movie killer had to pay for taking a life -- unless the killer is a lawman or soldier -- either by being arrested or by dying himself. We don't actually see Flicker/Jerry getting killed, and his likely assassins aren't punished. One wonders how this outcome would have been altered by the Hays Office just a short time later.) The film ends with a subdued wedding between Rose and Nick -- a happy occasion tempered by our knowledge of Flicker's apparent fate.Fans of Cagney/Blondell will find both actors dialing back their usual exuberance/perkiness in this film and playing characters who are more like real people than in many of their other early Warners' films. Jory tries to be a little too ethnic, but he effectively portrays Nick's essential kindness and decency. Huber and Hopton, as the gunmen, are surprisingly human, as is James Eagle(s) in a small role as their driver. Sarah Padden, as Nick's mother, is a bit over the top but charming, and it's interesting to hear John Qualen in a small role sans his trademark Scandinavian accent. Frank Craven's Sims is an interesting character too -- sinister but folksy. The dependable Lloyd Bacon directs with his usual understated style but should have made more of the exotic isolation of "Santa Avila."To summarize: HE WAS HER MAN is an unusual Warner Brothers film of the period, made as Hollywood was feeling the heat from the Legion of Decency and other pressure groups that would lead to the institution of the Production Code Administration in mid-1934. It's of interest mainly for Cagney and Blondell fans who want to see them in quieter roles that sharply contrast with their usual energy. Outside those contexts, though, I doubt you'll be favorably impressed.(Does anyone know if this film, or plot, was ever remade? Seems like something that Warners would use again, though I can imagine if they did so before 1945 they would have brightened it up considerably. One can imagine RKO doing something nicely noirish with the same story c.1948.)P.S. -- A "C" from the Legion of Decency? Not according to the listing of such "C" films in Wikipedia. What was its rating?