Lady killer 1933 - Cagney as a Hollywood gangster

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IMDB rating: 7,1

Director: Roy Del Ruth
Main Cast: James Cagney, Mae Clarke, Margaret Lindsay, Leslie Fenton

"Mae Clarke, in her autobiography Featured Player (1996), claimed that James Cagney and director William Wellman basically created the famous grapefruit incident in The Public Enemy (1931) without her consent and that the viciousness of the attack had shocked her. The scene is, of course, unforgettable and a follow-up inevitable. It came two-thirds of the way through Lady Killer when gangster-turned-movie star Cagney discovers a kittenish Miss Clarke in his bedroom - much to the consternation of his movie-star girlfriend Margaret Lindsay. Despite his newfound sophistication, Cagney acts as he would have in Hell's Kitchen: He drags the unwelcome guest out of the room by her hair! This time, happily, Clarke was in on the gag and she is visibly holding on for dear life to Cagney's wrists. The scene is still startling in its brutality, especially coming in what is really a comedy. And despite this act of physical abuse and a climactic shootout that leaves bodies scattered all over what appears to be Mulholland Highway in Los Angeles, Lady Killer is a comedy and a good one. As always, the Warner Bros. stock company is in high gear throughout and there are especially enjoyable performances by Douglas Dumbrille as Cagney's former partner-in-crime and Herman Bing as an autocratic director of Western movies. Lady Killer is vintage Cagney, throwing virtually every one of his star-making attributes (including one cute reference to his legendary 'grapefruit scene' in 1931's The Public Enemy) into one entertaining 76-minute stew." - www.allmovie.com

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Bombshell 1933 - Shining comic riot with Harlow & Tracy

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IMDB rating: 7,4

Director: Victor Fleming
Main Cast: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Una Merkel, Ted Healy, Isabel Jewell, Louise Beavers, C. Aubrey Smith

"Jean Harlow is the 'bombshell' of the title, a popular movie actress named Lola. Though she seemingly has everything a girl could possibly want, Lola is fed up with her sponging relatives, her 'work til you drop' studio, and the nonsensical publicity campaigns conducted by press agent Lee Tracy. She tries to escape Hollywood by marrying a titled foreign nobleman, but Tracy has the poor guy arrested as an illegal alien. Finally Lola finds what she thinks is perfect love in the arms of aristocratic Franchot Tone, but she renounces Tone when his snooty father C. Aubrey Smith looks down his nose at Lola and her profession. Upon discovering that Tone and his entire family were actors hired by Tracy, Lola goes ballistic - until she realizes that Tracy, for all his bluff and chicanery, is the man who truly loves her. Allegedly based on the career of Clara Bow (who, like Lola, had a parasitic family and a duplicitous private secretary), Bombshell is a prime example of Jean Harlow at her comic best. So as not to mislead audiences into thinking this was a war picture, MGM retitled the film Blonde Bombshell for its initial run.
All of the actors are terrific. Franchot Tone is hilarious, totally and deliberately way over the top saying lines such as the one in the summary box. Harlow is surrounded with the best character actors - Lee Tracy, who despite a scandal in 1934 managed to enjoy a nearly 40-year career is great as Lola's fast-talking scam artist agent; Frank Morgan plays his usual role of a weak man, but not a bad one; Louise Beavers brings spark to the role of a maid; Pat O'Brien is in top form as the volatile Brogan.
But it's Harlow's film, and she keeps up with the frantic pace of the film beautifully. Funny and vulnerable, she's hilarious when she pretends she's upper class, as she's often done in her films - no one has ever pulled that off quite like she has. Bombshell is one of her best films among a lot of wonderful ones." - www.allmovie.com

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