James Cagney: Top of the World

TV Movie
1992
47m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

James Cagney was a song-and-dance man who loved animals, supported the underdog and was liked by everybody, but is remembered for his roles as a cold-blooded gangster.James Cagney was a song-and-dance man who loved animals, supported the underdog and was liked by everybody, but is remembered for his roles as a cold-blooded gangster.James Cagney was a song-and-dance man who loved animals, supported the underdog and was liked by everybody, but is remembered for his roles as a cold-blooded gangster.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

208

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Trivia
James Cagney mentions a poem he once wrote and sent to Humphrey Bogart, having spotted him in an indelicate position outside the Warner Bros studio: "In this silly town of ours / One sees our primps and poses / But movie stars in fancy cars / Shouldn't pick their famous noses."

Quotes
Herself - Actress: [Joan Leslie on Cagney's performance in "Yankee Doodle Dandy"] There was a scene that he did that was so remarkable. Everyone on the lot, I think, as affected by it. It was when he said goodbye, as it were, to his dying father... Mike Curtiz spoiled a take because of crying so loud he couldn't control it. The script girl cried so much that she blurred the ink on the notes on her script. It was quite a moment.

Connections
Features Sinners' Holiday (1930)

User reviews5

Review

Featured review

6/10

Nice narration by Fox of tribute to the great Cagney...

MICHAEL J. FOX is the host for a nice tribute to JAMES CAGNEY that examines how he first came to Hollywood with nobody thinking he had too many prospects, being a mere 5'6" and not considered leading man material. Then he did some impressive gangster movies and he was immediately hired to a long-term contract by Jack Warner.

There are more nice film clips along the way and his contract dispute with the studio over more pay (after becoming big at the box-office) ended in better roles and a big raise during the Depression years.

MAE CLARKE, JACK LEMMON and VIRGINIA MAYO do most of the talking about working with him and there's a lot of footage from Cagney's biggest hit during the '40s: YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. Not much about some of his other big ones at that time, so this is definitely not an in depth bio of the star.

Before you know it, he's being given a tribute that turns out to be one of his last public appearances after he retires to his ranch.

Nice tribute, but doesn't give a complete picture of the Cagney career since it concentrates heavily on one major film instead of giving an overall view of his popularity during the '40s.