James Cagney Recommendation #3

Mister Roberts (1955) - 2 hrs 3 mins

For this last recommendation for James Cagney, September’s star of the month, I want to share some thoughts about his performance in the film Mr. Roberts. Cagney is “The Captain” of cargo ship The Reluctant. His dictatorial ways steer the ship into choppy and funny waters. As the title itself makes clear, Cagney is certainly not the main character in this film, and yet everything in the film is all about him.

With the few scenes he has, Cagney must own every second of screen time so that the scenes he’s not in actually have weight. The film becomes more funny because the audience keeps wondering how Cagney's character is going to react when he finds out out about each riotous moment of monkeyshines. Cagney is the center of gravity of this picture. He is a visual fist of a man, and at any moment he might pop out of his cabin and punch everyone on the ship. His bark is just as bad as his bite, and everyone knows it!

Availability: Youtube, Amazon video, Googleplay, DVD, and Blu-ray.

Purchase DVD: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcm-greatest-classic-films-stars-stripes-comedy-mister-roberts-no-time-for-sergeants-2-discs-dvd-1955/24836514.p?skuId=24836514&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1266837&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1266837&gclid=Cj0KCQiAp7DiBRDdARIsABIMfoAb5u3FWaXQPYHPDy9c8SRtvhAYtov8FAN-7XmPiVqzzfVG2s7-TkwaAi4pEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds