Blonde Crazy (1931)

Directed by Roy Del Ruth. Starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern, Noel Francis, Ray Milland, Guy Kibbee, Polly Walters, Russell Hopton.

The age of chivalry is over; this is the age of chiselry. Unfortunately for Cagney’s bellboy with a few small-time confidence tricks up his sleeve, he’s too slow to recognize the adoration of Blondell’s blonde housekeeper, and those slow wits (and a peculiar personal code of ethics) lead him into becoming the victim of multiple schemes himself. Dated pre-Code antique doesn’t hold back on the sexual harassment and slapping, but Cagney is almost always a force to be reckoned with onscreen—no exception here—and it’s fun to watch him and “dapper” Calhern play the one-upmanship game. This is the one with the Cagney line that launched a thousand bad impressions: “Oh, that dirty, double-crossin’ rat!” (Most wannabe cut-ups drop the “double-crossin’” bit.) Script credited to Kubec Glasmon and John Bright.

68/100