Snappy Tabloid Journalism Story with James Cagney Developing into a Photographer out to get the Goods on those who are Down and can't Fight Back. But in this Yellow Journal Yarn He is so Energetic, Lighthearted, and Light on His Feet it All seems in Good Fun. The way the Picture is Handled it is, although the Subject Matter is Very Lurid at Times.
Not the Pre-Code Sexual Stuff that has Pretty Dames Baring Some Skin and Making with the Bedroom Eyes, or Cagney Slapping them around when Their Sexual Advances are Unwelcome. But the Actual Assignments.
Photographing a Woman at the Moment of Her Execution for Murder (with a camera smuggled into Sing Sing), a Firemans Breakdown after He finds His Wife in Bed with Another, or the Finale that is a Rousing Shoot em' Up with Machine Guns Blasting Away with Children in the Crossfire.
This is some Pretty Gruesome Goings On Amidst the Comedic Banter and the Overall Tone of the Delivery that the Film Takes On. But Overall, it Works to the Benefit of Entertainment and the Film has a Distinctive Edge and Feel that After the Code would be Gone for Decades.
Not the Pre-Code Sexual Stuff that has Pretty Dames Baring Some Skin and Making with the Bedroom Eyes, or Cagney Slapping them around when Their Sexual Advances are Unwelcome. But the Actual Assignments.
Photographing a Woman at the Moment of Her Execution for Murder (with a camera smuggled into Sing Sing), a Firemans Breakdown after He finds His Wife in Bed with Another, or the Finale that is a Rousing Shoot em' Up with Machine Guns Blasting Away with Children in the Crossfire.
This is some Pretty Gruesome Goings On Amidst the Comedic Banter and the Overall Tone of the Delivery that the Film Takes On. But Overall, it Works to the Benefit of Entertainment and the Film has a Distinctive Edge and Feel that After the Code would be Gone for Decades.