Cagney & Manners Should Have Switched Roles

You are correct, it would probably have worked better, though Manners is better suited for to the romantic elements; of course Manners' part is way larger, and he was much better known than Cagney when this was made, so though it's possible Cagney may have gotten the larger part, Manners would not be given the single scene part that Cagney has here.

I only tracked this down cause Cagney was in it, one of the advantages of tracking down every film appearance by a favourite actor, is that you get to see some interesting films that would otherwise have passed you by.