james cagney at his best,very underrated performance,seeing james cagney play a coward,the way he played it,proves beyound a doubt that this man was a great actor.that scene when he got his courage back and looks- father duffy stright in the eye,and said THANK YOU FATHER'i still get goose bumps when i see it.....
shareThis was one of my favorite parts that Mr. Cagney played. He was one of the most talented actors I have seen. He could do it all. And it is actually funny seeing the Skipper's father have a big part in this movie.
shareas a whole i thought this was a great movie. the father duffy character was excellent and cagney played plunkett magnificently. I've always said that you can't judge an actor based on one performance, you have to compare them all others. for instance, you might think that Sean penn was deserving of his oscar for mystic river based on his performance. but expand your scope a bit and see how he can put such raw emotion into that roll and then remember that he was spicoli, take into account meserve from Casualties of war. sean might not be the best example but i think you get my point. so you take cagney in this movie, he seems like the way all people describe him, in tha " you dirty rat" style. the tough guy who says F the world. but he starts there and then you chip away at him and you find he's just a coward. but when he's needed he stands up and does the right thing. and that same man can play George M. Cohan, a man miles away form jerry plunkett. thats why cagney is such a great actor, and his performance in this film is so amazing.
shareI can' think of many leading men of the time who would've have played a character like Plunkett, who is consistently unlikeable and contributes to the deaths of many of his colleagues. Cagney was a fascinating performer, someone who never formally studied acting, but could play virtually anything. Watch A MISUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM backed with WHITE HEAT.
shareFor another impressive Cagney SPOILERS AHEAD final scene, watch ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES. Cagney plays a big-city hoodlum who is idolized by the neighborhood punks (the DEAD END kids>Bowery Boys). Not to spoil the ending, but Cagney exits the film in a manner guaranteed to set the kids on the right path.
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