Ms. de Haviland is just adorbale during that scene in the park with Cagney where she tries to shock him and she winks at him and he gets all flustered.
She was just the cutest little flirt. I don't remember ever seeing her with a role like that before and it was such a delightful surprise to see it.
I loved her anyway, but this just gave me a whole new appreciation for her subtlety.
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I saw this movie way back in 1975 when I just adored all Jimmy Cagney movies and really loved this one and loved Olivia too. That scene in the park is certainly a gem. Trying to be so liberated and then when Biff makes a few moves she's the one who gets nervous. Rita was good in that too wrapping Biff around her finger. I'm only recounting this from memory but I remember it was very entertaining.
shareI think this and THE MALE ANIMAL do the best job of showing de Havilland's beauty. She stole the show in this picture.
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That nod and wink at the end "exactly" is one of the best ever. She stole the show in this movie ... and Cagney screaming "Oh Hugo" was a crack-up
shareThat was exactly what I was thinking! I had seen her in another movies, but in this, she stole my heart, she is adorable!! James Cagney is always perfect, and here he was genial, but she surprise me!
You are right, a whole new apreciation!
She was at her prettiest in this one--and as you say, she stole the show with those electric winks.
She ran a gamut of emotions--tender, spunky, flirtatious, wholesome and sincere. It's one of her best roles in a romantic comedy.
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I have never seen Olivia (Amy) look as good as she did in this film, stunned, actually. I always thought that she was just average in her roles with Errol as the love interest in Captain Blood, Robin Hood, etc. However, the opening scene where she addresses Biff ( James Cagney), emerging from the kitchen to tell Biff to get ready to go someplace, "she was absolutely stunning", jaw-dropping attractive. (Who is this woman?). I didn't, tho', fully realize that it was her 'til the park scene with James, Rita and Carson. I couldn't believe it she was so attractive in this film, far better than Rita I might add.
Yet, I thought she and James lacked romantic chemistry, James not known for being a romanticist during his career anyway, nevertheless, a great actor in other roles. The scene in the park where James, who was just released from prison, expresses his love for Amy with the embrace and kiss didn't come off well for my taste, to take advantage of the outrageous, physical appeal Olivia demonstrated in this film. Tho' realizing this movie is just a comedy, she needed "a lover" for that scene.
Btw, was this an earlier version or a remake (forget the time) of a similar film with Dennis Morgan playing a similar role with the same scene, house and theme, a struggling dentist attempting to make ends meet?
Yes, there were two earlier films--one with Gary Cooper called ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON (in B&W) and one with Dennis Morgan, same title, a musical version in color.
This version was the best. Cagney, de Havilland, Hayworth, Carson--all at their best. I thought the romantic chemistry was there, even in that scene you mention.
But I do think Olivia's beauty was easily recognizable early on in her career, esp. in those classic adventure films with Errol Flynn. In particular--THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD--esp. in the archery contest scene where I don't think she was ever more beautifully photographed in close-up reaction shots. And, of course, the Romeo and Juliet-like balcony scene where Olivia's hair is revealed.
"Somewhere along the line, the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."
@Doylenf
My favorite De Havilland movie is a 1941 movie but not this one - it's "Hold Back the Dawn" with Charles Boyer and Paulette Goddard. Although she was the same age in both movies, I agree with you that she was at her prettiest in this movie.
She was so cute in this. I really thought she and Cagney were great together. I always wish that at the end they had changed the "Band Played On" refrain from "Biff Grimes would waltz (?) with the strawberry blonde" to lovely brunette or something similar. I hate to hear "He'd never leave the girl with the strawberry curls" at the end, because it makes it seem like he never stopped loving Hayworth. Kinda childish/silly I guess, but I was quite young when I first saw this and your first impressions tend to stay with you. I know it's clear he loves his wife at the end, but as a young girl it always made me sad for her.
shareAmy's attitude about free love and other radical ideas were not only shocking for the film's time period, but probably in the 1940's as well.
shareBut, as later scenes bear out, Amy didn't really believe even half of what she was "advocating."
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