I like Cagney as a gangster. I have a tougher time buying him as a song-and-dance man, even if he is a good dancer. In this picture, though, he barely even does that. He doesn't really even have a single number all to himself, despite being billed above the title. In fact, this film is pretty far up Cagney's ass, I have to say. This film thinks Cagney is amazing in a way that began to leave a bad taste in my mouth. The music is pretty good, but there isn't much comedy. The highlights of this film were the obviously gay makeup man (who of course was the butt of many jokes and insulted by Cagney's character) and Philip Ahn who has has a supporting part as Cagney's manservant – he has a thick accent that he can shed whenever he wants and he tells Cagney that his previous employers liked it better when he spoke bad English and bowed too much. It's a fascinating bit of racial performance.
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