City for Conquest (1940)

I'm unashamedly a James Cagney enthusiast--in fact, he's my very favourite actor (like me, he's at least part-Irish, and he's more versatile than Orson Welles), so yes, I tend to be overly generous when I'm watching his films. But I really enjoyed this gangster/boxing hybrid film from the early 40's that, not only sported great acting by Cagney but also had wonderful performances by Ann Sheridan (I'm rather fond of redheads too), Anthony Quinn and a rare acting role for top-notch director Elia Kazan. Yes, it was melodramatic, a tearjerker and overly predictable--people talk about those qualiti…

John Chard

8.0

Mar 1, 2020

Powerhouse Cagney in melodramatic heart-tugger. If taken purely on script alone the film only amounts up to the usual fare we have seen a zillion times over the years. The basic formula being that two brothers are taking different paths in career choices and the elder brother is doing all he can to help realise his younger brother's dream of being a composer, yet thankfully here the film has a great deal more to offer outside of the usual standard fare. The elder brother boxes to support his young bro's dream but he's tragically almost blinded in a gruelling 15 round fight where foul che…