The James Cagney Collection [DVD]

This review is for the James Cagney Signature Collection, Black card slipcase with a picture of Cagney and his signature across the front, ASIN: B002L7O830.

This set collects seven classic Cagney features into one box. Each film is on a separate disc, held in two normal size DVD cases enclosed in a neat black card slipcase.

The films are a well chosen selection that showcase Cagney's hard man persona and his more genial knockabout side. From his breakthrough film Public enemy, the masterpiece that is White Heat, a topical (for the time) war film the fighting 69th and on to a more lighthearted romantic adventure The Bride Came COD, Cagney's magnetic charm comes shining through on the screen, and shows just why he is a screen icon.

Cagney is helped in these films by having great scripts, directors and co-stars. The films here hail from a time when Hollywood relied on good stories and characters rather than just stunt after stunt. This really gave Cagney every opportunity to show just how good an actor he was, and to draw the viewer in to some enthralling tales.

Each film is on a separate disc. The transfer of each is as good as can be, with no obvious defects and a crisp and sharp picture. The sound is in similarly good shape. Some time and care has obviously been taken over these.

The seven films (in the order they are presented in the set) are:

White Heat (1949)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Public Enemy (1931)
The Bride Came COD (1941)
The Fighting 69th (1940)
The Torrid Zone (1940)
West Point Story (1950)

An excellent set, well worth getting.

I bought this set after seeing James Cagney in the 1975 documentary film Brother Can You Spare A Dime [DVD], and becoming intrigued, having seen little of his work. I now understand why Cagney is considered a great. A fantastic set of films showcasing James Cagney's (and others) impecable acting talents. All the films were Warner Brother's productions. All films are in black and white. As others have covered this set very well, I have provided the following information, most of which comes from Wikipedia.

Public Enemy (1931)
Cagney's breakthrough movie. Contains the famous scene where Cagneys character (Tom Powers) forces a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face (Kitty, played by Mae Clarke). This scene is viewed by many critics as one of the most famous moments in movie history. The film cost only $151,000 to make, but it became one of the first low budget films to gross $1 million.

The Roaring Twenties (1939)
The Roaring Twenties was the last film that James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart made together. The movie is hailed as a classic in the gangster movie genre, and considered an "homage" to the classic gangster movie of the early 1930s. In 2008, the film was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list. In 2009 Empire Magazine named it #1 in a poll of the 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've (Probably) Never Seen.

The Fighting 69th (1940)
"The Fighting 69th" is a First World War regiment of mostly New York-Irish soldiers. Amongst a cocky crew, perhaps the cockiest is Jerry Plunkett, a scrappy fellow who looks out only for himself. The officers and non-coms of the regiment do their best to instill discipline in Plunkett, and the chaplain, Father Duffy, tries to make Plunkett see the greater good, all to no avail. Behind the lines or in the trenches, Plunkett acts selfishly and cowardly, eventually costing the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. A final act of cowardice leads to terrible consequences, but Plunkett sees in them a chance to redeem himself ... if only he can.

Actual archived war combat footage was used in the film, as well as footage of soldiers marching through the Arch of Triumph.

The Torrid Zone (1940)
THe Torrid Zone is a 1940 adventure film starring James Cagney, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien. Steve Case (Pat O'Brien) has to deal with trouble at his tropical fruit company's Central American banana plantation. A revolutionary, Rosario La Mata (George Tobias), is stirring up unrest among the workers, and the only man who can handle the situation, foreman Nick Butler (James Cagney), has just quit. Steve manages to persuade Nick to stick around (for a big bonus). Adding to the complications is Lee Donley (Ann Sheridan), a woman who Steve has ordered out of the region for causing a different kind of trouble among the men.

The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Screwball romantic comedy starring James Cagney as a pilot and Bette Davis as a runaway heiress. This film was publicized as the first movie pairing of Warner Bros. two biggest stars, although they had actually made "Jimmy the Gent" together in 1934.

Pilot Steve Collins (James Cagney) agrees to help bandleader Alan Brice (Jack Carson) and heiress Joan Winfield (Bette Davis) elope. Steve then contacts her father Lucius (Eugene Pallette), offering to prevent the marriage and deliver her to him in return for enough money to get out of debt.

Steve tricks Alan into getting off the plane, then takes off with Joan. When an irate Joan tries to jump out of the plane, Steve sees that she has her parachute on backwards and is forced to crash land near the ghost town of Bonanza. The next morning, they encounter the lone resident, Pop Tolliver (Harry Davenport). Joan escapes into an abandoned mine. When Steve follows her, they are trapped by a cave-in. Steve finds a way out, but hides it from Joan on the advice of Pop. Believing that they are going to die, Joan re-examines her frivolous life with great regret. Steve admits he loves her, but when he kisses her, she tastes food on his lips and realizes he has found a way out. They exit the mine to find that Alan has tracked them down, accompanied by a Nevada judge.

Steve does not object when Alan and Joan get married, hiding the fact that Bonanza is in California and therefore the wedding is invalid. The "newlyweds" board another plane, but when Joan figures out that they are not really married, she ... well, I won't spoil it for you!

White Heat (1949)
The film is considered one of the classic gangster films and was added to the United States National Film Registry in 2003 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress. Critical reaction to the film was positive, and today it is considered a classic. White Heat was listed in Time magazine's top 100 films of all time. In June 2008, the American Film Institute released its "Ten Top Ten" list - the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres - after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. White Heat was acknowledged as the fourth best in the gangster film genre. Also, the quote; "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" was number 18 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest movie quotes.

West Point Story (1950)
The West Point Story (also known as Fine and Dandy) is a 1950 musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo and Doris Day. The film received two award nominations in 1951. Ray Heindorf was nominated for a Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and John Monks Jr., Charles Hoffman and Irving Wallace were nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for Best Written American Musical.

I thoroughly recommend this set, should you purchase I doubt you will be disappointed.

Although I haven't watched this box set yet, just wanted to add that according to the packaging each of these seven films have English subtitles.