BLONDE CRAZY (76)

Directed by: Roy Del Ruth (1931)

Starring: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern

The Pitch: A brash young con-man goes from bell-hop to big-shot to convict.

Theo Sez: James Cagney : a man, a dynamo, a human pinball-machine. "The age of chivalry is past," he tells Blondell in this irresistible burst of 30s energy ; "This, honey, is the age of chiselry ... Honest men're scarcer than feathers on a frog". He is of course dishonest and proud of it, part of a world neatly divided into smart guys like himself and "four-eyed boobs" who have to work for a living - using his fast talk and little-boy charm to coax a smile from an old sourpuss and easy money from suckers everywhere, and incidentally turning this little-known comedy into a rare treat (though Blondell, world-weary surface masking a yen for love, matches him every step of the way). It's probably the film David Ward had in mind when he wrote THE STING, with its ragtime ambience and complicated con-tricks (the Bible scam in PAPER MOON also originates here, cinematically speaking), but it's a very long way from that film's constructed, deliberate air - a breathless, slangy, 'tude-laden farce that hits the ground running and never lets up. Couple of points docked for overplaying the finale (even resorting to a car-chase) - though the last scene itself, played off one of those big, mannish nurses sadly defunct in today's comedies, is both sweet and hilarious.