Short Cut To Hell

1957 - Paramount Pictures
Directed By James Cagney

SYNOPSIS

A hitman (Robert Ivers) is double-crossed by the man (Jacques Aubuchon) who hired him to kill two city workers in Oakland. The hitman heads to Los Angeles to get revenge. On the train there he meets a young singer (Georgann Johnson,) who just happens to be the girlfriend of the head detective (William Bishop) who's after him.

MY THOUGHTS

A 'B'-movie remake of a film noir gem.

Short Cut To Hell is a remake of the 1944 film This Gun For Hire which starred Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Robert Preston. The remake lacks the pop, artistry, chemistry and the star-making performance of Alan Ladd.

The film is James Cagney's first and only effort as a director. He crafts a well paced film with tension building throughout. It's a wonder why he didn't direct another film. He shows some promise but it would have been better to see him tackle some more original material.

Cagney clearly shows he can handle actors. Robert Ivers is cold-as-ice as the hitman, exactly what you would expect from a real hitman. I found Georgann Johnson to be annoyingly cutesie in her role... almost to the point of being unrealistic, but it perfectly balances out Ivers' dour character. Johnson clearly went the opposite direction of Veronica Lake in the same role. In this Gun For Hire, Lake's character clearly falls in love-love with the hitman. Here, it's more of a motherly love.

Still despite it's good points, Short Cut To Hell is just a pale copy of a much stronger film.

Tribute To A Bad Man

Tribute To A Bad Man
1956 - MGM
Directed by Robert Wise



SYNOPSIS
A naive young man (Don Dubbins) heads west and finds work wrangling horses on a ranch run by Jeremy Rodock (James Cagney.) Rustlers are always threatening the ranch and Rodock strikes back with extreme force. The young man finds fault with Rodock's harsh methods... and falls in love with his woman (Irene Papas.)



MY THOUGHTS

One of Hollywood's greatest unsung and most versatile directors tackles the western genre.

Robert Wise was a director who could do anything. Sci-fi (The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Andromeda Strain,) film-noir (The Set-up, Born To Kill,) musicals (West Side Story, The Sound Of Music,) as well as horror (The Haunting) and action (The Sand Pebbles.) His direction here is good, but doesn't stand up to his best.
The CinemaScope really adds much to the overall beauty of the cinematography. The film is nearly completely shout outdoors and the setting is beautiful.

The script doesn't offer up much originality. It seems like the screenwriter wasn't interested in putting anything new on the screen. It seemed like a perfectly average script... that was boosted by some good performances.

James Cagney delivers another strong performance as the hard-ass ranch owner. Cagney was always best at playing tough guys and this is no different, though the character itself isn't as interesting as others he played in his career. The film/his performance out succeeds his other notable western, The Oklahoma Kid, which is just about terrible.
Don Dubbins plays the naive Steve well and the role seems perfectly cast. Many familiar faces show up to fill small supporting roles like Vic Morrow and Lee Van Cleef.

Overall, not a bad film, but it's nowhere near the best film Robert Wise or James Cagney ever made.

This film is not available on DVD.

13 Rue Madeleine

13 Rue Madeleine
1947 - 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry Hathaway



SYNOPSIS

Bob Sharkey (James Cagney) is training new members of the U.S. Army Intelligence (OSS) during the height of World War II. Some of his new recruits include Jeff Lassiter (Frank Lattimore) and Bill O'Connell (Richard Conte.) Sharkey's superiors inform him that one of his students is a German agent. He soon concludes it is O'Connell, but doesn't let the spy know he knows and assigns him to a mission, all the while feeding him misinformation about the coming invasion of France (D-Day.) O'Connell accompanies Lassiter and a female French coworker (Annabella) to capture a man who designed a German missile site. O'Connell cuts Lassiter's parachute, and he tumbles to his death. Sharkey follows them and completes the mission, rescuing the Frenchman, but not before getting captured. The Nazis take him to Gestapo headquarters at 13 Rue Madeleine in Le Havre, trying to find the location of the coming Allied invasion.

MY THOUGHTS

The film industry's war machine was still in full effect for several years after WW2 ended. This war film was one of dozens that the studios churned out recounting heroic tales of the conflict in the years following the war.

Though not a true story, the film was shot in a documentary style, using a narrator and was shot at many of the actual locations the story takes place. This gives it a very real effect. The dry documentary style rarely creates suspense or excitement (until the end) and the script lacks action, apart from a few small fights. The film starts out achingly slow in the training stages but picks up pace after the new officers move into their missions. The final 30 minutes move fast as the characters discover their fate.

The last 30 or so minutes show director Henry Hathaway's strengths as a director. He's one of the best of the unsung directors of Hollywood's golden age.

The real highlight is the performances.

Cagney is in great form as usual. His acting is more subdued and subtle than his fast talking gangster parts he's known, but just as charismatic. He's as patriotic as he was in "Yankee Doodle Dandy," just not as in-your-face about it.

Conte is also excellent. He acts like two totally different characters from his easygoing faux-trainee to his evil Nazi, and comes across very cunning and sinister in the latter.

Cagney, Conte and the others excel, even though the script did a poor job of fleshing out the characters.

Still, the film's deficiencies are no match for it's lead star. James Cagney can practically do no wrong playing tough guy characters. He lights up the screen, and makes what could have been a ho-hum film a delight to watch.