It costs a lot to win, but even more to lose! Mickey Rooney is a skirt-chasing auto mechanic who meets brassy blonde temptress, Jeanne Cagney (James Cagney's sister) and falls all over himself trying to please her, which includes lying, cheating and stealing. The problem is, Peter Lorre, the owner of a seedy San Francisco carnival, has his eye on her, too! As Rooney's good-hearted girlfriend, Barbara Bates, watches helplessly, Mickey slides deeper and deeper into a quagmire of deception and desire.

Based on a true story, James Cagney stars as an American reporter in pre-war Japan in this riveting, brutal, action-packed film tracing the unintended unveiling of the dreaded Tanaka Plan for Japanese world domination. Cagney, given a purloined copy of the plan, is pursued by a beautiful Japanese secret agent (Sylvia Sidney) sent to romance and ensnare him before he can get it to the American Embassy and into the world press.

Based on a true story, James Cagney stars as an American reporter in pre-war Japan in this riveting, brutal, action-packed film tracing the unintended unveiling of the dreaded Tanaka Plan for Japanese world domination. Cagney, given a purloined copy of the plan, is pursued by a beautiful Japanese secret agent (Sylvia Sidney) sent to romance and ensnare him before he can get it to the American Embassy and into the world press.

It costs a lot to win, but even more to lose! Mickey Rooney is a skirt-chasing auto mechanic who meets brassy blonde temptress, Jeanne Cagney (James Cagney's sister) and falls all over himself trying to please her, which includes lying, cheating and stealing. The problem is, Peter Lorre, the owner of a seedy San Francisco carnival, has his eye on her, too! As Rooney's good-hearted girlfriend, Barbara Bates, watches helplessly, Mickey slides deeper and deeper into a quagmire of deception and desire.

Hollywood favorites James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy), William Frawley (I Love Lucy), and Gene Lockhart (Miracle on 34th Street) star in this delightful musical comedy about a New York bandleader and hoofer, Terry Rooney, whose wife joins him for a trip to Hollywood where the star system gets turned upside down in a series of hilarious complications.

Born in 1899, James Cagney managed to become one of America's greatest and most imitated actors. Some of his best-known films are also ones in which his sister Jeanne played a role: Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Time of Your Life, A Lion Is in the Streets, and Man of a Thousand Faces. He received an Oscar for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy, a film based on the life of George M. Cohan, who hand-picked Cagney for the role. Cagney's last film appearance was in Ragtime. Throughout his life, Cagney was deeply affected by his father's early death, helping his mother support the family from the time he was in his early teens. Despite this light shed on Cagney's personal life, this video concentrates more on detailing his notable screen performances. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide.

Virginia Mayo talks about working with James Cagney on the movie White Heat (1949).

James Cagney stars in the humorous Western The Oklahoma Kid, set during the land rush of 1893. John Kincaid (Hugh Sothern) and his son, Ned (Harvey Stephens), try to settle on a plot of land, but they are met by the villainous Whip McCord (Humphrey Bogart) and his band of miscreants. McCord runs a saloon and ends up turning the town of Tulsa into a haven of gambling and drinking. Wanting to clean up the town, John runs for mayor and Ned runs for sheriff. McCord doesn't want to lose his power, so he has John framed, jailed, and eventually lynched. Soon, Jim Kincaid (James Cagney) shows up in town and joins his brother Ned in seeking revenge for his father's murder. They stage a big shoot-out in McCord's saloon in order to bring him to justice. Also starring Rosemary Lane as Ned's girlfriend Jane, the daughter of the good Judge Hardwick (Donald Crisp). This movie features James Cagney singing the tunes Rockabye Baby and I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide.

Strawberry Blonde is the second, and by far the most well-regarded, of the three film versions of James Hogan's play {-One Sunday Afternoon}. James Cagney stars as Biff Grimes, a turn-of-the-century dentist married to onetime suffragette Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland). A former convict, Biff has great difficulty keeping his temper--and when alderman Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson), the man responsible for Cagney's unjust prison term, shows up one Sunday afternoon to have a tooth pulled, the pugnacious dentist begins developing homicidal urges. In a lengthy flashback, we learn that Biff and Hugo, once the best of friends, were business partners in a construction firm. When one of their buildings collapsed due to shoddy materials, Biff was sent to jail for five years, while Hugo escaped scot-free. Even worse, Hugo stole Biff's girlfriend Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth), the strawberry blonde of the title. The flashback over, Biff sharkishly welcomes Hugo into his office, fully intending to bump off his old enemy. B

Officially, America had no intention of entering the Second World War in 1940: Why, then, were there so many preparedness pictures like The Fighting 69th? This film, based on the experiences of military priest Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien), is set during World War I. The US 69th division was a national guard contingent comprised of Irish Americans, who fought with the Rainbow Division in the years 1917-1918. Into this Hibernian stronghold comes cocky Jerry Plunkett (Jimmy Cagney), a streetwise tough who is certain that he can lick the Germans single-handedly. But during his first taste of real combat, Plunkett turns coward and inadvertently reveals the 69th's position. Held responsible for the deaths of his companions, Plunkett is sentenced to a firing squad. Thanks to a conveniently dropped bomb that levels the stockade in which he is held, Plunkett redeems himself on the battlefield by sacrificing his life to save his fellow soldiers. The beauty of James Cagney's star performance is that he is as thoroughly co