Bogart and Cagney

[knitwit45]

I searched, but couldn't find a thread devoted to Messrs Bogart and/or Cagney. There is an interesting article here comparing the similarities and differences between the two, and why one is remembered today (by the unwashed masses) more than the other.

[charliechaplinfan]

I love both of the Nancy, one thing the article didn't mention was that Jimmy Cagney was relatively settled with his wife, he only had the one and I've never uncovered a whiff of scandal about him. Bogie went through three wives before finding his one.

It's hard to compare acting skills but that article nailed it, one introvert, one extrovert, Jimmy had the longer shelf life and had a real power that really made the Warner quickies he starred in feel of a higher quality than they were. Bogie is an icon but not a better actor than Cagney, just different but Bogart's persona registers today, the angst ridden, whereas Cagney is known only to film buffs, a shame really, he left as many good performances as Bogie.

[knitwit45]

I thought it odd that the writer didn't mention such an important part of each of their lives, in regards to the longevity of their marriages. Maybe Jimmy was just luckier than Bogie? Since Jimmy's dad died and Jimmy had to support the family, maybe it was more that he understood the importance of sticking around??? What ever, it makes for a thought provoking article, doesn't it?

[movieman1957]

Jimmy's wife was Billie. They had a very long and happy marriage. I think they met working on a stage show. I have his biography and it sounded like a very contented life.

[charliechaplinfan]

Didn't he call her Willie? I've really admired that about Cagney, that he had this absolutely massive taste of fame but his head was not turned by it, perhaps he appreciated where he came from and knew enough hard luck stories to know when he was lucky. He adopted two children and had a farm back East, I think in Connecticutt which he used to escape to frequently. John McCabe wrote a good book about him. I like most of Cagney's performances with the exception of One, Two, Three I just didn't like that portrayal. My mother hates Cagney, thinks he's over the top, yet she loves Bette Davis, I can't figure it out but my Dad loves Cagney, which is probably the real reason Mum hates him. Dad's favourite is Yankee Doodle Dandy. He's quite the package is Cagney, a dynamo on screen and he can dance, I just wished Warner's had given him more chance to dance, he was great. I think the straight pictures were faster to make and they could probably get three out in the time it took to film a musical.

Bogart, so much has been said about him and yet whenever I return to watch his movies I have to admit that he is better than I remembered. He was typecast though, was it because he played to his strengths or image, or woud the box office just not have paid to see him play a good guy.

[knitwit45]

Alison, have you seen Footlight Parade? Jimmy dances in that one, I love the "Shanghai Lil" number at the end of the movie.

[intothenitrate]

Thanks for the link, Knit. The article was a nice little primer for folks who aren't as (obviously) steeped in film lore, yet structured in a way that made me think about these two in new ways. The author is right--Bogart and Cagney are a great "textbook case" to compare and contrast.

I watched The Public Enemy (1931) recently, and the introduction by Robert Osborne on the front end of the recording reminded me how Cagney had been cast as the second banana against Ed Wood as the principal. Director Wellman--as the story goes--watching the the rushes, recognized that Cagney was the more dynamic of the two performers and switched the roles, essentially plucking Cagney from obscurity and making him a star. The rags-to-riches arc of the character was certainly no stretch of the imagination for him.

I wonder what would have happened if Bogart had gotten a similar break in the early thirties, that is, getting a breakthrough role that suited his persona like a hand in glove...the way Huston seems to have done for him in the late thirties/early forties. He certainly had an odd variety of roles on his way to Rick's Cafe. Maybe it's just easier to make a film about a character that's relentlessly driven forward (a la Cagney), than one about an introspective cynic who finally is forced to give a damn about other people in the third act.

This conversation brings to mind the film, The Roaring Twenties (1939). In a lot of ways, it's a glossier remake of The Public Enemy, with Cagney becoming a bigshot courtesy of the 18th amendment. Director Raoul Walsh apparently hadn't gotten the memo that Bogart was evolving into a different kind of character, and directs him as the off-the-shelf "rat" that needs to get exterminated to resolve the plot. I've always found it painful to watch Bogart have to lose his composure and plead for mercy. It's soooo 1935..but still an interesting illustration of the two actors' relative stature within the studio at the time.

[knitwit45]

During the time the two of them rose in the ranks, crime stories were all the rage, and each could play bad boy so well. I think the article I first referenced in this thread discusses how Cagney was a much more versatile actor, while Bogie was stuck for more years playing the same type of character. Love them both, bad boy or good guy.

[charliechaplinfan]

Alison, have you seen Footlight Parade? Jimmy dances in that one, I love the "Shanghai Lil" number at the end of the movie.

If anything can top the Waterfall number it's Jimmy Cagney dancing, I like watching him dance as much as I like watching Gene or Fred.

One role I really like of Bogie's is that in The Barefoot Contessa it's not a departure from his usual style but his character is perfect.