The Best 35 films of James Cagney.
by jacobyjhn-18-315763 | created - 18 Aug 2011 | updated - 24 Jan 2015 | PublicI grew up watching on television the Warner Brothers movies of the 30's and early 40's, and especially the gangster films with Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and the wonderful Jimmy Cagney. Cops and crooks -- I could not get enough. Cagney was the most magnetic, confident, likeable screen actor, and created many memorable screen characterizations over his career, with never a false note in any of his performances. Here are 35 of his very best!
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1. White Heat (1949)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 35,738
2. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Passed | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf
Votes: 16,857 | Gross: $11.80M
3. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Passed | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 23,197
4. Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Passed | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Keith
Votes: 4,741
5. Mister Roberts (1955)
Passed | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, War
In the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.
Directors: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan | Stars: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon
Votes: 18,235 | Gross: $21.20M
6. Ragtime (1981)
PG | 155 min | Drama
A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: James Cagney, Elizabeth McGovern, Howard E. Rollins Jr., Brad Dourif
Votes: 10,554 | Gross: $21.02M
7. One, Two, Three (1961)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy
In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis
Votes: 22,972
8. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Passed | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George
Votes: 15,519
9. City for Conquest (1940)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Sport
Danny is a content truck driver, but his girl Peggy shows potential as a dancer and hopes he too can show ambition. Danny acquiesces and pursues boxing to please her, but the two begin to spend more time working than time together.
Directors: Anatole Litvak, Jean Negulesco | Stars: James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp
Votes: 2,711
10. 'G' Men (1935)
Approved | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
James Cagney helped jump-start the gangster genre as The Public Enemy. Outcries against movies that glorified underworld criminals put Cagney on the side of the law in 'G' Men.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Ann Dvorak, Robert Armstrong
Votes: 4,361
11. Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
Approved | 111 min | Action, Drama, History
In 1920s Ireland, I.R.A. members are being led by the war mongering Dr. Sean Lenihan (James Cagney), as they fight oppressive British forces.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns
Votes: 1,523
12. The Public Enemy (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell
Votes: 23,015 | Gross: $1.01M
13. Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)
Approved | 122 min | Biography, Drama
The life and career of vaudevillian and silent-screen horror star Lon Chaney, including his contentious relationship with his neurotic wife and his premature death.
Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: James Cagney, Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer, Marjorie Rambeau
Votes: 2,962
14. The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Approved | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Stuart Erwin, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 3,732
15. Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, George Raft, Jane Bryan, George Bancroft
Votes: 3,733
16. The Gallant Hours (1960)
Approved | 115 min | Biography, Drama, War
A semi-documentary dramatization of five weeks in the life of Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, Jr., from his assignment to command the U.S. naval operations in the South Pacific to the Allied victory at Guadalcanal.
Director: Robert Montgomery | Stars: James Cagney, Dennis Weaver, Ward Costello, Vaughn Taylor
Votes: 1,893
17. 13 Rue Madeleine (1947)
Approved | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte, Frank Latimore
Votes: 3,067
18. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Starting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond
Votes: 2,462
19. Blood on the Sun (1945)
Approved | 94 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A dedicated American reporter in 1930s Japan is determined to expose that government's plan for world domination.
Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, Porter Hall, John Emery
Votes: 2,271
20. The Time of Your Life (1948)
Approved | 109 min | Comedy, Drama
A wide variety of persons come into Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: James Cagney, William Bendix, Wayne Morris, Jeanne Cagney
Votes: 1,348
21. What Price Glory (1952)
Approved | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The wartime romantic misadventures of Captain Flagg, commander of a company of US Marines in 1918 France.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Cagney, Corinne Calvet, Dan Dailey, William Demarest
Votes: 1,446
22. The Fighting 69th (1940)
Passed | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, George Brent, Jeffrey Lynn
Votes: 1,985
23. Here Comes the Navy (1934)
Approved | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A cocky guy joins the Navy for the wrong reason but finds romance and twice is cited for heroism.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart, Frank McHugh
Votes: 1,166 | Gross: $2.58M
24. Tribute to a Bad Man (1956)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Romance, Western
With no law within 200 miles horse rancher Jeremy Rodak runs his spread with an iron hand and deals with rustlers even more ruthlessly.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: James Cagney, Don Dubbins, Stephen McNally, Irene Papas
Votes: 1,723
25. These Wilder Years (1956)
Approved | 91 min | Drama
A middle-aged man tries to reconnect with his illegitimate son, who was given to an orphanage many years ago.
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Pidgeon, Betty Lou Keim
Votes: 1,099
26. The Seven Little Foys (1955)
Approved | 93 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
After the young wife of vaudevillian Eddie Foy passes away, he incorporates their seven children into the act and takes it on the road.
Director: Melville Shavelson | Stars: Bob Hope, Milly Vitale, George Tobias, Angela Clarke
Votes: 1,629
27. Come Fill the Cup (1951)
113 min | Crime, Drama
Alcoholic newspaperman Lew Marsh hits bottom, loses his job and is rehabilitated by Charley Dolan. After six years on the wagon he gets his job back and devotes himself to other recovering ... See full summary »
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Cagney, Phyllis Thaxter, Raymond Massey, James Gleason
Votes: 546
28. Devil Dogs of the Air (1935)
Approved | 85 min | Action, Drama, Comedy
A talented but brash stunt pilot enters the Marine Corps and becomes more disciplined.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay, Frank McHugh
Votes: 407
29. The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
Passed | 85 min | Action, Western
During the Oklahoma Land Rush, the lawlessness is exacerbated by the McCord gang's feud with the Kincaids, who are trying to bring law and justice to the region.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Donald Crisp
Votes: 2,653
30. The Mayor of Hell (1933)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the state reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former ... See full summary »
Directors: Archie Mayo, Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Madge Evans, Arthur Byron, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 1,842
31. Smart Money (1931)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama
A Greek barber has uncommon skills in playing poker and soon rises in the seedy world of illegal gambling, but pretty blondes remain his Achilles' heel.
Director: Alfred E. Green | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Evalyn Knapp, Ralf Harolde
Votes: 2,235
32. A Lion Is in the Streets (1953)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A charismatic peddler from the bayous finds his true calling in politics. Is he a demagogue in the making?
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Barbara Hale, Anne Francis, Warner Anderson
Votes: 1,028
33. Never Steal Anything Small (1959)
Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Jake MacIllaney will do just about anything to win the presidential election of longshoreman union Local 26. When he encounters young upright attorney Dan Cabot and Cabot's attractive wife,... See full summary »
Director: Charles Lederer | Stars: James Cagney, Shirley Jones, Roger Smith, Cara Williams
Votes: 365
34. Torrid Zone (1940)
Passed | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Plagued by revolutionaries that harass his plantation in a banana republic, fruit company exec Steve Case rehires former nemesis Nick Butler to restore order and profits.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien, Andy Devine
Votes: 1,493
35. Run for Cover (1955)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Western
Mistaken for train robbers, Matt Dow and Davey Bishop are shot at by the sheriff and his posse but they are cleared and hired as lawmen.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Cagney, Viveca Lindfors, John Derek, Jean Hersholt
Votes: 1,794
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