This is one of those very early talkie/precodes that I wish would come out on DVD. At this point in its history - 1931 - Warner Bros. was the mass producer of urban dramas and films that realistically portrayed the depression. Some of the films Warner made during this time were quite forgettable, and others had something special. This film is one of those special efforts, largely due to the acting skills of Joan Blondell and the great James Cagney and the on-screen chemistry they had. Cagney's character (Bert Harris) starts out as a bellboy in a midwestern hotel who is instantly attracted to Joan Blondell's character (Anne Roberts) when she applies for a job as a hotel maid. Bert wants a career as a confidence man and talks Anne into going into business with him as a partner. They work their way up from that small midwestern town into larger stakes in New York. Along the way Cagney runs into someone who ends up taking him instead of vice versa, Dan Barker, played by Louis Calhern. Calhern always excelled at playing the part of a slippery type, and his performance here is no exception. After settling the score with Dan, Anne wants out of the racket so she can marry a nice young man she has met along the way, and this seems like the end of the film. However, there is one final twist at the end that reunites Anne and Bert in a way that is totally unexpected.
Even though this film was made after Cagney's star-making role in "Public Enemy", he still doesn't have his gangster/wise guy personna down yet. That makes one of the unexpected pleasures of the film seeing how he is still finding his way as far as his trademark gestures go in his later roles. Highly recommended.
