User reviews

This curious film is one of the James Cagney films I like the best. For a Cagney film it's slow. I think Cagney was nostalgic for the period in time when he was growing up and Johnny Come Lately captures that slower pace of life people enjoyed before World War I.

Cagney plays Tom Richards who was a newspaperman before the life of the open road suddenly appealed to him. We first meet him, seedy and unshaven, sitting on a bench in the town square reading the Pickwick Papers. The town is in the grip of Boss Daugherty played by Edward McNamara. Daugherty has whittled whatever opposition he faced down to Vinnie McLeod who is a widow and owns a badly in debt town newspaper. Daugherty got the mortgage and he's about to close in the best tradition of 19th century villainy. Vinnie meets Richards and brings him to her home. One of her charitable traditions is to give passing hobos a decent meal and Cagney gets one and in turn learns about the town politics. By the end of the film all's right and Cagney moves on, having changed a whole number of lives in the process.

Vinnie McLeod is played by Grace George, a prominent stage actress who makes her one and only movie here. She's very good and other supporting players who acquit themselves well are Hattie McDaniel, Marjorie Lord, Robert Barrat and most of all Marjorie Main playing Gashouse Mary.

This film was obviously a labor of love for James Cagney and it shows.

Tom Richards is an ex newspaper reporter who decided to quit the rat race and live life on the road in a vagabond existence. Breezing into town one day with only two dollars and a copy of his beloved Pickwick Papers to his name, Tom happens upon dear old newspaper owner Vinnie McLeod. Miss McLeod has a soft spot for tramps and urges Tom to get himself off the streets before he is arrested, but although he promises he will, he is soon rounded up and hauled before the court. Where Vinnie, upon learning of his reporting experience puts up the bond so Tom can keep out of jail and work for her at the Shield & Banner paper. It's here that Tom learns of corruption within the town and promptly sets about using the press medium to out the dirt and free the town of its bad elements.

When one hears the name James Cagney, it immediately conjures up images of gangsters and Yankee Doodle Dandy like ebullience. Yet as big a star as he was, Cagney still has films in his cannon that are not only unseen and forgotten, but also that showcase the other side of his acting coin. One such film is Johnny Come Lately. Adapted from the novel "McLeod's Folly" by the highly thought of Louis Bromfield (Winner of 1927 Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Early Autumn) the film sees Cagney relying on his reined in ability instead of blunderbuss histrionics. There are of course a couple of sequences where his character is called on to pack a punch {naturally when the piece is about corruption and less than stellar townsfolk} but by and large it's a sweet and affecting turn that really rewards those who have invested time with it.

It's not just about Jimmy tho. Grace George as Vinne is the films emotional axis, her interplay with Cagney has a tenderness that really gives the story some added weight. Boosting proceedings is the always delightful Hattie McDaniel, whilst Wizard Of Oz fans will no doubt be chuckling away at Margaret Hamilton's performance here. Which when one knows Cagney calls her "the dragon lady next door", well one can guess what Margaret is doing with the character. But standing out amongst the strong female cast is Marjorie Main as Gashouse Mary McGovern, a delightful turn that harks to a sort of Mae West homage. When she slinkily turns to Tom and says "if only I was thirty years younger" you just know she would have eaten him for breakfast! The score from Leigh Harline is easy on the ears, and William K. Howard's direction is smooth and at one with the pace of the story. This really is one that needs to be rediscovered by more classic cinema fans, not only for catching Cagney acting against type, but also because it has a feel good factor that could brighten the day of many. 8/10

JOHNNY COME LATELY is an example of an underrated work that makes a good, atypical film. The Jimmy Cagney that we think of is the anti-hero of THE PUBLIC ENEMY or WHITE HEAT, who we fear but feel sorry for. He also is recalled for his exciting performances in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and 13 RUE MADELEINE. He was a human dynamo. Watch how he effortlessly goes into the dance and song in FOOTLIGHT PARADE. But here he is a reporter who is tramping around the country (reading Pickwick Papers) who gets into trouble in a corrupt town, but is helped by the owner of a newspaper (Grace George, an old friend of Cagney's, in her only movie role). Together they take on the local machine, with assistance from George Cleveland and Marjorie Main among others. That Edward McNamara finally admits defeat is actually due to him not being the real villain in the film (his police chief, an ex-convict, is the real villain). Cagney does have one or two obligatory fight sequences, but he displays a gentleness, especially when dealing with Ms George, that is very unusual and sweet.

JOHNNY COME LATELY was a novel by Louis Bromfeld. A few years ago Public Television did an "American Masters" episode on Bromfeld, who was (at one time in the early 1930s) considered the equal to Hemingway and Faulkner and Fitzgerald as a novelist. He is best recalled today for the novel, THE RAINS CAME, made into a classic early starring film for Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy. But his best written novel is supposed to be THE FARM, wherein he discussed the day to day running of a farm, and it's importance to the country. Ironically it was the subject of farms and agriculture that ended his brilliant writing career - he spent his savings trying to make a model farm for helping American farmers learn the latest techniques in agriculture. In the end he had to lose his farm as well (it was a brilliant idea, but he couldn't afford to keep it up). Bromfeld's writing can be sampled in JOHNNY COME LATELY, where he concentrates well on the characters in the story. Look at the scene where Cagney goes to a political power who likes ketchup in everything - Cagney plays up to this weakness, with odd but successful results.

This is a film that all not a classic certainly deserves to be better known than it is. I had certainly never heard of the film when I found it on very late at night on the BBC the other day (we really do take for granted the treats the BBC sometimes serve up late at night) but was pleasantly surprised by what I found here. A James Cagney film where as usual he dominates every scene he is in but here it is a bit more under stated than normal. Here Cagney plays Tom Richards a vagrant who stumbles across a small town that is being crippled by corruption. Richards finds a friend in the proprietor of the local paper and few moral people left in town Miss Grace George. Slowly Richards back story is hinted at, which brings depth and meaning to his character. Cagney is so good here you wish to see another film showing how his character got to the point where we are introduced to him in the movie. As Cagney powers through the movie we see him work his magic on the towns folk all leading to an inevitable yet subtle and enjoyable ending. Whilst I would not look to purchase this movie. I would certainly watch it again the next time I find it on television.

One of the occasional independent efforts that the legendary Jimmy Cagney made away from the Warner Bros. studios,JOHNNY COME LATELY is a rather slow,stately melodrama of small-town political corruption near the beginning of the 20th century which is saved by a cast of familiar Hollywood character actors and some enjoyable scenes.Cagney is watchable as always,but kudos here mainly go to Grace George,a veteran stage actress whose only sound film this was.(She appeared in one silent film in the 1910's) Miss George's dignified and distinguished presence is the best aspect the film has going for it;it is a shame she never made another as she would've been a respectable and welcome addition to any film before or afterwards.

Leigh Harline's incessant,cloying musical score is a frequent and irritating distraction,but producer William Cagney(Jimmy's brother) has filled the picture with some popular and well-liked character players such as Margaret Hamilton,Hattie McDaniel,Lucien Littlefield,George Cleveland,Irving Bacon and Arthur Hunnicutt in some good cameos.The inimitable Marjorie Main comes off best as an ageing night-club hostess.Aside from some occasional familiar tough guy frissions(such as a chair being hurled,and a fist fight and shootout),Cagney is oddly subdued as a journalist turned hobo,and his character is essentially decent and honourable.His scenes with Miss George are quietly observational and low-key,but all the better for it and often rather touching.

It may have been somewhat better with big studio backing,but the production values are adequate,though William K. Howard's direction could have been pacier.The best scenes are towards the end when the townspeople stage an uprising against the corrupt politician Dougherty (Edward MacNamara),but his change of mind shortly afterwards doesn't really ring true.Cagney apparently considered his film one of his favourites.It isn't particularly one of his best,compared to such classics as THE PUBLIC ENEMY,YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and WHITE HEAT,but it's still worth a look.

RATING:Six and a half out of Ten

Freed at last from his contract with Warners and with an Oscar in his back pocket from 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', James Cagney enjoys himself playing a romantic drifter in this independent production produced by his brother William. (Director William K. Howard had enjoyed a considerable reputation in the thirties but by the forties was fighting a losing battle with the bottle so the two Cagney boys probably had quite a bit of input behind the scenes.)

The general feyness of the piece is tempered by Cagney's obvious enjoyment at being permitted to show more sensitivity than he was accustomed to. (Among the supporting cast, as a sassy madam introduced in bare shoulders and answering to the name of Gashouse Mary Marjorie Main also extends her range displaying a retro glamour that gives Mae West a run for her money; admiring herself in a mirror and observing "I haven't been spoken to like that in thirty years!")

This is a movie that not everyone will love or even like. One must remember it's a sentimental look at the turn of the century, 1906 the movie states, by filmmakers in 1943. So this is a review about a quaint film made 73 years ago, which was looking back nostalgically 37 years. Not to belabor the point, but it would like a movie today (2016) reliving a time 37 years ago, which would be 1979 and being reviewed 73 years from now in 2089. So you can see that when you consider this film in that way, all bets and our judgment are probably a little off. In that light I feel the flick holds up very well. Sure many of the movie's main stars are very one dimensional. Only Cagney and Edward McNamara made me feel that there was much depth to their characters. Many movie watchers of today will find it a little slow and without a lot of action. Some will say it's way too saccharine. The production values aren't the best and late in the movie, the transitions between scenes appears a bit jerky.

Remarkably, somehow this movie works. Through all it's faults it shines like a diamond in the rough. You feel the quaintness of 1906, whether it was like that or not, you FEEL it was. I really felt I was looking through a window to the past. In this movie you really like James Cagney. He is not the champion of the beautiful young girl, but of the aged older lady who is paying the price to fight the good fight. He does it with dash and style. "Johnny Come Lately" made me smile a lot and even cry a little for the good ole days, theirs and mine. In the end what more do you want from 73 year old movie?

I had never watched Johnny Come Lately till now for the first time. What a very lovely heartwarming story for a lazy afternoon.

This offbeat drama from United Artists and director William K. Howard has elderly Vinnie McLeod (Grace George) running a struggling newspaper in a small town circa 1906. She has a soft spot for the vagrants who pass through, often feeding them and cleaning them up. Currently she's locked in journalistic battle with local big shot W. M. Dougherty (Edward McNamara), a crook with his fingerprints all over various town scandals. McLeod gains an unlikely ally when another passing bum, Tom Richards (James Cagney), turns out to be a talented reporter. She hires him onto the paper, and Tom sets out to bring down Dougherty once and for all. Also featuring Marjorie Main, Marjorie Lord, Hattie McDaniel, William Henry, Margaret Hamilton, Robert Barrat, George Cleveland, Lucien Littlefield, Clarence Muse, Joseph Crehan, and Arthur Hunnicutt.

This was the first film produced by Cagney and his brother William Cagney for their independent company. It's an unusual mix of nostalgic smalltown whimsy and hard-hitting corruption expose, with bursts of surprising violence. 64-year-old Grace George, who gets an extended "Introducing" credit at the film's start, was a major theater star who had actually appeared in a silent film decades earlier. This would prove to be her only other screen credit. I enjoyed Marjorie Main as the scandalous operator of the local gambling establishment (it's implied that it's a brothel, but this being the production code years...), and Arthur Hunnicutt in an early role as one of the passing hobos. The movie earned an Oscar nomination for Best Score (Leigh Harline).

Although it's not a western it looks like one: Grace George taking Cagney out of jail ,it's ,say, Aline McMahon , doing the same for James Stewart in "the man from Laramie ". Mrs Mc Leod owns a little newspaper threatened by a press baron (instead of a smallholders against wealthy owners );and the shoot out scene is pure western style.

The rapport Cagney and George have is extraordinary : he's an educated tramp , a happy-go-lucky , but a virtuous gent who refuses to be bribed or hired by the mighty contender (like James Stewart in "it's a wonderful life" ); Mrs McLeod is a generous lady who feeds the bums whereas she's almost broke herself and has a mortgage hanging over her head ;"live does not matter,she says ,it's what you do with it".

The Jane /Pete couple is rather bland and conventional and provides this charming chronicle with its low point ,but other colorful characters as Hattie Mc Daniel's Aida and Marjorie Main's Gashouse Mary make up for it .

In the town,almost everybody loves Johnny -Come-Lately and he won't let them down.

Grace George is hocking the silver candlesticks to keep her paper running. It's thirty years, and the local machine boss, Edward McNamara, has laid down the law: stop publishing those less-than-admiring editorials, print these puff pieces over her signature, and he won't have her mortgage called in. At court that morning, she watches as Jimmy Cagney is hauled in for vagrancy, pleads Not Guilty, and takes him on as a reporter. He announces that the paper is going to continue to go after McNamara, and here's how.

What I enjoyed about this movie was the wealth of supporting eccentrics. Oh, some of them are clearly intended to be remembered purely for those eccentricities. It's a writer's trick: the guy with the mouse; the guy who sings ballads; the guy who puts ketchup on everything; the guy who's a tramp who recites poetry; the tramp who talks about the hot cakes. They're there, they're briefly memorable because they do something other people don't. Maybe they'll figure in the story, maybe they won't. However, the reviewer will notice them and admire the performance.

Yet for that brief moment, each stands at the center of the film, and Cagney stands aside and watches them, amused and pleased. For that brief moment, this film celebrates each of them. Released in 1943, it looks like an odd and eccentric piece for an audience in the middle of the greatest war of the 20th Century. It isn't. It's Why We Fight: so a guy can put ketchup on everything, even in his coffee. Yuck.

Cagney is a human dynamo as a drifter who helps save ailing Grace George from losing her newspaper. The pace is fast, and audiences of all ages will be pleased. The supporting cast, have all the small-town characterizations down pat -- with Margaret Hamilton a standout. Cagney himself, had genuine affection for this film, and listed it among his top five movie-making experiences at a retrospective the year before he died.

It's rare in the movie industry, especially since Hollywood became so..., well...., so Hollywood (circa '75). But, once in a great while, we are treated to a very special film, one that, connects w the human-spirit, in such an enduring & profound way that seemingly, the best way to try & communicate it's wonderful 'specialness', is to somehow wish it possible, to watch all over again (for the very first time).

Enjoy!

While Jimmy Cagney was a huge star with Warner Brothers in the 1930s and 40s, like many stars of the day he wanted more...he wanted control over his movies and to make the films he wanted to make. So he formed his own production company and made a few films...which didn't do particularly well. So, soon he was back to working with the big studios. But of all his independent pictures, "Johnny Come Lately" is certainly among the most enjoyable. And, like his other independent pictures, his brother Bill Cagney was on hand to produce these films.

The film is set in a small American town at about the turn of the century. A nice old lady, Vinnie McLeod, is running a moribund newspaper and barely keeping up with making payments. Much of the problem is that the paper is very old fashioned but the biggest problem is Mr. Dougherty--the crooked rich man who runs the town. He threatens to ruin her unless she prints crap--stories that ignore Dougherty and his evil business practices. This all changes when an out of work newspaper man arrives in town. Tom (Jimmy Cagney) is a free spirited man...but also one who balks at injustice and is aching to take on Doughtery and his gang of thugs. What follows is the tiny paper taking on the evil behemoth...and Cagney playing an odd sort of hero who doesn't get the girl in the end of the picture!

This is a very sweet film. Perhaps it's a bit hokey and predictable in spots but I liked it and thought Cagney was smart not to play the dashing lover but a more solid sort of everyman character. Well done and with some lovely supporting performances.

The only complaint about this film is, it can't be watched again for the first time & it wasn't long enough

Ideally, someone gifted, will come across this exceptional storyline & do a remake, w follow up movie being over 2-hours in length.

Just a comment. George Stevens' 'Shane' contains many of the ingredients of this film.

JOHNNY COME LATELY (United Artists, 1943), Directed by William K. Howard, stars James Cagney in his second independent venture outside his long term reign at Warner Brothers (1930-1942), with his first being for Grand National Pictures (1936-1937). Following his Academy Award winning performance as song and dance man, George M. Cohan in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942), it was time for Cagney to venture independently on his own merits. Under the presentation/ production by his brother, William Cagney, his first choosing for something against type is that of a good-natured vagrant drifting to a small town where his presence becomes an asset to an elderly woman, wonderfully enacted by Miss Grace George (not to be confused with Gladys George), a popular theatrical actress in her only movie. Though his name isn't Johnny, Cagney's character comes to terms of being called a "tramp," "vagrant" or a "Johnny Come Lately," yet a pleasant surprise from his usual New York City tough guy roles much beloved by his fans.

Based on the novel "McLeod's Folly," by Louis Bromfield, set in early 1900s in the town of Pittsfield, the story opens with character development involving Vinnie McLeod (Grace George), an elderly woman publisher/ editor of a local newspaper, the Shield and Banner, founded by her late husband many ago. She also lives in the home built by him called McLeod's Folly along with her niece, Jane (Marjorie Lord), a society editor at her newspaper, and Aida (Hattie McDaniel), her housekeeper. Vinnie is also known for using her basement to feed homeless drifters. Jane is in love with Peter (William Henry), son of W.W. Dougherty (Edward McNamara), a fearful big boss ruling both town and rival newspaper with intentions of running for politics. Vinnie refuses to write articles supplied by him to support his corrupt campaign. With her newspaper regarded old-fashioned and lacking funds for any updates, her luck changes when coming to the courtroom looking for news to witness vagrant Tom Richards (James Cagney), and about to be sentenced to a road gang by the judge. Having met Richards earlier in the park reading Charles Dickens' book, "The Pickwick Papers," she thus learns Tom of his newspaper experience. Without funds of new hired help, Vinnie takes a chance on Tom as both her boarder and $35 a week reporter. With staff members including Jane, Willie Ferguson, its only reporter for 35 years (George Cleveland), and his sister, Myrtle (Margaret Hamilton), Tom revamps and improves the newspaper. At the risk of Vinnie losing her establishment, mortgaged by Daugherty, and Jane losing Peter, she and Tom go on with their editorials on Daugherty while Daugherty has plans of his own.

The supporting players feature Robert Barrat (Bill Swaine, a state capital politician); Clarence Muse, Lucien Littlefield, Irving Bacon, Victor Kilian, John "Skins" Miller and Arthur Hunnicutt. Marjorie Main's semi-comical performance is a welcome presence as "Gashouse Mary" McGovern, owner of a social club who pays "protection money" to Daugherty.

Often claimed as a minor James Cagney movie, JOHNNY COME LATELY has quite a nostalgic feel from another era with underscoring by Leigh Harline. With this performance, Cagney further displays his fine acting ability as a simple guy both trusting and educated. He doesn't disappoint his fans with some good fist fights and gun shooting while battling with the bad guys. With Cagney heading the cast, JOHNNY COME LATELY rightfully belongs to Grace George giving a sincere performance that could have been enacted by either theatrical legend of Laurette Taylor or silent screen veteran of Lillian Gish, Her performance makes one wish Grace George appeared in a few more movies.

Being a lesser known Cagney drama of the 1940s, JOHNNY COME LATELY, which runs 97 minutes, has become available on video cassette (1990s) and later DVD. Although frequently broadcast on late night television from the 1950s to 1980s, JOHNNY COME LATELY has yet to have become a Johnny Come Lately on cable television. What a wonderful rediscovery both movie and Grace George would be whenever it should be televised again. (***)