A few years ago, a foreign friend of mine who knew I enjoyed old movies happened to watch a Jimmy Cagney movie. I don't remember which film it was now, but it was one of Cagney's better known titles. My friend came to me and said, "I don't get it. I thought Jimmy Cagney was a great actor. But the man I saw in this film was overacting to the point of being ridiculous. No one behaves like that. Jimmy Cagney is a terrible actor." I just looked over his filmography, and Cagney had a number of wonderful performances, not the least of which was "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (one of the great screen performances of all time). But this performance -- "A Lion Is In The Streets" -- is almost laughable. There's not an ounce of subtlety on Cagney's performance throughout the entire film. It's downright embarrassing! There is, however, one performance in the film that is even worse -- Anne Francis. El stinko! Such a clichéd performance of what a backwoods southern woman might be like.
There are some interesting roles here. Barbara Hale (of Perry Mason) is Cagney's co-star here, and she turns in a credible performance. And a number of familiar faces among the character/supporting actors are fun to watch. I might single out Lon Chaney, Jr. ("The Wolfman").
The script...well, it's okay, although I'm not really clear what the Anne Francis part was all about. It didn't really seem to have too much of a connection with the main plot, other perhaps that to show that the lead character (Cagney) was a flawed human being...but that was obvious anyway. Overall, the plot is believable.
In the old days, I watched championship golf to enjoy Tiger Woods winning. Nowadays I enjoy watching golf, too -- to watch Woods lose. Approach this film the same way -- watch to see a noted actor overact to a degree not often seen. This is one of the lowest ratings I have ever given a film...and it's all because of the lead actor's outrageous acting...although perhaps we should deal Raoul Walsh in for a great deal of criticism, as well.
There are some interesting roles here. Barbara Hale (of Perry Mason) is Cagney's co-star here, and she turns in a credible performance. And a number of familiar faces among the character/supporting actors are fun to watch. I might single out Lon Chaney, Jr. ("The Wolfman").
The script...well, it's okay, although I'm not really clear what the Anne Francis part was all about. It didn't really seem to have too much of a connection with the main plot, other perhaps that to show that the lead character (Cagney) was a flawed human being...but that was obvious anyway. Overall, the plot is believable.
In the old days, I watched championship golf to enjoy Tiger Woods winning. Nowadays I enjoy watching golf, too -- to watch Woods lose. Approach this film the same way -- watch to see a noted actor overact to a degree not often seen. This is one of the lowest ratings I have ever given a film...and it's all because of the lead actor's outrageous acting...although perhaps we should deal Raoul Walsh in for a great deal of criticism, as well.