Still photographs and an off-screen narrator present a fast-paced chronology of James Cagney's (1899-1986) movie success as a pugnacious and cocky showman dedicated off-screen to physical fitness. He's a leading man on Broadway, primarily as a dancer, when he comes to Hollywood with Joan Blondell to reprise "Sinners' Holiday," but it's a grapefruit in Mae Clark's face and the climax of "The Public Enemy" that make him a movie star. Tough guy roles bring hit after hit, with an occasional romantic comedy. "Angels with Dirty Faces" snares an Oscar nomination, and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" wins him the Best Actor statuette.
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