Lady Killer (1933)

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Rosalind Keating Shaffer (story)
Ben Markson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 December 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Is Hollywood howling ! at this inside story of The Screen Idol Who Threw -?- -?- -?- Out Of His -?- -?- -?- On Her -?- !

Plot:

When a movie theater usher is fired, he takes up with criminals and finds himself quite adept at various illegal activities...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Blackmail | Usher | Rehabilitation | Jail

Cast

James Cagney	...	Dan Quigley
Mae Clarke	...	Myra Gale
Margaret Lindsay	...	Lois Underwood
Leslie Fenton	...	Duke
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Spade Maddock (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Russell Hopton	...	Smiley
Raymond Hatton	...	Pete
Henry O'Neill	...	Ramick
Robert Elliott	...	Detective Joe Brannigan
Marjorie Gateson	...	Mrs. Marley
Willard Robertson	...	Detective Conroy
William B. Davidson	...	Director Williams (as William Davidson)
Douglas Cosgrove	...	Detective Jones

Also Known As:

Finger Man (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

76 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Yiddish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1934) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) (1940)

Filming Locations:

Cocoanut Grove Nightclub, Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Both George Blackwood as "Escort" and John Marsden as "Kendall" are listed in studio records/casting call lists, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. A modern source lists 'Sam Ash' as "Hood,' but that role was played by Lew Harvey.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cagney's character asks film reviewer "Mr. Blair" into the men's room at The Cocoanut Grove to "discuss" his latest review, all of the stall doors are closed. After Cagney forces him to eat his review, the third stall door is open (no one enters or exits the room during this scene).

Quotes:

Myra Gale: [preparing to pour a drink for Dan] How much?
Dan Quigley: Oh, about two ounces,one for each kidney.
Myra Gale: [handing him the drink] Here. Oh, uh, chaser?
Dan Quigley: Always have been.
[they laugh]
Dan Quigley: Funny fella.

Movie Connections:

References Dark Hazard (1934)

Soundtrack:

California, Here I Come

Fast-paced, exciting Cagney comedy!

If you like James Cagney, and I sure do, you'll love this comedy melodrama from the pre-code years at Warner Brothers. Cagney portrays a cheap hoodlum who falls in with a gang of petty con artists, gets wrapped on the knucklesl by the long arm of the law, and winds up becoming a movie matinee idol. It's fun all the way, with enough wise-cracking dialogue, rapid action, car chases, gunfire, and double-dealing to satisfy any fan of the early gangster films, yet it's a lively, tongue-in-cheek comedy from start to finish. Enjoy!