This 67 minute film, now out on DVD, is well worth your time and money. Just don't ask Jimmy to help you to collect your estate -- or to arrange your marriage. 'Jimmy the Gent' includes just about everyone in the Warner Bros. stock company, and you can guess that it's a pre-Code film near the beginning. After Allen Jenkins walks in, receptionist Renee Whitney curtly asks him, "Where ya been?" He replies, enthusiastically, "I've been out, lookin' up an heiress."Bette Davis, still a starlet, shows up at about 9:50, with the 1/2-inch long false eyelashes that she sports in the film. She and Cagney spar(k) well together, and Alan Dinehart is the appropriate third side of the triangle. Besides the 47 actors listed in the cast, that looks and sounds like Leonard Mudie (or his identical twin brother) as the steamship line's ticket agent near the end. And check out the newspapers at the beginning. Evidently the first sportsman died within a day or so of the Copper King, because the same soon-to-be-famous track star is mentioned in the same article on the first page.

Whew" - here's the kind of early Jimmy Cagney picture where he pulls out all the stops as a fast talking con man, and even if he has an ultimately noble intention of winning back his girl in the end, you're never really quite sure how things will work out. Bette Davis is that girl by the way, and she shares the kind of snappy dialog with Cagney that was honed to a razor wit by the time of 1940's "His Girl Friday" with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Joan Martin (Davis) once worked for Jimmy Corrigan (Cagney) in the 'Personal Contacts' business, but left for competitor Charles Wallingham (Alan Dinehart) who runs a more refined enterprise, including daily tea breaks with the staff. But no matter which way you slice it, both operators are in it for the money, tracking down wealthy patrons who have passed on leaving sizable fortunes.You'll have to be really attentive to stay on top of the main plot involving a two hundred thousand dollar inheritance from a deceased heiress. The only problem is, Monty Barton (Arthur Hohl) is on the run from a murder rap, and Cagney's character has to come up with a way to make the will stick until he can get his share of the dough. Getting his former gal pal back would be a bonus, and if you can keep things straight, the final payoff is a winner. I've seen Allen Jenkins in enough Cagney films now to actually expect him to be there, so I wasn't disappointed this time. He's around as Corrigan's right hand man, but the first time they come in contact on screen you'll want to consider how political correctness wasn't a factor in films of the Thirties. When Lou (Jenkins) enters Jimmy's office he's greeted with "You dumb Guinea dope, you silly lookin' ape"! It's the kind of stuff that makes you go for the re-wind button on your remote.As for Miss Davis, I kept looking for those Bette Davis eyes but they hadn't quite matured yet. Her performance here wasn't that exceptional, but what a difference a couple of years made; her role as the wistful dreamer Gabby Maple in the 1936 movie "The Petrified Forest" was remarkable. Cagney of course started right out of the gate in roles that featured him as a con man or gangster and this was no exception. He plays a similar fast talking character in 1933's "Hard To Handle" where he's quick to turn a buck from a gullible public. Unfortunately a lot of his earliest films aren't available commercially, so you have to be in the right place at the right time to catch them on one of the classic movie cable channels. For my money, Cagney found just the right tempo and pacing in a few more years to portray Rocky Sullivan in one of my all time top ten films - "Angels With Dirty Faces".

I loved this amazing movie. I can't believe the amount of plot and dialogue weaved into 67 minutes by Cagney and Curtiz.Cagney just does not shut up, thankfully. He is brilliant. The idea that he was a shady geneologist who goes semi-straight and that Bette Davis was his foil was interesting. Lots of lauggh out loud scenes in this movie.

A delightful example of 1930's comedy, with James Cagney on fire as a tough and uncultured geneologist-scam artist who matches wits with an assortment of shady types in pursuit of a dead rich woman's fortune. The dialogue is snappy and frequently laugh-out loud, the supporting cast led by Bette Davis is fine, and James Cagney is particularly hilarious in his portrayal.One of the subplots involves Cagney's attempts to learn a little class with which to impress his love/nemesis Davis, and there is a sustained scene of hijinks concerning this that will have you laughing and commending Cagney's acting at the same time. All I can say is that I will never look at tea the same way again!Finally, this movie is worth seeing just because it was directed by the great Michael Curtiz. This was the first time Curtiz was entrusted with a really major film project, and he makes the most of it. Of course, Curtiz would later direct Cagney in arguably his greatest role, that of Rocky in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938). Curtiz also directed such classics as Casablanca (1942), Captain Blood (1935), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Wolf (1941), The Sea Hawk (1940), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942 - which won James Cagney an Oscar) and many many other great films. Between Curtiz, Cagney, Davis, and the rest, there is a lot to like about this movie. It's not Heavy Drama, but if you like the kinds of witty and lighthearted comedies that flourished in Hollywood during the 1930's, you will enjoy this example.