Great Guy

1043. GREAT GUY (1936-USA). With JAMES CAGNEY, MAE CLARKE. James Cagney swings into action dediÂcated chief Of the Bureau Of Weights and Measures. To him, anyone who cheats a housewife out Of a few pennies by incorrectly weighing meat is worse than a murderer, and he pays back the crooks with punches a nose Ñ or worse. His determination to end corruption, and his refusal to be bribed, lead him into dramatic, confrontations with money-hungry racketeers in high places, including the mayor himself. But Cagney goes to, when he accuses the city’s most respected philanthropist Of engineering all the graft, and now his life is at stake! There’s plenty Of two-fisted action, along with lively comedy (watch for the scuffle over valuable “evidence” Ñ a scrawny chicken that had been weighed down with lead) and a gallery Of colorful character actors. Cagney is as feisty and as tough as when he played gangsters, but this film, like G-Men a year earlier, definitely changed his imÂage from disreputable public enemy to respectable public defender. How respectable is he? Well, when his girlÂfriend – played by Mae Clarke, his moll in Public Enemy – breaks up with him and calls him every name in the book, he doesn’t even dream Of reaching for a grapefruit! An entertaining showcase for one Of Hollywood’s most charming “great guys.” 66 minutes. Drama