SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

weezeralfalfa Glad I saw this pre-code Cagney film. As usual, Jimmy was more than alive, with his rapid thinking, speech and action, bringing comedy as well as drama to the screen. True, the plot is sometimes rather trite, but the actors make up for that deficiency.Jimmy, as Danny, is being discharged from Sing Sing, initially heading for his old gang, of which he is the leader. But, they're surprised when he tells them he's quitting the gang and going straight. He wants to be a newspaper reporter. The only local newspaper that might take him is the gossipy Graphic News. Danny's first assignment is to grab a picture of a distraught fireman, who has barricaded himself in his house, with a shot gun to keep people away. Danny sneaks in the back way and introduces himself as the insurance adjuster for the fire that partially burned down the house. Danny steals his wedding picture, which is acceptable to accompany the news article on the man. So, he's labeled a picture snatcher.(So, why didn't they just give him a camera??).Danny is rewarded by being made photojournalist for the paper. His next assignment is even more challenging: Sneaking a camera into Sing Sing to take a picture of the first execution of a woman by the electric chair. No cameras are allowed, but Danny has one tied to his ankle, with a cable leading to his waist. This was essentially a reenactment of a similar trick used at the historic first execution of a woman(Ruth Snyder)by the electric chair. He passes this test.His third 'assignment', after he quite this newspaper, is to capture or photograph the leader of his old gang: Jerry, the Mug. Dan guesses correctly where Jerry is hiding out after killing 2 policemen in a robbery. He enters his apartment, a few floors up(Just walked in?). Jerry has a bunch of firearms, but Danny convinces him that he's on his side. Somehow, the police were tipped off where he was, and a police raid soon materializes. Jerry shoots at the cops, but they have much greater firepower, making his apartment look like Swiss cheese. Eventually, they kill him, without harming Danny. Danny takes a picture of Jerry as he is falling and after he fell. He hopes some newspaper will buy his photos, and maybe give him a job. Danny tells the police that he was with Jerry as an undercover agent for policeman Casey, who goes along with this lie. Two women become involved with Danny. Pat(Patricia Ellis) is one of several journalism students who visit the Graphic News. Danny is immediately attracted and asks her for a date. Her father, policeman Casey, catches them making out in the hall, and recognizes Danny as the gangster he shot and arrested, resulting in his stay at Sing Sing. He doesn't want his daughter dating such a guy. Throughout the film, Danny occasionally does something that pleases or disturbs Casey, with repercussions on his relationship with Pat. Clearly, Pat is typecast as the "good" girl, in contrast to Allison(Alice White) as the bubbly, knockout blond floozy, but who happens to be the girlfriend of Danny's boss and pal Al(Ralph Bellamy). She soon takes a liking to Danny, as the new dynamic "kid" in the office. She arranges for Danny and herself to be alone in her apartment. She literally throws herself on Danny, kissing, hugging, etc. Wow, some scorching hot chick! Only in pre-code Hollywood would this scene be allowed!.. Patricia Ellis was only 17, while Alice White was nearly 30, though she seemed younger.

Lone_Prospector How anyone can give this move less than 10 stars is beyond me. This movie has everything you could possibly ask for in a pre-code classic. Part gangster movie. Part prison movie. Part newspaper movie. Lots of great fast talking banter. An electric chair scene – the condemned a woman no less. Car chases. Car crashes. Machine guns. Children dodging bullets. Jealousy, rage, retribution. And dames-a-plenty (more on that later).Jimmy Cagney is at his absolute best as an ex-con who tries to go straight as a newspaper photographer at a less than reputable daily rag. Although he officially quit the old gang, Cagney uses his criminal instincts to get the shot (photo that is) that nobody else seems to be able to get. In the meantime, he falls for cute-as-a-button college girl, Patricia Ellis, whose father is a policeman – the same policeman that previously put Jimmy away for three years. No problem, Cagney gets Dad promoted to Captain and, temporarily at least, all is good.The women in this picture (except for good girl Ellis) throw themselves at Cagney with reckless abandon and with absolutely one thing on their mind. Nobody even tries to pretend otherwise. Alice White, who plays one of Cagney's colleagues at the paper, is incredible as one of Cagney's many seductresses. She has to be seen to be believed. Alice Jans, an old girlfriend from Cagney's mob days, is another beast. Cagney literally carries her into the bedroom (she practically orders him to do so), until Cagney finally beats it.To say this move was racy for 1933 is an understatement. Heck, it's racy for 2011! A must see.

secondtake Picture Snatcher (1933)A fast, pre-code romp, really fun. Cagney movies are so blazing in general, from his fast talking style and his frenetic body movements, this is terrific. It's not a gangster flick, though there are traces of that (he comes out of jail in the first scene), but it has the trappings of the end of Prohibition and all the fun of the cars and the times.There are a number of interesting characters in addition to Cagney, sassy and chipper and really bright. The plot is crazy, really, with all kinds of rivalries among the thugs, the cops, the newsmen, and the women. There are some terrific newspaper scenes (like the lead typesetting machines, used for love notes by Cagney and his girl), but the title refers to Cagney's turn at being photojournalist. They don't show him in action much, but there is a key scene where he photographs a woman being killed in the electric chair. And he does it the same way the same kind of picture was taken in 1928 of Ruth Snyder at Sing Sing, the camera hidden on the photographer's calf, and the pant leg lifted at the time of the electrocution. The camera appears to be an American made Ansco, a slightly cruder version of the new small Leica style miniature camera hitting the market in the late 1920s.But in fact photography plays a small role here. This is a movie about Cagney being his frenetic best, and that's what makes it great. I would say don't miss it. It's sweet, sassy, fun, and surprising.

Michael_Elliott Picture Snatcher (1933) *** (out of 4) Fast paced, hard hitting drama from Warner Bros. has a gangster (James Cagney) being released from prison when he decides to go straight and gets a job for a tabloid newspaper as a cameraman. Everything is going fine until he breaks all the rules to take a picture of a woman in the electric chair. This is a pretty interesting film especially today when there's so much controversy surrounding tabloid photographers so I guess this new trend was around back in the day as well. Cagney is energetic as ever and Ralph Bellamy delivers a strong performance as the alcoholic editor. A good little pre-code that, according to the Robert Osbourne intro, was made because Warner wanted a gangster picture but due to all the controversy surrounding them, put Cagney in as the photographer.