James Cagney is my favorite actor of all time. He could do it all. Drama, comedy, dance, action. And he did it all well!

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" is the movie I've watched most in my life and I never tire of watching Cagney's movements and energy. But it is "Angels with Dirty Faces" that really impressed me. Cagney grew up on the eastside of NYC, and he was a tough kid, a product of the streets.He was already an established star when "Dirty Faces" was being filmed. The "Dead End" kids had become 'famous' at that time (mainly from their portrayals of tough city kids in the wonderful movie "Dead End") and they were a rowdy bunch who were enjoying their newly found fame and notoriety for being "hooligans". They disrupted the movie set with their raucous and wild behavior and they thrilled with doing it. They picked on co-star Humphrey Bogart (who had also co-starred with them in "Dead End") and Bogey could not control them. Well, Cagney was different. He was a REAL tough guy and he single-handedly whipped the kids into shape by physically taking a tough stance with them (see the film clip below) and once the actors realized what was happening they quickly behaved themselves.

But it was Cagney's acting that won that movie for me. Did he help out his old pal, Pat O'brien, by "turning yellow" so as make the kids ashamed of him, or was that all an act?? In my mind there is only one answer.

Watch Cagney's little actions in this clip..... he was really man-handling the "tough kids".