James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys". In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the... Read full bio →
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Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
Tupac: Resurrection
Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans (the film shares the same name as Evans's famous 1994 autobiography).
Routine Pleasures
Jean-Pierre Gorin interacts with a club of model railroad train enthusiasts and his mentor, artist/writer Manny Farber.
Zelig
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon.
Ragtime
A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
That's Entertainment, Part II
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
One, Two, Three
One, Two, Three – A scorching business comedy that plays during the Cold War in Berlin, Germany. With it’s political satire director Billy Wilder depicts the fight between capitalism and communism with panic, scrutiny and surprises, filmed during the building of the Berlin Wall.
Shake Hands with the Devil
In 1921, an American medical student of Irish descent finds himself involved in the Irish War of Independence. In addition, his professor is a leader in the IRA.
Short Cut to Hell
A hitman is found out because he was paid off in traceable stolen money. On the run, he kidnaps the girlfriend of the police detective in charge of his pursuit; she tries to convince him to surrender before it's too late.
Man of a Thousand Faces
Makeup genius and actor Lon Chaney (James Cagney) marries two women (Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer) and stars in silent classics like "The Phantom of the Opera."
The Seven Little Foys
Vaudeville entertainer Eddie Foy, who has vowed to forever keep his act a solo, falls in love with and marries Italian ballerina Madeleine. While they continue to tour the circuit, they begin a family and before long have seven little Foys to clutter the wings.
Run for Cover
Odd little Western that gets off to a snappy start when a man (Matt Dow) is mistaken as a train robber.
Mister Roberts
Mr. Roberts is as an officer who's yearning for battle but is stuck in the backwaters of World War II on a non-commissioned Navy ship run by the bullying Captain Morton.
Love Me or Leave Me
Story of torch singer Ruth Etting's rise from 1920s taxi dancer to movie star, simultaneously aided and frustrated by Chicago mobster Marty Sydney's headstrong ways and pressure tactics
A Lion Is in the Streets
A charismatic peddler from the Bayous finds his true calling in politics. Is he a demagogue in the making?
What Price Glory
Two soldiers compete for the love if a young Frenchwoman during World War I.
Come Fill the Cup
Director Gordon Douglas' 1951 drama stars James Cagney as a newspaperman battling his alcoholism. The cast also includes Gig Young (Oscar nominee, Best Supporting Actor), Phyllis Thaxter, Raymond Massey, James Gleason, Selena Royle, Larry Keating, Sheldon Leonard and King Donovan.
The West Point Story
A Broadway director helps the West Point cadets put on a show, aided by two lovely ladies and assorted complications.
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Ralph Cotter, a ruthless criminal, escapes violently from a farm prison. Then, he seduces a dead inmate’s sister, gets back quickly into the crime business, faces corrupt local cops who run the city’s underworld and meets a powerful tycoon’s whimsical daughter.
White Heat
A psychopathic criminal (Cagney) with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.
The Time of Your Life
A wide variety of persons come into Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time.
13 Rue Madeleine
When spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
Blood on the Sun
Nick Condon, an American journalist in 1945 Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.
The Strawberry Blonde
Biff Grimes is desperately in love with Virginia, but his best friend Hugo marries her and manipulates Biff into becoming involved in his somewhat nefarious businesses. Hugo appears to have stolen Biff's dreams, and Biff has to deal with the realisation that having what he wants and wanting what another has can be very different things.
The Bride Came C.O.D.
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
Torrid Zone
A Central American plantation manager and his boss battle over a traveling showgirl.
The Fighting 69th
Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.
City for Conquest
Danny is a content truck driver, but his girl Peggy shows potential as a dancer and hopes he too can show ambition. Danny acquiesces and pursues boxing to please her, but the two begin to spend more time working than time together.
The Roaring Twenties
After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer.
Each Dawn I Die
A corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Angels with Dirty Faces
Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.
Great Guy
The adventures of an investigator (Cagney) for the Bureau of Weights and Measures.
Ceiling Zero
War veteran pilots Dizzy Davis, Texas Clark and Jake Lee are working in an airline. Dizzy is fooling with one of the younger pilot's girl-friend and due to this he changes flights with Texas.
Mutiny on the Bounty
Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent on revenge.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Four young people escape Athens to a forest where the king and queen of the fairies are quarreling, while meanwhile, a troupe of amateur actors rehearses a play. When the fairy Puck uses a magic flower to make people fall in love, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused...
'G' Men
James "Brick" Davis, a struggling attorney, owes his education to a mob member named McKay, but refuses to get involved with the underworld. When his friend Eddie Buchanan is gunned down by gangster Brad Collins while on assignment for the Justice Department, Brick decides to give up the law for a career with the Department.
Here Comes the Navy
A cocky guy joins the Navy for the wrong reason but finds romance and twice is cited for heroism.
Picture Snatcher
An ex-con uses his street smarts to become a successful photojournalist.
Lady Killer
An ex-gang member tries to resist his old cohorts' criminal influence after he suddenly becomes a Hollywood movie star.
Hard to Handle
A hustling public relations man promotes a series of fads.
Footlight Parade
Chester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.
The Public Enemy
James Cagney star's as Tom Powers, a trouble-ridden individual who rises from the position of cheap thug to that of a powerful Prohibition gangster. When his best friend is murdered, Powers self-destructively seeks deadly retaliation.
Smart Money
A Greek barber has uncommon skills in playing poker and soon rises in the seedy world of illegal gambling, but pretty blondes remain his Achilles' heel.
Other Men's Women
The friendship of two working stiff railroad engineers is put to the test when one falls for the other’s wife.
The Doorway to Hell
A vicious crime lord decides that he has had enough and much to the shock of his colleagues decides to give the business to his second in command and retire to Florida after marrying his moll. Unfortunately, he has no idea that she and the man are lovers.
Sinners' Holiday
Ma Delano operates a boardwalk penny arcade and resides above it with her sons Harry and Joe and daughter Jennie. Their tale includes rum-running, an accidental killing, and being framed.