Each Dawn I Die

G Men There comes a time in the career of every gangster star when he has to go straight. Jimmy Cagney did it in "G" Men, a crisp crimefighting drama directed by William Keighley. Its hero is one more Cagney variation on the working-class guy with a smart mouth and a hard right, only t...	The Roaring Twenties Three doughboys--played by James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Jeffrey Lynn--meet in a foxhole in Europe just as World War I is ending. When they return to the States, they are forgotten men, and after Eddie (Cagney) tries in vain to get his old job back, his pal Danny (Frank McHu...	The Public Enemy Director William Wellman (Wings), a World War I veteran who turned his experiences in battle into an insistence on unpretentious violence in his films, made Public Enemy a particularly brutal account of the rise and fall of a monstrous gangster (James Cagney). Cagney delivers one...	City for Conquest Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 07/18/2006 Run time: 104 minutes Rating: Nr	Angels With Dirty Faces A gangster on the run takes people hostage in a roadside diner. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Starring: James Cagney Humphrey Bogart Run time: 97 minutes Rating: Nr
White Heat After escaping from prison a psychopathic criminal leads his old gang in a chemicla plant payroll robbery. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/25/2005 Starring: James Cagney Virginia Mayo Run time: 113 minutes Rating: Nr	San Quentin Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 07/18/2006 Run time: 70 minutes	Yankee Doodle Dandy (Two-Disc Special Edition) James cagney pays tribute to broadways legendary great george m. Cohan whose songs over there and youre a grand old flag won him a medal of honor for raising the morale of every patriot. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 04/05/2005 Starring: James Cagney Joan Leslie Run...	Dead End Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 03/08/2005 Run time: 92 minutes Rating: Nr	They Drive by Night (Snap case) By turns hard-nosed and ribald, They Drive by Night smashes through a vintage Warner Bros. yarn about truck drivers, the Depression, and one duplicitous dame. The opening reels are a forceful look at the dangerous lives of independent truckers (George Raft and Humphrey Bogart as ...

A Pleasure to Watch.
It was a pleasure to watch Cagney and Raft together. I had never seen this movie before but was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Some of the fight scenes look a little phony but that's typical of movies made during this period. The quality of the DVD is excellent, both picture and sound. If you like gangster movies you will definitely enjoy this one.

Cagney Subdued, Cagney Electrified - Great Psychological Study
1939's Each Dawn I Die shows Jimmy Cagney in two different lights. First, as subdued yet confident star reporter, Frank Ross, who is sent to prison on a frame-up by crooked politicians. He plays by the rules and keeps his nose clean. As the story progresses, and Frank's hopes of being released grow dim, his frustration and despair begin to grow in the brutal environment that is Rocky Point Penitentiary. We start to see a psychological change in our hero that almost reaches the point of no return. Don't miss his scene before the parole board, where he transforms from a docile puppy to a raging tiger to a broken stallion. On the DVD commentary by film historian, Haden Guest, Each Dawn I Die is hailed as a precursor of psychologically intensive films that weren't to be seen until the later 40s. Cagney is brilliant, as usual. His spunkiness and pathos play off each other to perfection, and his body language and facial expressions keep your eyes riveted to him in just about every scene.

Each Dawn I Die is an interesting and entertaining movie with a great supporting cast
James Cagney as "Frank Ross" (the framed newspaper reporter) and George Raft as "Hood Stacey" (the hardened criminal) present fine performances in this film which gives a good look at life in prison. The film also has a great supporting cast with veteran performers such as Edward Pawley and Maxie Rosenbloom. Pawley gives an excellent performance as a convict named Dale who leads an aborted prison escape attempt.

Best of the Prison Films
"Each Dawn I Die", released in 1939, is the best of the prison films which Warner Brothers made in the thirties. Even the title is fantastic. James Cagney plays a reporter working for a newspaper who is exposing the politicians who run the rackets. Cagney is framed, convicted and sent to prison for 10 years as retaliation. There, he meets hardened criminal George Raft. The film was produced by Hal Wallis and benefits from a bigger budget than most of its predecessors. There is a more detailed and convincing expose of prison life than usual and cliches are avoided. You get a real feel for the hopelessness and boredom of the inmates. Cagney is subdued and underplays - very effective. George Raft, usually a wooden and stiff actor, rises to Cagney's level. Their friendship becomes very touching. The film develops real suspense as you wonder if Cagney will ever be released. Jane Bryan plays Cagney's girlfriend with a small but key part in the plot. Bryan was a very talented actress on the Warner's payroll who retired early when she married. She invests the part with great depth and is touching. The print is excellent and the DVD has lots of extras, including a really worthwhile commentary by Haden Guest; at last, a commentator with a pleasant voice who avoids trivial biographical details and really observes the film as it unfolds. A contemporary featurette documentary on the language of the gangster film is included but it is by far the weakest in this series - a lot of historians/actors etc saying which lines they liked and who they imitated as children - yawn! There is also another of the Warner's blooper shorts which are entertaining, particularly if you know the actors on the studio payroll then. "A Day at San Anita" is is technicolour short film set around the race track. It stars the nauseating Shirley Temple contemporary Sybil Jason who is cloying in the worst child star sense. The colour is excellent and there is some interest in the shots of stars such as Bette Davis and then husband Harmon Nelson and Ruby Keeler with Al Jolson. The cartoon, which definitely does not date to 1939, is OK with a rooster that may have developed into Foghorn Leghorn. Finally, the Lux Radio version of the film is included with Franchot Tone replacing Cagney. These radio versions really only have historical interest. The DVD is excellent value, particularly if purchased as part of the Warner's Tough Guys Collection.

James Cagney & George Raft? How can you beat that?
They star together in this important gangster movie, (if there is such a thing), Each Dawn I Die. Excellent performances by both. Cagney was getting tired of the genre' but it doesn't show here as he is the crusading good guy reporter, Frank Ross, exposing criminal activity in government. He is framed for a drunk driving murder. Raft is "Hood" Stacy, a career criminal, moody & menacing, not to be trifled with, even in prison. At first, Ross tries to keep his integrity & feels sure he will be sprung by his newspaper. He avoids Stacy. Eventually, they make common cause against a hated stoolie & a sadistic guard. Ross is changing, prison is hardening him. Yet, he is still optimistic, but his faith is starting to fade as weeks turn into months. As he & Stacy become close, Stacy convinces him that he maybe in prison a long time. Stacy has a plan in which Ross can help him escape. In a rather complicated & somewhat implasible chain of events it works. Once he's on the outside Stacy has promised to use his underworld contacts to get evidence that will set Ross free. But he is conning Ross & once free does nothing. He meets Ross' loyal girl-friend & fellow reporter, Jane (Joyce Conover). She softens his heart & improbably he finally decides to keep his promise. This leads him back to prison where one of the conspirators that framed Ross is now serving time on an unrelated charge. Stacy then turns himself in. Meanwhile, things have been going bad for Ross. He spends lots of time in "the hole", being tortured by the guards that hold him responsible for Stacy's escape. Once again in prison, Stacy "convinces" the guy that helped frame Ross to confess to the warden during a prison riot that Ross tries to prevent. Ross is free at last returns to his old self (with the help of Jane). He has the headline of his life, & the crooked politicians are apprehended. What happens to, noble in the end, Stacey? Well... A major movie from that golden year of 1939. Don't miss it if you like the gangster, prison type genre' pre World War II.