Taxi!

Taxi! (1932)

Runtime: 69 minutes

Directed by: Roy Del Ruth

Starring: James Cagney, Loretta Young, George E. Stone, Guy Kibbee

From: Warner Brothers

Here's a short-ish review which is different from the review I did last night, for sure. It's a pretty obscure James Cagney I found at the site known as (redacted) and for rarity's sake I had to see it. The IMDb plot description then the Letterboxd review:

“Amidst a backdrop of growing violence and intimidation, independent cab drivers struggling against a consolidated juggernaut rally around hot-tempered Matt Nolan. Nolan is determined to keep competition alive on the streets, even if it means losing the woman he loves.”

This is a film I understand was tremendously hard to find until Warner Archives put it out on DVD recently; it wasn't even on VHS. This should not be confused with the TV show that featured Reverend Jim Ignatowski, the Luc Besson films from France or heaven forbid, the version with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon.

Rather, this movie concerns a vicious feud going on in a major city between two taxi companies and right away you see that they aren't afraid to bash their own cars to ruin those of the competition, or engage in fistfights... or worse. The main stars are James Cagney and Loretta Young (who engage in a contentious romantic relationship) with a young George Raft in a small appearance.

There are “well, THAT escalated quickly” moments, broad stereotypical characters-including one named SKEETS-rampant sexism and other things which I found... well, interesting. I definitely was not comfortable when Cagney mentioned how he wanted to beat up Young with his fists. That's pretty terrible by 2014 standards.

At least you get to see him beat up several men-what a surprise, Cagney as someone with a quick temper-in a plot that is about the romance between the two stars as it is the feud between the two companies; it goes to such places as a dance contest, a seafood joint owned by a major Jewish stereotype and a nightclub; a joint named “The Cotton Pickers Club” where there are black entertainers... that also made me squeamish.

Melodrama is another word you can use to describe this. “A very ridiculous ending that made me laugh out loud” is an entire phrase to use here. Yet I was entertained by the melodrama (and how angry Cagney usually was) so I'll give it this rating and note three things:

* This is movie where James comes closing to uttering the line “You dirty rat!”, which he never actually said in a film.

* The two stars are swell dancers.

* If you ever wanted to hear Cagney spoke Yiddish (something he spoke fluently in real life) then this is the movie for you.

I'll return tomorrow night.