Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . documenting how pretty much every American business in 1936 was short-changing its customers by 3% to 50% (the higher percentage always was in effect when defenseless orphans were involved) on EVERY transaction. Law enforcement existed primarily to squelch any dissent, destroy all evidence of greedy gouging, and to liquidate any particularly troublesome followers of the Ten Commandments. In GREAT GUY, James Cagney portrays the title hero, the one honest man left in the U.S., the chief deputy of New York City's Weights and Measures Bureau. He's under constant physical attack and lethal threats in GREAT GUY, and doesn't seem long for this world. America always has fancied herself "The City on a Hill," but if the Second Coming came tomorrow, GREAT GUY shows how the whips would be flying as a lot more than the money changers' tables got overturned. Things are far worse now than in 1936. Gasoline prices SPIKE as the value of a barrel of oil nose-dives and record inventory fills every storage tank available. Food packagers put less and less product in bigger and bigger containers. I recently bought a pair of jeans from America's largest retailer, and the pockets turned out to be weaker than this national chain store's brand of facial tissues. Laws seem to be written to allow the One Per Cent to filch and hoard 99% of the country's wealth. Are we Mice, or are we Men? Watch GREAT GUY to see the Fat Cats licking their chops!

screenman Nothing dilutes Cagney's tough-guy persona, even this little B-movie lets him shine.He's a civil-servant with punch (literally) working on the front line to enforce weights & measures rules when it seems just about every other retailer is ripping the public off. We see some interesting little dodges as regards to lead weights placed in chickens (they're already dead!) rigged scales, petrol pumps & so on. It was a crooked world in 1930's America - or so it would appear. Basically he's scrupulously honest, won't take bribes, goes after everybody big and small; a sort of Elliot Ness of fair trade. Needless to say; he rubs a lot of people up the wrong way. It's a short movie at just 66mins, so the plot is inevitably shallow and the corruption sanitised with some slap-stick humour.Despite its age, it kept me watching. Being short, the plot moved at a quick pace. It's B/W, with all of the faults you might expect from an old un-restored print of this age, but it's clear enough in both sound & vision not to detract from enjoyment. My copy came as a 3-movie tough-guy offering on a single DVD, 4x3 format and PG rating.

Snow Leopard The interesting role for James Cagney is probably the main reason to watch "Great Guy". The role in itself is a fairly uncommon one for a leading role, and Cagney gives it his own distinctive style. The movie overall is a solid if rather predictable crime drama, with a couple of interesting details.Cagney plays a new official in charge of the bureau of weights and measures, which is a relatively creative choice for a movie hero. As Cagney goes about investigating various instances of fraud, his character gradually takes on more and more of the tough guy persona that you associate with Cagney. At the same time, the stakes become ever higher in his battle with the sources of corruption.The supporting cast is adequate, but they are generally overshadowed rather easily by Cagney. Mae Clarke is relatively appealing as Cagney's fiancée, but she mostly has to react to situations, since the script and dialogue don't give her much more to work with.The movie as a whole largely follows a familiar pattern, and with a lesser star it would have been a rather routine affair. Cagney brings it up a couple of notches, and his own performance certainly won't disappoint anyone either.

loza-1 We have films about cops, private detectives, district attorneys, defence lawyers; now here's one about a man who works for the weights and measures - an important job overlooked by cinema. But it's exciting, since the task of getting a square deal for the public inevitably puts the protagonist up against organised crime.Nowadays film-goers would see the "one honest man" crushed by the crooked system he is fighting against. He's setting up home with the girl he loves. He needs the job, and is being pressurised by a crooked politician. But here Cagney - as good with his fists as he is with his mouth - wins through in the end. It lacks the tension of the modern thriller, but these are more sophisticated times. Nevertheless,this is a delightful film.