Winner Take All

James Cagney talking like he's Rocky! A boxer and a schmuck! Getting stringed along by a easily bored rich dame who gets turned on by untamed neanderthals! Only a Warner Bros programmer, but Cagney is right in his element!

The general class of roles for Black actors seemed to decline sharply with the end of the pre-code era. Clarence Muse has a relatively substantial and un-jivey part here as Cagney's trainer, speaking on equal terms with the white characters (and with no highlighting of his race) to an extent extinct a few years later. Film is the rare boxing pic that begins with a mangled hero on the decline and all but punch-drunk. Coulda been a pre-code FAT CITY if Cagney's character wasn't such a moron