James Cagney and Joan Blondell team up for the seventh and last time for "He Was Her Man," a Warner Brothers film from 1934.Cagney is Flicker Hayes. He tells the police about a robbery attempt so that they can catch the two men who put him in prison. One, Dan, escapes. The other kills a cop and winds up in the electric chair.Dan orders two hit-man to find Flicker and kill him. Flicker rents a room and meets Rose (Blondell), a young, sad woman who returns to the room to fetch her wedding dress. She is a former prostitute and needs a ride to a fishing village, where her betrothed, a Portugese fisherman (Victor Jory) is waiting to marry her.Sounds good to Flicker - it's obscure, anyway, so he accompanies her. The two fall for one another, and no doubt have sex when the camera isn't around - it is post-code, after all. Rose doesn't want to marry her boyfriend now, she wants to go away with Flicker. He buys a bus ticket for her and they go to the bus station together. Unfortunately, Flicker has been discovered by Dan and his thugs, who want to kill him.A dark film with two subdued performances by the leads, who are both very good. Cagney does a great job, as always - even though he's not a flying high, exuberant criminal, he still plays a confident man, and you can't help noticing him.Blondell, who did so many comedy roles, is dead serious here and very effective.Others in the cast, besides those mentioned, are George Chandler, Harold Huber, John Qualen - lots of familiar faces.Victor Jory is somewhat miscast but pulls off his role as a gentle person who truly cares for Rose.You're not really sure how this will end. It is a lovely ending, if poignant. Well directed by Lloyd Bacon.

Interesting Low-key Gangster Outing for James Cagney and Joan Blondell who also Dials it back a notch for this Melodramatic Love Triangle. It Works Well in a Romantic kind of way, but the Tension is Never Ramped Up and Cagney is so Smooth and Sedate that He seems to be Hiding Under the Seldom Adorned Mustache and a Cool Demeanor.The Supporting Cast is Watchable with Victor Jory Affecting as an Immigrant with a Stereotypical Good Natured and Jolly Mom that just Loves Her "Nick". These Types of Mothers can be Distracting when Viewed Today as just too Lovable, Corny, and Sweet. The Movie is Usually Overlooked as Rather Routine, Especially for the Two Stars who Made Seven Films Together (this was the last). The Movie was on the Cusp of the Code and Except for Joan Blondell's Profession being Obviously a Prostitute there is No Other Pre-Code Activity.The Ending comes Fast and is Surprising. Overall the Movie is Certainly Worth a Watch for the Fine, if Restrained Acting, and the Story is Intriguing as it Waivers and the Viewer is Never quite sure where it is all Headed.

HE WAS HER MAN (Warner Brothers, 1934), directed by Lloyd Bacon, in spite of its torch song sounding title for a musical film, is actually an offbeat melodrama starring James Cagney (with mustache) and Joan Blondell for the seventh and final time on screen. With Cagney naturally playing a vengeful tough guy with good qualities, it's Blondell, usually bright eyed and sassy, going against type as one of the most saddest characters ever portrayed. Often classified as their weakest collaboration, the Cagney and Blondell pairing still contains their usual star chemistry mainly because they're two of a kind.The plot gets underway at a Manhattan Turkish Bath where "Flicker" Hayes (James Cagney), a professional safe-cracker just released from prison, makes negotiations with crooks, Dan Curly (Bradley Page) and Frank "Red" Derring (Ralf Harolde) for their latest job. Because they're the ones responsible for sending him up, Flicker pulls a double-cross by notifying the chief of police (Willard Robertson) about the upcoming robbery that's to take place at the warehouse of the Empire Wholesale Drug Company. Caught in the act, Hayes makes his escape out the window as Curly is killed in a shoot-out with the law and Derring arrested for the killing of Patrolman Arthur Murphy. Because Derring was sentenced and executed for the crime, Curly hires fellow mobsters Ward (Harold Huber) and Monk (Russell Hopton) to get Flicker. In San Francisco, "Pop" Sims (Frank Craven), an informer for the mob, spots Flicker, now going under an assumed name of Jerry Allen, registered at the hotel, and notifies Curly of his whereabouts and instructions. Seeking refuge in Room 419, "Jerry" comes across a woman named Rose Lawrence (Joan Blondell) entering his room with the hotel key to retrieve a wedding dress she had hidden under the mattress before her eviction for lack of money to pay her bill. Because Rose is desperately broke and hungry, Jerry supplies her with food and assistance. Told of her upcoming wedding to Nick Gardella (Victor Jory), a man she met through a bellboy while boarding at the hotel, Jerry accompanies her by bus to an obscure fishing village in Santa Avila, unaware that he's being followed by Sims. Once there, Rose finds her love towards Jerry getting stronger and decides on going away with him after telling Nick that she can't go through with the wedding. Realizing both his gun and Pop, going under the assumed name of Jim Parker, have both disappeared, Jerry decides to leave town without telling Rose. He heads on over to the bus station the very same moment Ward and Monk arrive at Rose's bunk house asking about Jerry's whereabouts, with intentions on doing her harm if they don't get the information they want.Taken from a story by Robert Lord, HE WAS HER MAN lacks the general humor and excitement commonly found in many Cagney films thus far. No doubt this was an attempt in trying something more dramatic and entirely different for its leading stars, even to a point of lifting that memorable love theme from the 1932 success of ONE WAY PASSAGE (Warners) starring William Powell and Kay Francis. For being a Cagney film, Blondell is the one who gets full attention this time around. Although not clearly indicated, her character is that of a former prostitute who's fallen to hard times, using a kind-hearted fisherman for financial support. Her performance might have lead to stronger parts in latter films, but really didn't, for now anyway. She then returned to her usual sassy comedies the public loved so well. Co-star Victor Jory, best known for his villainous types, is unusually cast or miscast as an understanding Italian accented fisherman, a role that might have best suited that of a J. Carroll Naish whose Italian dialect would appear more natural than Jory's. Also in support are Sarah Padden as Jory's mother; George Chandler and James Eagles. John Qualen, who specializes in playing Swedish characters, is laughable here with buck teeth that appears to have been borrowed or stolen from a rabbit.Being the least known and overlooked of the Cagney and Blondell collaborations shouldn't be the reason to avoid viewing HE WAS HER MAN whenever it turns up on Turner Classic Movies. Often classified as one that was never be sold to commercial television might be true to some degree. Not counting other states that televised classic movies on the late show, HE WAS HER MAN did get a rare television broadcast in 1974 as part of the afternoon movie on Philadelphia's own WPHL, Channel 17, a home of obscure and famous Warner Brother films prior to 1975. Over a decade later, HE WAS HER MAN turned up on a public television's WNJM, Channel 50, in Montclair, New Jersey, around 1989-90, before becoming one of several Ted Turner cable channels in later years. Regardless of slow pacing and certain scenes to leave viewers wondering than satisfied, it's the agreeable combination of Cagney and Blondell that makes this 70 minute production worth while. (**1/2)

Although James Cagney once again appears as a disreputable underworld figure, there is in this portrayal no strutting, twitching, snapping, or pushing people around. As a double-crosser on the run from his former cohorts, he maintains an extremely low profile - yet the menace he represents surfaces in a smirk here, a sly smile there, a barely poised but ever watchful presence with the potential for violence - perhaps the quietest Cagney criminal you will ever see. Joan Blondell also plays a familiar type, the down-on-her-luck girl who will trade her charms for money, but here, too, the approach to the part is much more subdued than what we find in her wisecracking gold-digger roles. World-weary, somber, reflective, resigned: there is no contradiction in her projecting a streetwise yet vulnerable woman who, though still young, has seen too much of life. If the two stars don't exactly set off sparks (as each did playing opposite others), they give solid, honest performances - as does Victor Jory in a key supporting role. This film does not deserve to be forgotten.