Minor, but still valuable Howard Hawks, first of two with James Cagney (CEILING ZERO/’36 the other) had more than its share of late changes as a father/son race car story switched to dueling brothers (Cagney & a miscast Eric Linden) and leading gal pals Joan Blondell & Ann Dvorak (one sweet/one neurotic) swapped parts.* (This left top-billed Cagney & Blondell coupled with lower-billed Dvorak & Linden; Hollywood protocol be damned!) Cagney’s the cocky racing ace who takes kid brother Linden under his wing, making his taken-for-granted mistress (Dvorak) a jealous afterthought. She gets back by tossing Blondell at Linden to cause a wedge, but the new pair wind up a love match. Instead, it’s Cagney’s engineer, Frank McHugh, who lands in the middle, dying in a fiery crash that sends Cagney into a downward spiral. The script feels cut to the bone, missing pieces here & there. And while there’s some great (and terrifying) racing footage, the process work used to get our stars into the action is inconsistent at best, even for the period. Cagney pulls it all together anyway, his breakdown after returning to Dvorak a great moment. Plus, a great tag end as a pair of ambulances start an impromptu race to the hospital. It’s just that you want the film to be great . . . and it ain’t.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Hawks based this on THE BARKER, a father/son story with many similarities in a carny setting. Filmed very effectively by George Fitzmaurice in 1928 as a part-Talkie, with the Cagney/Linden/Dvorak/Blondell roles superbly handled by Milton Sills/Douglas Fairbanks Jr./Dorothy Mackaill/Betty Compson. Beautifully restored by UCLA, but good luck finding it!
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