Customer Reviews

Strawberry Blonde [VHS]

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4 star:		(3)
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James Cagney is often overlooked as an action star who played gangsters. True enough.

But if you are looking for a Cagney flick that shows him in great breadth and depth in comedy and romance -- you must see The Strawberry Blonde.

I adore Cagney -- and will even watch a bad Cag flick because he is just so awesome. In the gangster flicks he is imcomparable. But catch me in the right mood, and I'll say that The Strawberry Blonde is just about the best film he ever made.

First of all, you have a great cast -- Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, Jack Carson, Alan Hale Sr., George Tobias -- who all play wonderful characters, flirts and scoundrels.

Then you have a fantastic, engaging screenplay by the famous Epstein brothers (who wrote clever dialogue for such classics as Casablanca) about turn-of-the-century life in New York.

Then, there is Cagney who will make you laugh, fall in love, and cry. The scenario is perhaps overused -- a man falls in love with a society girl (Hayworth) whom he can never have, and rebounds in a marriage with a "plain" girl, played by de Havilland (who is anything but plain). Only after many trials and tribulations does he truly see the love and goodness in his marriage.

Sounds pretty serious, but it's a hilarious piece, with Cagney as the would-be suitor. A scene in a park where he is stuck with de Havilland when he would rather be with Hayworth, shows him at his best comedic flair, as a rude, pouting heartsick fellow. While Hayworth is giggling and flirting with another fellow behind some rocks in a silly, shallow exchange, de Havilland (with more substance than Cagney sees at the time) tries to engage him in conversations he will have no part of, then baits him with "advanced ideas" about women's rights. Needless to say, he is unimpressed, and the reactions are side splitting.

This film also is interesting because it shows the romance of which he was capable but rarely showed in his films. Cagney rarely kissed onscreen for more than a peck, finding mush embarrassing and counter to his screen image.

Here, he doesn't go much further, but finds other ways to express the romance and love in his heart to de Havilland. After a melodramatic turn, where he winds up in prison, he meets de Havilland in the park after his stint is up, and clutches her to him with a hug full of passion, desperation, love and sadness. It's the kind of embrace that happens between people in real life, and not often shown on film.

Finally, the music is wonderful, with songs like "Bill Bailey," "Let the Rest of the World Go By", "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louie," and "And the Band Played On." In fact, you get a few seconds of Cagney waltzing with Hayworth to "And the Band Played On." Not enough of Cagney's footwork is shown, but Lordy, could he dance!

Well, needless to say, you should see this The Strawberry Blonde.

THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE is a forgotten masterpiece of the Hollywood of yesteryear. Through subtle,dreamy narrative and photography that reminds one of a long gone summer afternoon turning to autumn, Walsh follows Biff Grimes(Cagney in a nicely nuanced performance) and his journey from the spitoon to the clink to the altar. Haunting and unforgettable, a gentle,broadminded stunner about the games called society and marriage, and it's effects on the players who are fated to follow the rules of the game.

I have heard nothing but positive comments about this movie. I loved it!! Bought it on VHS, sight unseen about 15 years ago, and I have watched a million times since then. Rita Hayworth is superb, James Cagney gives his best performance ever, Olivia DeHaviland shows us what every woman should be like, Alan Hale shows us his comical genius(far better than The Skipper) and even Jack Carson delivers his lines like no other. This movie is classic, beautiful, thought provoking and a great time. Ending it by signing the the title song makes it so whimsical. Please Warner Bros, please release this on DVD, my tape is wearing thin.

Set around 1910 in New York, James Cagney as dentist Biff Grimes comes to the conclusion that he's better off married to Olivia de Havilland (playing Amy) than he would have been if married to Rita Hayworth (as Virginia). Sweet on Hayworth from the start, he loses her to big shot contractor Jack Carson and marries de Havilland on the rebound. Before finding the straight and narrow, Cagney gets involved with one of Carson's schemes and takes the fall for him, going to prison for five years. When he gets out he sets up his dentistry practice with de Havilland right by his side. An emergency brings Carson to Cagney's office one day needing an extraction, and Cagney thinks first of giving him too much gas and doing away with him. But he then wakes up to the realization that de Havilland is best for him and merely yanks Carson's tooth with no gas at all.

The movie is amusing and tender, and the two female principals seem to steal the picture from the ever-present Cagney. Both are excellent and Cagney is at his clowinish best as well. Raoul Walsh directed to perfection, and the script is much better than average. Hugely entertaining and delightful to watch.

This is one of my all time favorite movies! Although the main character, Biff Grimes, is played by the wonderful James Cagney, I watch this movie just to see Olivia de Havilland. If Amy Lind was played by any other actress, her character would would probably seem one-demensional. The character of Amy has to be played by an actress who is able to be hilariously funny at one moment and hopelessly romantic at another. That's why I love watching Olivia de Havilland in this movie. de Havilland didn't always play roles quite like this. Yes, she was in light-hearted comedies, and Yes, she was in dramatic tear-jerkers. But this is one of the few movies where she had to do both at the same time (she's just soooo awesome)! She pulls this role off so well - not to metion I think she looks the prettiest in this movie out of all of her films.

The story of "The Strawberry Blonde" is about Biff Grimes (Cagney) who strives to be a dentist. He falls in love with Virginia Brush, the strawberry blonde (played by Rita Hayworth). The problem arises when Biff's buiness partner, Hugo (played by Jack Carson) also falls for Virginia. Biff doesn't see that Virginia only has eyes for... Hugo's money. He agrees to go on a double date, and there he meets Amy Lind, the beautiful red-head's girlfriend (played by the AMAZING Olivia de Havilland). So, without spoiling the movie for you, I'll say this: Biff marries Amy and they live happily ever after...or do they? To find out for yourself, see the movie!!

Besides the wonderfully talented cast I mentioned up about, the rest of the cast includes George Tobias as Biff's best friend, Alan Hale, Sr. as Biff's flirtin' Irish father, and Una O'Connor (with whom he flirts!)

I know you will enjoy this movie because of it's classic story, talented cast, and because it's so incredibly funny (but I still cry every time)!!!!!

The story has been done before, but rarely so well: Boy (James Cagney) meets glamorous girl (Rita Hayworth), but loses her to his buddy (Jack Carson) .Boy marries glamour girl's Plain Jane best friend (Olivia De Havilland)- on the rebound- but pines for RH. Carson and RH become rich and famous while Cagney and De H struggle along. And then? And then Cagney realizes that $$ doesn't buy happiness and that he married the right girl all along!! Sure, it's all pure Hollywood hokum in that pre-WW2 style that is gone forever. It works! The girls carry SB; the male leads are along for the very pleasant ride. The brassy RH dominates her camera time, though the demure De H impresses more in the long run. Together, they are the perfect leads. The supporting cast features George Tobias as a friendly neighborhood barber and Cagney's buddy. Somewhere, the future TV Superman, George Reeves, has a supporting role but this reviewer missed him. After the happy fadeout, there is a wonderful (!) trailer, which is not described here but be ready to sing along. Watch the movie! This reviewer used to believe that "Random Harvest", with Ronald Colman and Greer Garson is the ultimate feel good movie, but no longer. If one is depressed and SB fails to cheer him/her up then that person must have one foot in the grave. Watch "Strawberry Blonde" and smile!

In a nut shell, this is a fantastic Jame Cagney movie. I would have to say that this ranks right up there alongside Yankee Doodle Dandy. The acting is first rate, the music is fantastic, especially the haunting background music (WHEN YOU WERE SWEET SIXTEEN)that is played when James and Olivia meet in the park. I also love the follow along singing of "And the Band Played On" at the end of the movie. My only negative is that this movie has not been released to dvd as of yet. I also wish there was a soundtrack on cd as well. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves the simplier life and the turn of the century society.

Set in turn of the century NYC, "The Strawberry Blonde" has Jimmy Cagney playing "Biff Grimes," a tough, street-bred young man who is studying to be dentist. Biff, however, for all his outer toughness is constantly being suckered by his best "friend," "Hugo Barnstead" (Jack Carson.) Hugo is always thinking of schemes to advance himself and Biff, but time after time Hugo gets the benefit of the scheme and Biff gets stuck holding the bag for all the bad things. Yet Biff remains friends with Hugo because Hugo keeps promising him that "he'll take care of him."

Then along comes the "strawberry blonde"- a gorgeous, society girl called "Virginia" (Rita Hayworth.) Biff is instantly smitten and proclaims Virginia to be his "ideal." He and Hugo go out on double date with Virginia and her friend- an ordinary, working girl named "Amy" (Olivia De Haviland.) Yet once again Hugo gets a jump on Biff by walking off alone with Virginia and leaving a very disappointed Biff with Amy. Amy, of course, is very sweet and charming, but Biff is blinded to this by his infatuation with Virginia. Biff will eventually learn the hard way about what kind of a "friend" Hugo truly is and what kind of an "ideal" Virginia is.

"The Strawberry Blonde" is about happiness and we all know darn well who is going to be happily married and content at movie's end, but getting there is the fun part. This is just a really nicely made and entertaining movie. Cagney is very believable as a sweet, gullible guy, who is constantly being burned by his loyalties. However, fans of Cagney's trademark tough guy persona won't be completly disappointed because Biff is also a scrapper, who doesn't turn his cheek to insults. Rita Hayworth is very captivating as the object of desire, but is Olivia De Haviland really such a step down as a consolation prize? De Haviland is supposed to be playing the "plain," ordinary girl-next-door type. But as another reviewer has stated Ms. De Haviland is anything but plain. (In fact, if I had a choice between the two I would take Olivia anyday over Rita. I guess I'm just a sucker for the girl-next-door type, who also happens to be Hollywood actress gorgeous.)

This movie is not perfect. Alan Hale Sr. (the skipper's dad) playing Biff's Irish father just seems superfluous to the movie. The weakest point, though, is Jack Carson as Hugo. Jack Carson was a terrific supporting actor who made a career out of playing affable best friends in numerous Warner Bros. movies. Here Carson is playing a best friend, but he really can't pull off the conniving, selfish elements of this character because Carson plays him just too affably. Even when you're supposed to hate Hugo, Carson makes him likeable.

Here's another film in which James Cagney carries it. Even here, with other "stars" like Olivia de Havvilland, Rita Hayworth, Alan Hale, George Tobias and Jack Carson, it's Cagney who is the heart-and-soul of the picture, and the actor that makes this film click. Few other actors could have made this film as interesting.

Hayworth, of course, is easy on the eyes and Tobias was fun as Cagney's Greek friend. Hale was a little annoying as Cagney's father and I don't think that a man who does nothing but chase married women should have been treated so kindly as he was by the filmmakers in this movie.

That was the only bad message of the film. A good message was that marrying someone just for their looks can quickly lead to disaster. That was what was pictured here as "Hugo Barstead" (Carson) got the "prize" girl in "Virginia Brush" (Hayworth), and suffered for it while Cagney - unhappy at first - was happy in the end for getting the less pretty but much nicer woman "Amy Lind" (de Havilland).

Of course, for most of us, settling for Olivia de Havilland would NOT be exactly a losing proposition to begin with!

Almost all of Cagney's early roles were that of a gangster or a fast-talking con-man. Starting in the 40's as the major studios ramped up their production of patriotic films in anticipation of war, Cagney starred in some military roles such as "The Fighting 69th" and "Captains of the Clouds". However, it was still the same old wise-cracking gangster or con-man - he was just in uniform. Don't get me wrong, I never get tired watching Cagney play these kinds of parts, but I've read that the typecasting was a source of friction between himself and Warner Brothers.

This film is a real departure from the kind of role that Cagney had grown tired of by 1934. In it he plays Biff Grimes, a dentist at the beginning of the 20th century. Biff has had a series of misfortunes heaped upon him throughout his life. To begin with his Dad (Alan Hale) is a ne'er-do-well, and he has a "friend" Hugo F. Barnstead (Jack Carson) who is always managing to get the best of him and then some. Hugo works up from small slights such as not paying back money or leaving Biff with the tab to stealing and marrying Biff's ideal girl and finally setting Biff up to take the fall in some substandard work Hugo's company has done for the city. After Biff gets out of prison after serving time for a crime he didn't commit, he has a chance to get even with Hugo -as in killing him - and make it look like an accident. Since most of the movie is told in flashback, and Cagney is playing a likeable if somewhat gullible fellow who has been deeply wronged, you don't know how it will end or what he will do. The supporting cast is great in this one. Jack Carson was always playing the slippery type in Warner films around this time, and he does the job of playing Hugo with believable gusto, always making excuses for his part in Biff's predicaments. Rita Hayworth is cast as "the strawberry blonde" that Biff loses to Hugo, and Olivia De Havilland plays the girl Biff ultimately marries. She turns out to the one piece of good luck that Biff has as she is tough and loyal in a crisis.

A bittersweet romantic comedy, this is one of my favorite post-code Cagney films. I was surprised it wasn't in last year's Cagney Signature Collection, and I hope that if there is a Volume 2 that omission is rectified.