Great still from a great scene.
I think it’s one of the best death scenes ever filmed, at least in the top 5. It’s a long drawn-out run, all one take, almost balletic, Cagney running and tripping and swooning up and down the steps. The shot itself is incredible, but so, too, is his athleticism, his control of how his body moves, his ability to fling himself into the reality of the moment.
Peter Bogdonavich interviewed James Cagney, hung out with him a couple of times and had this to say about Cagney and death scenes:
One of the guests asked how he had developed his habit of physically drawn-out death scenes, probably the best coming at the conclusion of The Roaring Twenties, where he runs (in one long continuous shot) along an entire city block, and halfway up, then halfway down, the stairs in front of a church before finally sprawling dead onto them. In answer, Cagney described a Frank Buck documentary he’d once seen, in which the hunter was forced to kill a giant gorilla. The animal died in a slow, “amazed way,” Cagney said, which gave him the inspiration, and which he played out for us in a few riveting moments of mime.
The animal died in a slow amazed way.
Wow.
I remember that scene – I can play it in my head while I type this… Thank you for that background on how he played it. “…a slow and amazed way…” – perfect. Perfect. I love James Cagney.
God – yes – a slow and amazed way – disbelief – how can this be happening? – denial – all of that.
So very good.
(and how inarticulate am I today? hahaha)
Me articulate too.
Cagney, my all time favorite actor.
I was recently reading “Cagney by Cagney”
and he mentioned that he actually replaced
a gentleman named Archibald Leach in a dance team.
Leach wanted out, Cagney replaced him.
They had been known as Parker, Rand and Leach
and turned into Parker, Rand and Cagney.
Archibald leach was the name of cary grant
I always thought that shot of Cagney running down the street after being shot and then finally dying on the steps to the church was one of of the most affecting shots on film. Cagney was my favorite actor as well. An amazing talent. That death scene was terrific. I grew up watching his movies in the sixties. There was nobody else like him. He had a certain charisma that was memorizing. The Roaring Twenties was one of my favorite films of his and I always thought it was underated.
Yes, Roaring Twenties is just fantastic!
He’s one of my favorite actors too.
Didn’t Archibald Leach become Cary Grant?
Yup!
And how about in The Public enemy where he is shot and does a slow fall followed by the perfect line, “I ain’t so tough…” So honest. Not one bit of insincerity. Then the final scene delivered without a sole line. His toughness showed a resiliency that seem uniquely American.
and who can forget “Angels with Dirty Faces” …”I don’t want die….”
or White Heat, “Look ma, I’m on the Top of the World…”
He must have died a good death half a dozen times…