{"id":3910,"date":"2005-11-18T17:09:12","date_gmt":"2005-11-18T22:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3910"},"modified":"2022-10-09T20:52:27","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T00:52:27","slug":"james-cagney-appreciation-day-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3910","title":{"rendered":"James Cagney Appreciation Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

That picture, by the way, is from the unbelievable last scene of Roaring Twenties<\/i> – the “big shot” moment.<\/p>\n

I thought it would be appropriate to post the excerpt that mentions how beautifully Cagney always did death scenes. Bogdonavich – who had a chance to hang out with Cagney – relates a story about this:<\/p>\n

From Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors<\/a>\"\"<\/i>:<\/p>\n

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<\/i>, 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<\/i> way,” Cagney said, which gave him the inspiration, and which heplayed out for us in a few riveting moments of mime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think it’s definitely in the top 5 death scenes ever filmed. His physical acting is truly amazing. I’m sure it has something to do with his training as a dancer, and how comfortable he is in his own skin … but I LOVED to learn that he used the inspiration of a gorilla, dying in a slow “amazed” way … for the death scenes he did.<\/p>\n

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