Doris Day did not have to convince me she could act. She could do both drama and comedy. She could do a sophisticated New York career girl, a western gunslinger and everything in between like no other Hollywood leading lady. Not to mention, she was THE topnotch female recording artist for many decades. So, I was determined to like this movie, especially since she's paired off with the awesome James Cagney in a tragic story. And I do like tragic stories.
But the overblown Cagney hysterics bring the movie crashing down. He just does not let up, not even for a moment. This one-note abrasive beast goes on and on and on, that no humanity, not even a pinch of pathos can touch him. Cagney gets pretty tiresome till the end, and yes, borrrrring!
Neither character is sympathetic in this curious romance between Ruth Etting (Doris Day) and Marty Snyder (James Cagney.) A woman who gives up her principles for the sake of her career finds herself a prisoner of that decision. A man who never lets her forget he made her a star, actually owns and tortures her.
Both Ruth Etting and Marty Snyder were still living when the movie about their relationship was made. Neither liked it. Etting was upset about the segment showing her drinking - she claimed she never drank. Snyder was very dissatisfied with the way Cagney portrayed him. And I can see why. Looking at his picture in Wikipedia, Snyder appears to be handsome and much younger than Cagney in the timeframe the movie portrays. With his numerous connections in the entertainment industry, he might have had at least a bit of suaveness that Etting must have found attractive at first, which Cagney absolutely dashed in the film.
Okay, so it is a fictionalized story, and maybe that was what's wrong with the film. The movie shows Etting with no affection whatsoever for Snyder. With her talent as a singer, she could have made it to the top on her own, without him as her brutish manager-promoter. Day portrays her as a strong woman, yet the story does not show why she sticks with the cruel and abusive gangster and even marries him after he rapes her.
A much more interesting story would have been the couple's divorce in real life. According to Wikipedia, Snyder kidnapped Etting's pianist-accompanist, Myrl Alderman (her second husband) at gunpoint and brought him to her house, where Snyder's daughter from his first marriage (Edith Snyder) also lived.
Snyder threatened to kill all three of them but shot only Alderman. Edith took Etting's gun and shot her father but missed. Edith said she tried to save her stepmother from being killed by her father. At a police reenactment of the scene, Edith Snyder wept as she said, "I don't yet know whether I am sorry I missed my dad or whether I am glad."
Now, THAT would have been the story. That would have been a more satisfying ending than Etting bailing out ex-husband, the monster Snyder from prison.
But that would probably cut out quite a few of the many, many (many!) Doris Day songs from the movie. I like Doris Day's songs, but too many of a good thing is bad in this insufferably long and repetitive film.
Two stars, for Cameron Mitchell who plays Alderman with depth and sensitivity and would have stood up more against the Cagney character had not the confused Doris Day character always prevented him.
But the overblown Cagney hysterics bring the movie crashing down. He just does not let up, not even for a moment. This one-note abrasive beast goes on and on and on, that no humanity, not even a pinch of pathos can touch him. Cagney gets pretty tiresome till the end, and yes, borrrrring!
Neither character is sympathetic in this curious romance between Ruth Etting (Doris Day) and Marty Snyder (James Cagney.) A woman who gives up her principles for the sake of her career finds herself a prisoner of that decision. A man who never lets her forget he made her a star, actually owns and tortures her.
Both Ruth Etting and Marty Snyder were still living when the movie about their relationship was made. Neither liked it. Etting was upset about the segment showing her drinking - she claimed she never drank. Snyder was very dissatisfied with the way Cagney portrayed him. And I can see why. Looking at his picture in Wikipedia, Snyder appears to be handsome and much younger than Cagney in the timeframe the movie portrays. With his numerous connections in the entertainment industry, he might have had at least a bit of suaveness that Etting must have found attractive at first, which Cagney absolutely dashed in the film.
Okay, so it is a fictionalized story, and maybe that was what's wrong with the film. The movie shows Etting with no affection whatsoever for Snyder. With her talent as a singer, she could have made it to the top on her own, without him as her brutish manager-promoter. Day portrays her as a strong woman, yet the story does not show why she sticks with the cruel and abusive gangster and even marries him after he rapes her.
A much more interesting story would have been the couple's divorce in real life. According to Wikipedia, Snyder kidnapped Etting's pianist-accompanist, Myrl Alderman (her second husband) at gunpoint and brought him to her house, where Snyder's daughter from his first marriage (Edith Snyder) also lived.
Snyder threatened to kill all three of them but shot only Alderman. Edith took Etting's gun and shot her father but missed. Edith said she tried to save her stepmother from being killed by her father. At a police reenactment of the scene, Edith Snyder wept as she said, "I don't yet know whether I am sorry I missed my dad or whether I am glad."
Now, THAT would have been the story. That would have been a more satisfying ending than Etting bailing out ex-husband, the monster Snyder from prison.
But that would probably cut out quite a few of the many, many (many!) Doris Day songs from the movie. I like Doris Day's songs, but too many of a good thing is bad in this insufferably long and repetitive film.
Two stars, for Cameron Mitchell who plays Alderman with depth and sensitivity and would have stood up more against the Cagney character had not the confused Doris Day character always prevented him.