When exactly did James Cagney first appear on screen? According to IMDB, he plays the ‘handsy patron at Blackie Joe’s’ in the Al Jolson vehicle ‘The Singing Fool’, made in 1928 as the follow-up to the enormously successful ‘The Jazz Singer’ (1927) and shot at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California. After that there’s a two year break before he reappears in his second film ‘Sinners Holiday‘ (1930). (The Wikipedia link I’ve provided incorrectly refers to that film as his ‘debut’). During that time Cagney was back in New York and appeared in four shows on Broadway, two of which he’s listed only as ‘performer’–in other words a dancer with no lines. But there were several large gaps in time between the shows during which it’s quite possible that Cagney, having been employed in one movie, might have traveled back to California in search of more work. Thus my theory that there is a missing–and very valuable–Cagney appearance from his official filmography. I’m convinced (though other geeks aren’t) that I’ve found a dancing/acrobat Cagney in the legendary, largely ‘lost’ film ‘Golddiggers of Broadway’ (1929). Those that don’t believe it’s him in the film often point to the fact that the film was shot in California while Cagney was employed on Broadway. But I beg to differ. Let me explain:

During 1928, Cagney appeared on Broadway in an edition of ‘Grand Street Follies’ which ran from May through October. Since his previous Broadway appearence (once again as ‘performer’) was in a show called (get this) ‘Women Go On Forever’ which ran from September through December of 1927, we can safely assume that Cagney boarded a Hollywood bound train in early 1928 and stayed on the west coast for a few months during which he found work in ‘The Singing Fool’. (It feels right to me that the film would have shot in the early-mid Spring in time for a September release, partially because the film is an early talkie and more and more theaters were converting to sound, a process that took awhile to accomplish). He’s back in New York in May of ’28 where he finds work once again in the ensemble of a musical revue called ‘Grand Street Follies’, which runs from May through October of that year. He doesn’t appear on Broadway again until May, 1929 when he gets a gig in the second edition of ‘Grand Street Follies’. So once again there is a winter/spring gap with no Broadway work during which we could safely assume he made another trip back to the sunny and warm west coast to look for more moving picture work. Since ‘The Singing Fool’ was made for Warner Brothers it makes sense that Cagney would return to the same studio he worked at previously to pitch himself for whatever gig they might have for him. ‘Golddigers Of Broadway’ was released in August of 1929, thus making it more than likely that the film would have been shot in the early part of the year, allowing Cagney to travel back to New York for his Broadway review gig that spring.

Above I’ve posted two clips: the first is of the final two reels of ‘Gold Diggers Of Broadway’. It’s a lavish, technicolor finale and well worth watching the whole thing if you have the time. But if not, simply go to 10:05 and you’ll see a duo dance act appear on stage. Cagney is the guy on the right. We know from our weeks worth of posts about Cagney’s dancing that he was remarkably athletic and it shows in this clip, which features some astounding handstand/somersault action. His face is clearly visible and, to my eyes, unmistakable. But the real giveaway is his trademark ‘ass-in-the-air’ dancing stance, which comes at 10:17. The second clip is his official debut role as the Handsy Guy in ‘The Singing Fool’. Go to 15:40 and watch the little scene where a drunken patron (Cagney) pats the ass of a cigarette girl, only to be scolded by Jolson, a lowly waiter. The part is very un-Cagney–a drunken goofball with no self control is not a character we associate with the actor. (By the way, is it odd that both clips feature important moments having to do with asses?) While you’re at it, watch the opening party scene of ‘The Singing Fool’ which proceeds Cagney’s appearence. It’s a unique and wonderfully shot tour of a mad 1920s New Years Eve party, with much inventive camera movement and it gives us an unusually authentic feel for the time it was shot in. And that, as they say, is that!