James Cagney

About this book

The study of James Cagneys screen persona is far more than a profile of a great beloved star. It is a meditation on over a half-century of social history. From Cagneys early days to such successes as Yankee Doodle Dandy Schickel follows the stars spectacular career. A great dancer who became a great actor James Cagney could play George M. Cohan or Public Enemy No. 1 with equal ease and conviction. This book explains how. (Richard Schickel is chief cinema critic of Time Magazine.)