TAXI!

[Forgotten Man]

So, who here have seen the 1932 Vitaphone picture "TAXI" starring James Cagney?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYgijtnC78c

Check out that clip, it has some good parts from the film.

So, who's seen it?

 

[mike]

Sure! This is my favorite era! The aesthetics of the early 30's era of filmmaking has never been able to be touched. I'm not sure why. It's so simple and timeless and yet brimming with style, figure that out :eusa_doh: lol

Loretta Young in the period is gagagorgeous!

I really like Cagney in this film too because he's not really typecast in anyway as the studio system later tries to push on him. Same golden era but barely mentioned films Blonde Crazy and the Crowd Roars.

Some of my other favorites from this time are William Wellman's Heroes for Sale, Other Men's Women, Wild Boys of the Road and Star Witness!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Excellent example of a fast-moving Depression-era Warners "social conscience" film, and Cagney is perfectly cast.

 

[The Wolf]

Reverend Jim sure looks...I can't make that joke.
The movie looks good but I doubt I've seen it.
Great!:eusa_doh: Another classic movie I have to search for.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Forgotten Man]

Sure! This is my favorite era! The aesthetics of the early 30's era of filmmaking has never been able to be touched. I'm not sure why. It's so simple and timeless and yet brimming with style, figure that out :eusa_doh: lol

Loretta Young in the period is gagagorgeous!

I really like Cagney in this film too because he's not really typecast in anyway as the studio system later tries to push on him. Same golden era but barely mentioned films Blonde Crazy and the Crowd Roars.

Some of my other favorites from this time are William Wellman's Heroes for Sale, Other Men's Women, Wild Boys of the Road and Star Witness!

Blond Crazy is a great one! I love that movie and also, the lesser known Wild Boys of the Road! That is a powerful movie and what I'd say is an accurate depiction of what real Depression era life was like for the 25% of the unemployed.

Some of the lines Cagney delivers in Taxi are priceless! Gotta love Cagney!

 

[mike]

I think you could make comparisons between Taxi!, Heroes for Sale and the films of King Vidor. Together they can be seen as a way of beginning public discourse for a possible call for the creation or use of unions, communism and/or worker's rights.

These films, created between '30-'34 might have been a litmus test for the nation's opinions who were living through the worst years of the depression. This was the time the National Recovery Act was put into place. You could see the country's interest in addressing wide spread issues and leaving all options on the table to get out of the depression. The NRA was shortly ruled as being too close to communism and not the path our country would continue down. But in the early 30's we have an interesting view of people in tough times thinking creatively to improve their lives.

Reality inspiring art or the other way around...?

 

[mike]

Rob,

Wild Boys of the Road is hands down one of my favorite films! What a raw brutal film! Anyone that comes over my house I make them sit down and watch this!