James Cagney
Subtitle: Paperback Book (Applause Legends Series)
Publisher: Applause Books
Published: May 1, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 186
ISBN-13: 9781557833501
Subjects: Biography: film, television & music; Films, cinema; Film & Video - History & Criticism; Individual Movie Actors And Actresses; Biography & Autobiography; Biography / Autobiography; Biography/Autobiography; Composers & Musicians - General; Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses; Performing Arts / Theater / General; Entertainment & Performing Arts - General
Description: "Although James Cagney was branded 'tough guy' almost from the moment he asserted his claim to stardom over half a century ago in Public Enemy, Richard Schickel argues in this analysis of the actor's screen characters and career that this label could not be more misleading.".

"This book shows how he began his Hollywood career as the movies' first symbol of the aspirations of America's urban second generation. But after the apotheosis that was Yankee Doodle Dandy, both Cagney and the world began to age and change.".

"Richard Schickel's study of Cagney's screen personality is far more than a profile of a great and beloved star. It is a meditation on over a half century's social history, a reflection not merely on a screen character, but on the changing national character which Cagney refracted. This book is both for admirers of Cagney's artistry and for anyone seriously interested in the history of film."--BOOK JACKET.