A Mythical Monkey writes about the movies: Stars Of The Early Sound Era, No. 2: James Cagney

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

... with Mae Clarke and the most famous grapefruit of all time from the 1931 classic gangster pic, The Public Enemy.

Uncle Tom said...: TCM showed this movie recently and among the fun facts Robert Osborne shared was that Mae Clarke said she could always get work because of that scene - she'd tell the casting agents, directors, etc she was the girl that Cagney smashed with a grapefruit and she was hired.

You wants that I should smash your face with a grapefruit?; July 15, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Mythical Monkey said...: I am always open to a bit of grapefruit in the face.

That's interesting that Mae Clarke came to recognize the value of that grapefruit because at the time she really had to be talked into it (it was Cagney's idea after the first take of the scene had been flat and uninteresting). Apparently when she cries after getting hit with it, the tears were genuine.

She worked for another thirty-five years though so I guess she got over it.

Her best film, by the way, in my opinion, was the original Frankenstein. She's the one without bolts in her neck ...; July 15, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Uncle Tom said...: I never understood why the Bride rejected the monster in the "Bride of Frankenstein" - after all they were made for each other...

thank you - remember to try the veal; July 15, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Douglas Fairbanks said...: don't forget to tip your waitress.

I tipped her twice in the vestibule; the second time she actually meowed . . . .; July 15, 2009 at 3:34 PM