I think it is great to have a Cagney web site. I live in Los Angeles
and have worked at Warner Bros. off and on for five years.

I associate Cagney much more than Bogart to the Warner image. And I
have worked in one of the bungalows featured in "Boy Meets Girl."

Personally, I am a bigger George Raft fan than Cagney but I think it
is mostly due to the fact that Raft is unjustly forgotten. Cagney is
truly great and deserves to remain at the top. But Raft has taken a
horrible beating by critics and historians who often write about his
films without actually seeing them.

In fact, it is hard to find George Raft films to view because he
jumped studios often. No one library or vault has a full Raft
collection to market and sell and poor George, to the best of my
knowledge, has no estate to look after his image.

From what I gather in my research, Raft and Cagney were pals, often
clubbing together. Of course, their backgrounds were similar. Both
were raised on the streets of Hell's Kitchen and the Broadway dance
circuit. It was a shame they never made more movies as a duo. They
were scheduled to make more after the success of "Each Dawn I Die"
but Cagney was too desperate to break away from Warner Bros.

It wouldn't be long before Raft, too, became desperate.

Still if you want to catch another glimpse of Raft and Cagney
together, find a copy of "Taxi." There is a dance contest that is so
similar in design to Saturday Night Fever's contest (where Travolta
loses to the Puerto Rican couple)that it is eerie and pretty funny.
Raft appears (uncredited) and his cameo was priceless.

RE: Bogart. I used to like him a lot more as a kid. But after
reading about him personally, I have lost a little respect. He
really screwed Raft over "High Sierra" by putting on the phony friend
routine and talking Raft out of accepting the part because he
secretly wanted it for himself.

Of course, Raft was a primadonna (and not too bright a primadonna).
It was probably easy for Bogart to manipulate his way to the top.

Cagney, Robinson and Bogart were better actors than George, but Raft
had moments when he was as good as Cagney and Robinson--and (my
opinion) better than Bogart, who was the weakest at playing villains.

What film historians won't tell you but the newspapers of the day
will--is that George Raft was the favorite tough guy of the
Underworld. Raft made the pearl white fedora and the white tie/black
shirt combination fashionable in the 1930's. He also had a slew of
real life gangsters practicing coin flips and trying to talk without
moving their lips.

What sums it up best, was when Cagney was asked who was the toughest
of all his peers--the one who really came closest to his onscreen
persona. Cagney, without batting an eye, replied, "Georgie. Without
a doubt, Georgie."

I miss all those guys. I wish I could write more about Robinson.
Maybe another post. But I still get choked up when I see Cagney
in "Ragtime."

For the record, my favorite Cagney movie is "Lady Killer."