TopTenREVIEWS presents the film career and movie reviews of James Cagney.
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Birthdate: July 17, 1899
Death date: March 30, 1986
James Cagney
ACTOR RANKINGS:
CAREER SPAN
Decade
Movie Score
# Movies
1930s
4.0000
32
1940s
2.9217
12
1950s
2.7289
15
1960s
1.4014
2
1970s
No Reviews
0
1980s
1.7210
1
Ratings and rankings are based on all available critic reviews & awards.
Overall Actor Score: 
3.0977
3.0977
James Cagney Movie Rankings
1
3.1551Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly were tough kids who grew up together in the toughest part of New York --- Hell's Kitchen. Early on, Rocky gets sent to reform school, where he learns how to be a first class criminal. ...more about Angels with Dirty Faces
Actor Awards
- Academy Awards, USA - Best Actor in a Leading Role
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Actor
DVD from $6.25
(10 sellers)
2
3.1438Cody Jarrett is the sadistic leader of a ruthless gang of thieves. Afflicted by terrible headaches and fiercely devoted to his 'Ma,' Cody is a volatile, violent, and eccentric leader. ...more about White Heat
DVD from $5.91
(12 sellers)
3
3.0706Tom's bad way of life is constantly set up against his brother Mike's, who has a job during the day and goes to night school. Mike will enroll in the Marines to fight in WWI. He will come back and will constantly try to put Tom back on the right path. ...more about Public Enemy
DVD from $6.16
(13 sellers)
4
3.0086
Chester Kent produces Musical Comedies on the stage. With the beginning of the talkies aera he changes to producing short musical proluges for movies. But this is stressing him, because he always needs new units and his rival is always stealing his ideas. ...more about Footlight Parade
DVD from $41.37
(9 sellers)
5
3.0031
A musical portrait of composer/singer/dancer George M. Cohan. ...more about Yankee Doodle Dandy
Actor Awards
- Academy Awards, USA - Best Actor in a Leading Role
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Actor
DVD from $15.52
(14 sellers)
6
2.9938
Mister Roberts is aboard a US cargo ship, working in the Pacific during the Second World War. He'd do anything to leave the quiet of the ship to join in the "action". ...more about Mister Roberts
DVD from $10.89
(13 sellers)
7
2.9922
Story of torch singer Ruth Etting's rise from 1920s taxi dancer to movie star, simultaneously aided and frustrated by Chicago mobster Marty Sydney's headstrong ways and pressure tactics. ...more about Love Me or Leave Me
Actor Awards
- Academy Awards, USA - Best Actor in a Leading Role
DVD from $8.68
(14 sellers)
8
2.7944
Cagney is Danny Kenny, a truck driver who enters "the fight game" and Sheridan his former girlfriend, Peggy. While Danny is realizing success in the ring, he is blinded by acid on the boxing gloves of his opponent during a fight. ...more about City for Conquest
DVD from $11.75
(13 sellers)
9
2.7802
Although innocent, reporter Frank Ross is found guilty of murder and is sent to jail. While his friends at the newspaper try to find out who framed him, Frank gets hardened by prison life and his optimism turns into bitterness. ...more about Each Dawn I Die
DVD from $9.99
(13 sellers)
10
2.7688
At a midwestern hotel, conniving bellhop Bert Harris has a finger in every pie. He promotes a job for glamorous Ann Roberts, but she does not immediately succumb to his charms. However, Bert soon enlists Ann as partner in his new profession of con man. ...more about Blonde Crazy
- Not Available on DVD
11
2.7411
Two lazy screenwriters need a story for the studio's cowboy star. A studio waitress turns out to be pregnant. This gives them the idea for a movie about a cowboy and a baby. The waitress's baby becomes the star. ...more about Boy Meets Girl
- Not Available on DVD
13
2.6848
King Theseus is going to marry Hyppolyta, his officer Demetrius is engaged with Hermia, but Hermina loves Lysander. Helena loves Demetrius. ...more about Midsummer Night's Dream
DVD from $12.71
(10 sellers)
14
2.6757
The family consists of Pat, the cop, Mike the fireman, Danny the boxing promoter and Ma. Pat wants Danny to get a real job, because most of his fighters end up in Polookaville and Pat wants to marry Lucille. ...more about Irish in Us
- Not Available on DVD
15
2.6499
Loose biography of actor Lon Chaney. Growing up with deaf parents, he learns what it is like to be different. ...more about Man of a Thousand Faces
- Not Available on DVD
16
2.6483
Ex-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. ...more about Picture Snatcher
- Not Available on DVD
17
2.6464
The story runs in the 1910's New York. Coalhouse Walker Jr. is a black man piano player. He has won fame and fortune playing with a jazz band. Some white men do not like this situation, and one day they assault him and spoil his brand new car. ...more about Ragtime
DVD from $3.90
(11 sellers)
18
2.6026
Tommy O'Toole, a self-absorbed pilot, aspires to join the Marines. He is lucky enough to train with his idol, Lieutenant Bill Brannigan, but soon discovers that luck is not all it takes. ...more about Devil Dogs of the Air
- Not Available on DVD
19
2.5904
Biff Grimes is crazy about Virginia Brush, but his "pal" Hugo Barnstead marries her himself and makes Biff the fall guy for his shady dealings. ...more about Strawberry Blonde
- Not Available on DVD
20
2.5844
Nick Condon is a newspaper reporter working in Tokyo who refuses to toe the Japanese line on the expansionist policies of the anti-democratic Imperialist government. ...more about Blood on the Sun
DVD from $5.84
(9 sellers)
21
2.5661
Automaker James Alden is told to retire by his doctors and does so in deference to his wife Laura and daughter 'Babs.' He is not only bored after six months, but is told by a life insurance salesman that retired men are bad risks. ...more about Millionaire
- Not Available on DVD
22
2.5346
Documentary-style prologue follows training of O.S.S. agents for WWII work behind enemy lines. ...more about 13 Rue Madeleine
DVD from $4.91
(11 sellers)
23
2.4565
Famous motor-racing champion Joe Greer returns to his hometown to compete in a local race. ...more about Crowd Roars
- Not Available on DVD
24
2.4200
After the WWI Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. ...more about Roaring Twenties
DVD from $12.71
(10 sellers)
25
2.4200
Trucker Eddie Kennedy gets involved with the law when he has an car accident with Ann Reid and knocks the owner of a dairy out. He evades a penalty when he claims, that he had done it as an act of solidarism with the farmers. ...more about St. Louis Kid
- Not Available on DVD
26
2.3743
Joe spends a lot of his time at Nick's Pacific Street Saloon. Tom, who credits Joe with once saving his life, stops by regularly to run errands for Joe. ...more about Time of Your Life
DVD from $5.84
(5 sellers)
27
2.3652
Brian McLean is a ruthless bush-pilot in Canada. He offers some other pilots an opportunity of earning a lot of money, but he marries the girl-friend of one of them. ...more about Captains of the Clouds
DVD from $8.68
(11 sellers)
28
2.3558
Berlin, after the Second World War: C.R. MacNamara presides over the Coca-Cola branch of Germany. ...more about One
DVD from $4.32
(15 sellers)
29
2.3116
In 1921 Dublin, the IRA battles the "Black & Tans," special British forces given to harsh measures. ...more about Shake Hands with the Devil
- Not Available on DVD
30
2.3081
It's the early days of the F.B.I. - federal agents working for the Department of Justice. ...more about 'G' Men
DVD from $12.71
(11 sellers)
31
2.2786
From the trial of the survivors, we flash back to amoral crook Ralph Cotter's violent prison break, assisted by Holiday Carleton, sister of another prisoner...who doesn't make it. ...more about Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
DVD from $6.72
(9 sellers)
32
2.2739
Young boxer Jim Hunt, resting at a New Mexico "health ranch," meets and falls for Peggy Harmon, former nightclub table singer...who needs $600 more for her sickly son to stay in the place. ...more about Winner Take All
- Not Available on DVD
33
2.2520
"The Fighting 69th" is a First World War regiment of mostly New York-Irish soldiers. Amongst a cocky crew, perhaps the cockiest is Jerry Plunkett, a scrappy fellow who looks out only for himself. ...more about Fighting 69th
DVD from $12.71
(11 sellers)
34
2.2373
Unscrupulous investigator of lost heirs Jimmy Corrigan loses his love Joan Martin to apparently upright competitor James Wallingham. He counters by adding a veneer of respectability to his own operation. Meanwhile he exposes Wallingham for a fraud. ...more about Jimmy the Gent
- Not Available on DVD
35
2.2360
Vaudeville entertainer Eddie Foy, who has vowed to forever keep his act a solo, falls in love with and marries Italian ballerina Madeleine. ...more about Seven Little Foys
DVD from $9.99
(8 sellers)
36
2.2191
Banana Company executive Steve Case on a Caribean plantation group tries to convince his former co-worker Nick Butler to take over the plantation No 7. But he is on his way to Chicago, to take over a job as a manager for another company himself. ...more about Torrid Zone
DVD from $8.68
(11 sellers)
37
2.2040
Odd little Western that gets off to a snappy start when a man (James Cagney) is mistaken as a train robber. After the town's sheriff shoots the kid he's riding with (John Derek) Cagney clears his name and ends up as the new sheriff. ...more about Run for Cover
- Not Available on DVD
38
2.1629
Colorful bayou peddler Hank Martin marries pretty teacher Verity, who finds that the rural poor all love Hank. Gradually, she realizes that Hank's popularity is the fruit of his expert manipulation of everyone he knows. ...more about Lion Is in the Streets
- Not Available on DVD
39
2.1583
Alcoholic newspaperman Lew Marsh hits bottom, loses his job and is rehabilitated by Charley Dolan. After six years on the wagon he gets his job back and devotes himself to other recovering alcoholics. ...more about Come Fill the Cup
- Not Available on DVD
40
2.1552
Oil heiress Joan is going to elope with bandleader Allen whom she's known four days. Out-of-money pilot Steve is going to fly them to Nevada but makes a deal with her father to deliver her home unmarried. ...more about Bride Came C.O.D.
DVD from $12.71
(10 sellers)
41
2.1538
In 1918 France, Captain Flagg commands a disreputable company of Marines; his new top sergeant is his old friendly enemy, Quirt. ...more about What Price Glory
DVD from $7.17
(14 sellers)
42
2.0958
Nick Venizelos is a barber with a passion for gambling. His buddies put together $10,000 for him to gamble with against the syndicate. He gets cleaned out through a crooked game and vows revenge. After that he takes over. ...more about Smart Money
- Not Available on DVD
43
2.0798
When a movie theater usher is fired, he takes up with criminals and finds himself quite adept at various illegal activities. Eventually though, the police catch up with him, and he runs to hide out in Los Angeles. ...more about Lady Killer
- Not Available on DVD
44
2.0319
McCord's gang robs the stage carrying money to pay Indians for their land, and the notorious outlaw "The Oklahoma Kid" Jim Kincaid takes the money from McCord. ...more about Oklahoma Kid
- Not Available on DVD
45
1.9969
War veteran pilots Dizzy Davis, Texas Clark and Jake Lee are working in an airline. Dizzy is fooling with one of the younger pilot's girl-friend and due to this, he changes flights with Texas. ...more about Ceiling Zero
- Not Available on DVD
46
1.9529
Jeremy Rodock is a tough horse rancher who strings up rustlers soon as look at them. Fresh out of Pennsylvania, Steve Miller finds it hard to get used to Rodock's ways, although he takes an immediate shine to his Greek girl Jocasta. ...more about Tribute to a Bad Man
- Not Available on DVD
47
1.9497
Lou Ricarno is a smart guy. His plan is to organize the various gangs in Chicago so that the mugs will not liquidate each other. ...more about Doorway to Hell
- Not Available on DVD
48
1.8264
Amidst a backdrop of growing violence and intimidation, independent cab drivers struggling against a consolidated juggernaut rally around hot-tempered Matt Nolan. ...more about Taxi!
- Not Available on DVD
49
Bat Morgan is nearly shanghaied on his way to the goldfields of California. Instead he kills Shanghai Duck and becomes a hero in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. ...more about Frisco Kid
- Not Available on DVD
50
A semi-documentary dramitization of five weeks in the life of Rear Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, Jr., from his assignment to command the U.S. naval operations in the South Pacific to the Allied victory at Guadalcanal. ...more about Gallant Hours
- Not Available on DVD
51
It's the New York Department of Weights and Measures vs. a systematic effort to cheat the public by giving them less product than they pay for...organized by crooked city alderman Marty Cavanaugh, who put the last chief deputy inspector in the hospital. ...more about Great Guy
DVD from $2.95
(16 sellers)
52
Small time con artist Lefty Merrill has co-organized a crooked dance marathon and set-up his girlfriend to win the prize money. ...more about Hard to Handle
- Not Available on DVD
53
Flicker Hayes informs the police after he sets up two men to be caught in a phony robbery attempt, because they were responsible for his going to prison. ...more about He Was Her Man
- Not Available on DVD
54
To continue a grudge with naval officer Biff Martin, feisty construction worker Chesty O'Connor joins the navy and manages to get stationed on the same ship as Martin. ...more about Here Comes the Navy
- Not Available on DVD
56
Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the State Reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. ...more about Mayor of Hell
- Not Available on DVD
57
Jake MacIllaney will do just about anything to win the presidential election of longshoreman union Local 26. ...more about Never Steal Anything Small
- Not Available on DVD
58
Ma Delano (LaVerne) runs a penny arcade in Coney Island, living upstairs with her sons (Cagney & Gallagher) and daughter (Knapp.) Story involves rum-running, accidental murder and a frame-up. ...more about Sinners' Holiday
- Not Available on DVD
59
Popular New York band leader Terry Rooney (Cagney) is offered a lucrative film contract out in Hollywood. Rooney and his wife pack up and head for California. Upon arriving, they meet Mr. ...more about Something to Sing About
DVD from $5.84
(9 sellers)
61
Successful middle-aged businessman Steve Bradford returns to the town where he attended college many years previously. His conscious has been bothering him since whilst a student, he fathered an illigitimate son who was given away to the local orphanage. ...more about These Wilder Years
- Not Available on DVD
62
Broadway director Bix Bixby, down on his luck (thanks to gambling), is reluctantly persuaded to go to West Point military academy (with Eve, his gorgeous assistant and on-and-off love) to help the students put on a show. ...more about West Point Story
DVD from $12.42
(11 sellers)
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