With most of James Cagney's early films, his character portrayal is generally a bit flamboyant, even over the top at times. In "Frisco Kid", it appears that Cagney found a way to take command of his role with some reserve, as his character rises from itinerant sailor to one of the most powerful men in San Francisco of the mid-1850's. He does it with both his fists and his charm, and at times it's easy to overlook the fact that he's the main villain in the story.
The setting is the three block section of San Francisco known as the Barbary Coast at a time when the proper citizenry is just about fed up with the way the local underworld bosses rule their corner of the city. Early in the picture it appears that Bat Morgan (Cagney) might actually convert to the good guy side when he first meets Jean Barrat (Margaret Lindsay), managing editor of the San Francisco Tribune. But it becomes clear enough that they live on opposite sides of the tracks, even as Morgan's interest in Barrat becomes more than social.
What makes the picture a bit troublesome for me is the lack of accounting for the story's chronology. While Morgan states that he'll build the biggest and most lavish gambling house in San Francisco, it seems like the 'Bella Pacific' virtually appears in the very next scene. His rise to the top of the Barbary underworld also seems like it happened overnight. Granted, the events are compressed for the sake of the story, but it's hard to imagine how all of a sudden, a sailor takes over an entire town just because he set his mind to it. One might also wonder why he hadn't done something more on a grand scale before arriving in San Francisco, but then I guess there wouldn't have been a movie.
There were some interesting casting decisions made for the film, particularly Ricardo Cortez as the suave but menacing saloon owner Paul Morra. Barton MacLane appears as a roughneck named Spider Burke, and George E. Stone is effective as Morgan's best friend Solly Green. It was also cool to see a number of character actors that one usually finds in the era's Western pictures, like Addison Richards, Joe King and Fred Kohler.
The one thing that struck me some time into the picture had to do with the story taking place in 1854. I had to keep reminding myself that it was still a few years before the outbreak of the Civil War, with no context in the story as to what was taking place in the rest of the country. It was just a bit disorienting, especially when most of the scenes played out like they would have been from the latter part of the century.
The setting is the three block section of San Francisco known as the Barbary Coast at a time when the proper citizenry is just about fed up with the way the local underworld bosses rule their corner of the city. Early in the picture it appears that Bat Morgan (Cagney) might actually convert to the good guy side when he first meets Jean Barrat (Margaret Lindsay), managing editor of the San Francisco Tribune. But it becomes clear enough that they live on opposite sides of the tracks, even as Morgan's interest in Barrat becomes more than social.
What makes the picture a bit troublesome for me is the lack of accounting for the story's chronology. While Morgan states that he'll build the biggest and most lavish gambling house in San Francisco, it seems like the 'Bella Pacific' virtually appears in the very next scene. His rise to the top of the Barbary underworld also seems like it happened overnight. Granted, the events are compressed for the sake of the story, but it's hard to imagine how all of a sudden, a sailor takes over an entire town just because he set his mind to it. One might also wonder why he hadn't done something more on a grand scale before arriving in San Francisco, but then I guess there wouldn't have been a movie.
There were some interesting casting decisions made for the film, particularly Ricardo Cortez as the suave but menacing saloon owner Paul Morra. Barton MacLane appears as a roughneck named Spider Burke, and George E. Stone is effective as Morgan's best friend Solly Green. It was also cool to see a number of character actors that one usually finds in the era's Western pictures, like Addison Richards, Joe King and Fred Kohler.
The one thing that struck me some time into the picture had to do with the story taking place in 1854. I had to keep reminding myself that it was still a few years before the outbreak of the Civil War, with no context in the story as to what was taking place in the rest of the country. It was just a bit disorienting, especially when most of the scenes played out like they would have been from the latter part of the century.