1953's "A Lion is in the Streets" is not one of James Cagney's best remembered films, the final feature from his own Cagney Productions, from the 1945 novel of the same name by Adria Locke Langley, loosely based on the controversial Louisiana governor Huey Long, who was felled by an assassin's bullet in 1935. Broderick Crawford's Oscar-winning turn in 1949's "All The King's Men" was also based on Long's career, making this effort seem like yesterday's leftovers, still made palatable by Cagney's dynamism as Hank Martin, starting out a backwoods peddler in a swampy region of the American South, using his knowledge of law books to expose corruption in the cotton industry, making him a savior to the local farmers and a nuisance to bigwig politicians. When Martin helps to acquit a fatally shot farmer who dies in the courtroom, he uses his cache to make a run for governor but finds himself beholden to a gangster promising to deliver the city vote. Barbara Hale scores as Martin's long suffering wife, and breathtaking Anne Francis pops up in a regrettably brief appearance as Flamingo, wildcat daughter of Lon Chaney's Spurge McManamee, unsuccessfully trying to murder Hank's bride in a jealous rage. This was Chaney's second film for the Cagney brothers, a far smaller role than in 1951's "Only the Valiant," where his hulking Arab soldier nursed a deep grudge against Cavalry captain Gregory Peck.
Review of A Lion Is in the Streets
