Still image from the 1933 film Lady Killer.

Lady Killer

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

A criminal on the run becomes a Hollywood movie star.

1933 1h 16m Comedy TV-G

Expires: Invalid date


CAST
see full cast & crew at TCMDb: view

0

Roy Del Ruth, Director
47832|135665
Roy Del Ruth
Director

1

James Cagney, Dan [Quigley]
26868|77446
James Cagney
Dan [Quigley]

2

Mae Clarke, Myra [Gale]
35147|103872
Mae Clarke
Myra [Gale]

3

Margaret Lindsay, Lois [Underwood]
114306|105241
Margaret Lindsay
Lois [Underwood]

4

Leslie Fenton, Duke
60813|98199
Leslie Fenton
Duke

5

Douglas Dumbrille, Spade [Maddock]
54032|41527
Douglas Dumbrille
Spade [Maddock]

FULL SYNOPSIS

While returning a purse dropped by attractive Myra Gale, Dan Quigley quickly learns that he has been the victim of a confidence game. He threatens the gang with exposure unless they cut him in on their profits. Dan works the racket so successfully that they are able to open a gambling club patronized by wealthy customers. When they spot a likely victim among the customers, Dan arranges a fake accident so he will be taken into the victim's house and cases it for his fellow gangsters. Eventually, the police suspect Dan's gang, and when someone dies during a robbery, the gang leaves town. They travel to Los Angeles, where Dan is arrested. He asks Myra to arrange his bail, but Spade Maddock, another gang member, talks her into using the money to leave town. Because they do not have enough evidence to hold Dan, the police release him. Looking like a hobo, he is offered work as a movie extra. One day, he stumbles into the dressing room of movie star Lois Underwood. He starts a self-promoting letter writing campaign, which convinces the studio that he would be a good choice for a new leading man. Dan and Lois become romantically involved, and things are going well for Dan until Myra and the gang return. They threaten to reveal his past unless he fingers wealthy Hollywood people for robberies. He refuses, paying the gang a large amount of money to leave town. They double-cross him, robbing Lois's house, and Dan is arrested. When the studio will not stand by him, Lois offers to pay his bail, but the gang beats her to it, planning to kill him before he can tell the police about their activites. Suspecting their motives, Dan tips off the police, and the gang is captured. After Dan is cleared of all charges and his career saved, he and Lois leave to get married.


VIDEOS
see more videos at TCMDb: view
Original Trailer
Trailer

ARTICLES
Theater usher Dan Quigley is targeted for a con by Myra, the moll of a local gang. Seeing an opportunity for himself, he works his way into the gang and becomes a successful member of the racket. After being arrested and double-crossed by his fellow gang members in the wake of an accidental death during a robbery, he winds up in Hollywood as an extra. His bid to become a leading man, not to mention his blossoming romance with glamorous movie star Lois Underwood, is threatened by the reappearance of his former cohorts who want him to serve as a finger man for robberies in the wealthy neighborhoods of Hollywood. Coming fast on the heels of James Cagney's resounding success as a singing and dancing theatrical producer in the musical Footlight Parade (1933), Lady Killer (1933) returned to the tried-and-true gangster genre in which he had made his name, this time a comedy with satirical jabs at Hollywood and the American Dream. The working title of the project was The Finger Man. Warner Brothers' title change was not without complications: playwrights Fred and Alice Mandel claimed to own the rights to the title Lady Killer for their stage play and even received a temporary injunction stopping the studio from using it. Early treatments of the film combined the tough gangster image with song-and-dance routines to capitalize on the popularity of his previous film, but this move was rejected by studio executives in favor of a more conventional image. The tap dancer of the early ...

ARCHIVES
see more archives at TCMBDb: view
{"imgID": "0","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i123/LADYKILLER1933_00249298_1440x1075_010720111145.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Mae Clarke as Myra sitting on couch wearing dress.","imgParticipants": "|MAE CLARKE|"},
 Mae Clarke Publicity Still from the movie 'Lady Killer'
Lady Killer
Mae Clarke Publicity ..
{"imgID": "0","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i82/PaulineWagner_550184-PAULINEWA_1500x1824_062520091211.JPG","imgDescription": "PAULINE WAGNER WITH JAMES CAGNEY IN LADY KILLER 1933","imgParticipants": "PAULINE WAGNER / JAMES CAGNEY"},
Scenes Photo from the movie 'Lady Killer'
Lady Killer
Scenes Photo

NOTES

The film's working title was The Finger Man. According to a news item in Film Daily, Patricia Ellis was to play the second female lead along with Mae Clarke. Daily Variety reports that Warner Bros. was temporarily enjoined from using the title Lady Killer. The complaint of playwrights Fred and Alice Mandel alleged that Warner Bros. was notified of prior rights to the use of the title of their stage play and that releasing the film under that title was an infringement of title rights.

Welcome, DISH customer! Please note that we cannot save your viewing history due to an arrangement with DISH.

Watchlist and resume progress features have been disabled.

ACCEPT