Still image from the 1933 film Picture Snatcher.

Picture Snatcher

Directed by Lloyd Bacon

An ex-con brings his crooked ways to a job as a news photographer.

1933 1h 16m Crime TV-PG

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CAST
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0

Lloyd Bacon, Director
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Lloyd Bacon
Director

1

James Cagney, Danny Kean
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James Cagney
Danny Kean

2

Ralph Bellamy, McLean
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Ralph Bellamy
McLean

3

Patricia Ellis, Patricia Nolan
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Patricia Ellis
Patricia Nolan

4

Alice White, Allison
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Alice White
Allison

5

Ralf Harolde, Jerry
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Ralf Harolde
Jerry

FULL SYNOPSIS

When Danny Kean gets out of Sing Sing Prison, he decides to go straight. He leaves behind his old gang to become a reporter and lands a job on the Graphic News , a scandal sheet, after stealing a photograph that no one else was able to get. News reporter Allison invites Danny over one night, but he leaves quickly when he finds out that she has been dating his editor, McLean. Danny is attracted to journalism student Patricia Nolan, the daughter of Lieutenant Casey Nolan, a policeman who knew Danny in his criminal days. Nolan forbids Patricia to have anything to do with Danny until McLean convinces another paper to run a flattering article on Nolan, who is then promoted to captain. Danny learns that Nolan will be in charge of the execution of a woman at Sing Sing. His paper has not been invited to witness the event, so he steals another reporter's invitation and talks Nolan into letting him view the execution. He photographs the death with a camera strapped to his leg. The other reporters discover his trick and chase after him, but he escapes and the photograph is published. Nolan is demoted because of Danny's actions, and Patricia refuses to talk to him. McLean is also angry when he finds Allison embracing Danny. Danny is so down that he goes on a long drunk. Finally McLean, who has quit drinking himself, tracks down Danny. When they learn that Jerry, an old member of Danny's gang, shot two policemen, they decide to go after him. Danny succeeds in finding Jerry, but before he can leave, the police arrive and Jerry is killed in the shootout. Taking advantage of the moment, Danny photographs the whole thing and credits Nolan with the idea. Danny and McLean sell the photos, getting new jobs in the process, and Patricia and Danny reunite.


VIDEOS
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I'm Going Legitimate...
Movie Clip
Nuts About Ping Pong...
Movie Clip
Dirtiest We Can Get...
Movie Clip
Original Trailer
Trailer

ARTICLES
Tabloid reporters never get any respect and why should they? They're pushy, duplicitous and willing to do most anything to dig up front page dirt for their rubbernecking readers. Picture Snatcher (1933), a lively assembly line programmer from Warner Brothers, isn't likely to change your opinion of them either but it's hard not to admire the resourcefulness and sheer chutzpah of James Cagney as ace reporter Danny Kean. A recent parolee from Sing Sing prison, Kean reinvents himself as a reporter/photographer at a struggling New York City tabloid. He soon becomes top dog after getting an exclusive story on a grief-stricken fireman whose own house burned down with his wife inside. As his fame spreads, Kean begins pursuing college student Patricia Nolan (Patricia Ellis), the daughter of the cop that sent him to prison. But their relationship hits a bad patch when Kean's most controversial photograph - a shot of a murderess being electrocuted - results in the firing of Patricia's father (he was in charge of security at the prison). Can Kean right the wrong he has done? You betcha. Completed in fifteen days by director Lloyd Bacon, Picture Snatcher has a breakneck pace that is perfectly in keeping with its subject and marked the first time Bacon and Cagney worked together; they would make eight more pictures together including Footlight Parade (1933). According to the actor in his autobiography Cagney on Cagney, Lloyd's directing methods were expedient to say the least. After run...

ARCHIVES
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 Lobby Cards from the movie 'Picture Snatcher'
Picture Snatcher
Lobby Cards

NOTES

According to Variety, the scene in which Danny photographs the execution was based on an actual incident in which a photo was taken secretly at the execution of Ruth Synder and printed in a New York newspaper. Contemporary reviews mentioned the aggressive sexuality of several women characters. The role of Allison was designed as a comeback part for Alice White. Modern sources list the following additional crew credits: Assistant Director Gordon Hollingshead; Makeup Perc Westmore. Modern source cast credits include Billy West and George Chandler (Reporters), George Daly (Machine gunner), Stanley Blystone (Prison guard), Don Brodie (Hood), Donald Kerr (Mike), Hobart Cavanaugh (Pete), Phil Tead (Reporter Strange), Charles King (Sick reporter), Milton Kibbee (Reporter outside prison), Dick Elliott and Vaughn Taylor (Editors), Bob Perry (Bartender), Gino Corrado (Barber), Maurice Black (Speakeasy proprietor), Selmer Jackson (Record editor), Jack Grey (Police officer), John Ince (Captain) and Cora Sue Collins (Little girl). The film was remade by Warner Bros. in 1942 as Escape from Crime, starring Richard Travis and directed by D. Ross Lederman.

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