When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Jimmy Cagney was the king of cinema for quite a few years and with this one, you can see why.The basic premise of this film is that Cagney is a good prize fighter but he doesn't like to fight so he just keeps his job as a truck driver...i.e...he has no ambition. His life-long girlfriend, who does love him, doesn't care for that so she goes out of her way to further her dancing career and leaves him behind for her life and not theirs together. What you get from the Ann Sheridan character is that she's too ambitious but what she really is is naive.Jimmy Cagney ends up taking up fighting so he can try and keep the attention of his girl but ends up almost blind when another fighter cheats and uses a substance on his glove to blind him while they fight.Throughout the entire film he's just a super positive guy. He lets his girl do whatever and he says.."I'm not worried". He's almost blinded and he says..."It'll get better..just takes time". At the end you'll have a tear in your eye but most of that will be from the positive outlook has regardless of the circumstance he's in.One nice little surprise you'll see in this one is a very young Anthony Quinn. His role is in the first half of the film but does a good job with it.If your feeling down and need a pick-me-up...see this one. It'll brighten you day.

City for Conquest (1940)Great credentials here, from director Anatole Litvak to photographers (two of them) James Wong Howe and Sol Polito. That's enough for any movie. And music by Max Steiner, and throw in James Cagney, and you get a sense of the rich tapestry of New York that gets better and better as it goes, with even a small (sensational) part by Elia Kazan and Arthur Kennedy's first role.Now it's a little stretch to see Cagney as a fighter--he's fit about as much as I am, and has no boxer's physique. But the movie is a hair lightweight in a heartwarming way (this is no Raging Bull, nor even James Garfield, later in the 1940s). But it creates a great milieux, just as the war is going in Europe and the Depression is ending in New York. The streets are abuzz, and love is in the air. There are a lot of 1930s era effects that are quaint--the fast montages of the city, or of dancers--and the plot itself, of a couple destined for each other but buffeted by life's usual distractions, is sweet.And it all unfolds with such well-oiled perfection, the same era as Kane and Casablanca, and the same studio system and film stock. Great stuff, well made, and overcoming whatever conventional sentiments that thread through it all. It's even enjoyable without the plot, the boatride at night (think Weegee), the street scenes with kids everywhere (think Helen Levitt). It's a surprisingly honest, vivid movie.

City for Conquest (1940) *** (out of 4) James Cagney's brilliant performance is the highlight of this film about a boxer (Cagney) who risks it all for the love of his girl (Ann Sheridan) and his brother (Arthur Kennedy). It's rather amazing at how great Cagney can be in so many different type of roles. Yes, he mainly played wise guys but whenever he broke this mode he just shows what a great actor he was and that's certainly true with his performance here, which has to rank as one of the greatest of his career. The transformations his character goes through is certainly a juicy role for an actor and Cagney nails all of the different moods without any problems. When the boxer starts to lose his site is when Cagney really shines and his performance here is brilliantly done. I'm not sure what they did to Cagney's eyes but whatever they did looked terrific. I didn't care too much for Sheridan as I thought she brought the film down and a better actress would have suited the film better. The supporting cast is excellent and features nice performances by Kennedy, Frank Craven, Donald Crisp, Frank McHugh and George Tobias. Anthony Quinn is terrific in his role as Cagney's rival and future director Elia Kazan also shocked me with how great he was. The big boxing scene was brilliantly filmed and looked extremely well bringing in all sorts of intense action. The ending is pretty hokey but otherwise this is a highly impressive little film.

A very memorable role for James Cagney. As a youngster he makes Ann Sheridan his girl and they promise to be together forever. Cagney grows to be a hard working truck driver that has to turn to boxing to make real dough. Another reason for quick bucks is that his girl has grown to be an award winning dancer, but with a scoundrel for a partner(Anthony Quinn). Cagney ends up blind from a beating in the ring; and to make ends meet he operates a newspaper stand. His girl gives up her dancing to take care of him. Elia Kazan turns in a marvelous death scene; my favorite of the movie. Also in the cast: Donald Crisp, George Tobias, Arthur Kennedy and Frank McHugh.