A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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

This is a simple, but cute, comedy about the O'Hara family, (a mother and her three sons) living together in a New York City apartment. The three live-at-home brothers are: a cop, Pat (Pat O'Brien), a fireman, Mike (Frank McHugh), and an unemployed fight promoter, Danny (James Cagney).Danny is currently promoting his latest discovery, 'Carbarn' (Allen Jenkins). The only problem—or greatest asset—with 'Carbarn' is that he springs into a fight every time he hears a bell ring. But for me, the most entertaining member of the family is Ma O'Hara wonderfully played by Mary Gordon. Pat is in love with the police captain's daughter, Lucille (Olivia de Havilland) and just assumes he is going to marry her. The problem is she doesn't love him that much.

Enjoyable comedy/drama from Warner Bros. with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien as Irish-American brothers who have a falling out when pretty Olivia de Havilland comes between them. I won't spoil the ending for you but, if you've seen even one Cagney/O'Brien movie before, you can probably guess who gets the girl. What makes this one work isn't the tired plot but the great cast, with longtime friends Cagney and O'Brien joined by their buddies Frank McHugh and a scene-stealing Allen Jenkins. All four of these guys are fun to watch and have a wonderful comedic chemistry with each other. Olivia de Havilland is lovely in one of her earliest roles. Mary Gordon is impossible to dislike as the saintly Ma O'Hara. It's a good movie of its type, lightweight mostly but serious in some parts. It's well-paced and the cast, as I said before, is excellent.

Years ago, I read James Cagney's autobiography. In it he talked about 'the Irish mafia'--a group of very close friends he had on and off camera. This is a rare case where all four members of this group were together in the same film--Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Frank McHugh and Allan Jenkins (fine, I don't think Jenkins was Irish--but he was still a member of this group of friends). It looks like the friends had a lovely time making the film but it is an awfully lightweight and rather brainless film. Enjoyable...but brainless.Ma O'Hara (Mary Gordon) has three grown sons that live with her: Danny (Cagney), Pat (O'Brien) and Mike (McHugh). While Pat and Mike respectable jobs, Danny, the youngest, is a bit of a dreamer and hopes to make his fortune managing boxers. However, he has nothing to show for his efforts and Ma is hoping he'll soon follow in his brothers' footsteps.Into this family come two people. First, a brainless boxer named 'Carbarn' (Jenkins)--and he's the least likely looking boxer I can recall having seen in film. Second, Pat brings home Lucille (Olivia de Havilland) and plans on marrying her. However, they barely know each other and Pat is seriously premature. To make it worse, Lucille has already met Danny...and is quite interested. So what's to become of all these characters? Well, it all comes to a head at one of the most ridiculous boxing matches on film where a first-time fighter gets to fight the champ!!! The whole picture is ridiculous and mindless...but also kind of fun. It's a turn your brain off and enjoy sort of time-passer. Agreeable but very, very slight due to the fluff-like plot that never seems the least bit real. What saves it is the likability of the actors...period.

The stars here never give a bad performance, so that I had fun watching this film despite a routine dissension-causing romantic rivalry between James Cagney and his brother, Pat O'Brien, for lovely Olivia de Havilland and an improbable ending. My only complaint was the character of Allen Jenkins, a fighter who starts swinging crazily every time he hears a bell. That got to be a bit tedious, although it was an important part of the plot. O'Brien plays a policeman while his younger brother, Frank McHugh, plays a fireman. They're sort of a microcosm of the Irish in New York City, with Cagney playing a would-be fight manager of Jenkins, and Mary Gordon trying to keep her family together. McHugh and Jenkins provide much of the comedy and the boxing match at the end was very well staged and quite exciting. You can't really go wrong with this film.Filmmakers sometimes forget: A newspaper reports that Harvey Perry is the welterweight champion, but he's introduced into the ring as the middleweight champion.