So much average

Simply A Masterpiece

Great Film overall

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Strawberry Blonde" has tremendous energy. It's a love letter to fin-de - siecle America, here a feisty, urban "melting pot" of the burgeoning middle-classes. This is a Horatio Alger America, a place rife with go- getters and plenty of opportunity, where immigrants from different nations (Irish and Greek) strive arm in arm. James Cagney, Olivia DeHavilland and Rita Hayworth give delicious, youthful performances in "Strawberry Blonde". Perhaps a bit too old for their respective roles, the actors nevertheless conjure the bold charm of a younger America. An avaricious coquette, an ambitious scrapper and a sensitive would-be suffragette, these are characters with big, bright expectations. And they are perfectly suited to the lively, bustling world director Raoul Walsh presents here. Walsh gives us a kind of turn-of-the-century paradise, a world of graceful hats and high necked-dresses, foamy beer and bright brass bands, horse drawn carriages, friendly policemen and dinner at Tony Pastor's. It's a world that's clean and optimistic, but not yet fully tame. Cagney's Biff Grimes has a temper. At the merest wisp of provocation, he puts up his dukes. But his fisticuffs don't count as brutality here, instead they are rough play, a manifestation of energy and virility and will. "Strawberry Blonde" may venerate traditional values, but it also celebrates desire and appetite and possibility. It's an appealing vision. And probably a perfect inspirational vehicle for its original WWII audiences. "Strawberry Blonde" works as both a paean to a spirited, self-sacrificing working class AND a promise of satisfactions to come.

The first time I saw this film, I was so undone by the underhandedness and unfairness, that I swore it off for future viewings. Then it rolled around on TCM's schedule again, and I had forgotten most of the plot. On this viewing, I paid closer attention to every little detail, and I totally changed my mind about this surprising little film. It had little elements of hilarity that I had forgotten or totally missed the first time. Cagney is quite like that in his comedic roles, I've noticed, and De Hvilland is, too.After getting to know James Cagney and Jack Carson a bit better through numerous other films, I began to have a newfound attachment to this film. One main reason is that it just makes better sense when you pay close attention. Once that all happens, you see De Havilland is quite charming and her understated attractiveness totally envelops the cheap tramp ways of the usual bombshell, Rita Hayworth. The only thing that bothers me is the eight years it takes Biff (Cagney) to exact his revenge. Eight years is a long time, but it's a movie and it does fly by! And revenge is exacted. Just as romantic comedies go, there is a very happy ending. The best part is it is totally not formulaic and, therefore, a real surprise. De Havilland and Cagney have one of De Havilland's cutest scenes caught on film as the movie ends. It's a great ending and a surprising little gem made larger and greater by fantastic writing and a superior cast.

During the golden age of Hollywood, a lot of pictures, especially the romances and musicals, took us back to another golden era – the final years of the 19th century. Not only was this the time in which many of the old guard were in their youth, it happens to be a good era for nostalgia in general. An innocent age before either world war and before the motor car had made the horse obsolete, a world perhaps best summed up by the sweet yet earthy character of its music.The Strawberry Blonde is itself a picture about nostalgia, albeit tinged with regret, as a man goes into a reverie about the friend and the would-be lover who wronged him years earlier. It is no surprise that the screenplay is by the Epstein brothers, Julius and Philip, whose best-known work Casablanca, a story with a very similar mix of regret and fondness for the past. However, with the flashback making up the bulk of its runtime, The Strawberry Blonde is by far the more indulgent of the two. Casablanca lives in the present while The Strawberry Blonde dreams of the past.The director here is Raoul Walsh, who according to the blurb on the back of numerous DVDs was an "action master". A more extensive look at his pictures though reveals him to be a bit of a romantic, with a real feeling for the warmth and intensity of human relationships. Whereas Warner's top director Michael Curtiz always emphasised sets and props, all but burying the actors, Walsh does the complete opposite. Take the scene in the bar where Alan Hale is drinking at the start of the flashback – each shot is made almost entirely of people, with folks lining the edge of the frame. It gives it a real cosy effect. Walsh also places us right inside the emotions of a scene by having actors facing the camera. When James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland are reunited towards the end, the opposing shots of them are not at forty-five degree angles to the lens as convention would dictate. Instead they are virtually looking straight out at the audience.And this is a cast worth focusing on. None of the four principle players – Cagney, de Havilland, Rita Hayworth and Jack Carson – are at their very best, but what's important is that they all seem to be enjoying their roles. Despite being in his 40s at the time, Cagney gives an exuberant portrayal of the younger Biff Grimes, and there is something almost childish in the way he sneers and fidgets his way through his first meeting with de Havilland. De Havilland herself has great fun playing an assertive free-thinker, and while very much against her type she is brilliant at bringing out that saucy flirtatiousness in her character. It's also nice to see Alan Hale playing a more sympathetic variation on his usual reprobate act, far more satisfying than the slightly villainous roles which for reasons I can't fathom he often ended up in. There's also a brief but memorable appearance by the great Una O'Connor.The Strawberry Blonde is by its very nature a movie with a lot of poignancy in it, balanced nicely with its tone of gentle comedy. The only real trouble is that some of the more tender moments are blunted by the punchy pace typical of Warner Brothers pictures, with a few scenes and shots not played out quite as long as they could have been. Still, the picture recovers much of its impact because its emotions are grounded in its atmosphere and its music. While not really a Musical, it is certainly a musical picture with a small "m". Diagetic music (real music in the film's world, as opposed to a background score) plays a major part not just in the story but in the construction of a scene – the strains of a band seeming to regulate or underscore every moment. Even what little non-diagetic music there is seems to dovetail from one of the familiar songs. And in the end, it is that magnificent waltz from which the title is derived that has the final word.

I originally watched this movie just for James Cagney, but recently looked at it again. I was interested in the period setting as much as anything, but I discovered this was a movie that I enjoyed more with each viewing.Although the dialog may be corny and simplistic in places, this is a well written story that holds up over time. All the principal actors are great. You can see why they were movie stars--you can't take your eyes off of any of them. The progression over the years of the relationships between the four of them makes up the bulk of the action, and it is fun to watch these two couples. Things never get too heavy, even when terrible things continue to happen. The ending is one of the more satisfying resolutions to any film I've enjoyed. And again, I really like the turn of the century small town America setting. The only element I wasn't really into was the deadbeat dad subplot.The fact that it was directed by the same guy who did White Heat makes you realize how much talent was at work here.