Jimmy The Gent (1934)

An unscrupulous private detective (James Cagney) specializes in locating missing heirs and collecting 50% of the inheritance. But when the girl (Bette Davis) he loves leaves him to work for a rival (Alan Dinehart), he plots to get her back. Based on the short story THE HEIR CHASER by Ray Nazzaro and Laird Doyle and directed by Michael Curtiz (WHITE CHRISTMAS). This quick and economic (it runs an hour and 7 minutes) programmer is a lot of fun. Cagney does what Cagney does best, fast talking a mile a minute and dispensing an impudent charm although it takes a few minutes to get used to his hair cut (the sides are shaved off). It's product right off the Warners assembly line but the reviews were positive and it did well at the box office. Don't expect anything special but it's amusing enough. Still in her blonde phase, Davis is cute as a button but it's the kind of generic "the girl" role that any Warners contract player could have done. With Allen Jenkins, Mayo Methot and Dennis O'Keefe.