Taxi (1931) User Reviews

A Fare to Remember

[lugonian · 8/10 · 23 March 2006]

TAXI (Warner Brothers, 1932), directed by Roy Del Ruth, is not so much a tribute on the day in the life of taxi drivers and the involvement with their passengers, but solely on an individual cabbie out to avenge his brother's killer. While the story does start out with a taxi war, Gramercy vs. Consolidated Cabs, it shifts gears during its second half where the theme switches from "fare game" to "revenge is sweet." The cabbie in question is James Cagney, resident tough guy of Warners, still in the driver's seat after his triumph in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931). He's not a gangster this time around but a guy on the side of the law, his law in fact, coping with hostility from others which cause his temper to constantly reach its boiling point. Loretta Young, very early in her career, plays the girl he marries who tries every which way to break him out of his quick-temper habit.

TAXI immediately gets underway as Buck Gerard (David Landau) an organizer who leads his men to create "accidents" for other taxi drivers in order to do away with his competition. He orders "Pop" Reilly (Guy Kibbee) to leave his corner, but when he refuses, has his hired truck driver (Nat Pendleton) smash into his taxi. Reilly shoots the driver, but because he took the law into his own hands, the old man is sentenced to serve ten years in the state penitentiary in Ossining. After Reilly dies, Sue (Loretta Young), his daughter, goes against Matt Nolan (James Cagney), a taxi driver forming a staff meeting in getting the other drivers to unite by fighting back. In spite of their differences, Matt and Sue eventually marry. While in a night club celebrating their union, the Nolans encounter the drunken Buck Gerard with his girlfriend, Marie Costa (Dorothy Burgess). After Buck speaks out of turn, sort to speak, by insulting Sue, a fight ensues causing Gerard to take out his knife aimed at Matt, but accidentally stabbing his brother, Danny (Ray Cooke), in his attempt to save Matt. While Sue feels it best for the police to handle the situation, Matt wants nothing more than to avenge Danny's killer. Their marriage nearly comes at wits end when Matt learns Skeets (George E. Stone), one of his taxi driver pals, that Gerard's girl was seen visiting Sue in his apartment, asking her for $100, leading Matt to believe Sue has betrayed him, unaware of her true reason in doing this.

A forgotten 67 minute programmer with fast-pace action is notable mostly for a couple of memorable scenes: Cagney speaking Yiddish to a policeman, and a dance contest at the Rainbow Gardens involving Cagney and Young with another dancing couple, the male partner being the up and coming George Raft. With this being a Cagney picture, it is Leila Bennett as Young's best girlfriend who not only stands out with her comedy relief and witty dialog, but gets the final fadeout. Look fast for Donald Cook (Cagney's brother in THE PUBLIC ENEMY) and Evalyn Knapp in the movie theater sequence playing leading players of "Her Hour of Love."

As with many movies of the early 1930s, TAXI has gone through the remaking process by the end of the decade under the new title and locale as WATERFRONT (WB, 1939) with Gloria Dickson and Dennis Morgan, both films that have never been distributed on video or DVD. For a quick joy ride, be sure to watch TAXI next the time this and WATERFRONT shows again on Turner Classic Movies. (***)

A taste of things to come

[ROCKY-19 · 6/10 · 19 January 2007]

Taxi! is most famous as an early starring role for James Cagney and more so for the fact he shows off his Yiddish-speaking skills. A great factor in this film is the variety of genuine New York accents on display throughout. Music to the ears! The plot line is a bit fractured, zipping from cab wars, to romance, to murder, and all that jazz. Cagney is an independent driver trying to rally the other cabbies to fight the big taxi company trying to violently run them all out of business. A fracas in a nightclub on his wedding night results in the stabbing death of his brother and he vows revenge.

Cagney plays a sometimes likable, sometimes obnoxious guy with a rotten temper. His violent outbursts are a sign of things to come in Cagney's cast of characters. He is electric even with subpar material. And, of course, he dances on screen for the first time. A very young and beautiful Loretta Young is a smarter romantic partner than Cagney usually got. By the way, her hairstyle is lovely. Leila Bennett steals the movie as a droning chatterbox who could have an hour-long conversation by herself. Most people know someone exactly like her.

Cultural points: We are treated to an early version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind" at the Cottonpickers Club. The Warner Bros. film takes a slam at Paramount's Fredric March - whose early film roles were more than reminiscent of John Barrymore. For the brief foxtrot contest, Cagney suggested producers hire George Raft as his main competitor because he remembered his dancing ability from their time in Vaudeville. Raft was in Hollywood as a bit dancer and had no notion of becoming an actor - that would change within a year. This is one of only two films these very good friends appeared in together (See "Each Dawn I Die" nearly 10 years later).

"I'd like to bury the hatchet, right in their thick skulls."

[Maleejandra · 8/10 · 7 April 2008]

Matt Nolan (James Cagney) is a cab driver, but a group of new cabbies are trying to muscle into the area. They use intimidation and force when they feel it is necessary which tends to be sooner rather than later. Take Pop Riley (Guy Kibbee) for example. He'd been running the same route for years until the new gang came to town and decided they didn't want the competition. They totaled his car and got him sent to prison when he retaliated. His little girl Sue (Loretta Young) doesn't want to see anyone else suffer the same fate, so when she falls in love with Matt, she does her best to keep his temper under control. It isn't easy, especially when the opposing group starts harassing him.

Roy Del Ruth keeps the story exciting with the typical Warner Brother's format. Taxi! features a great cast, quick dialogue, fast action, and a short run time. Cagney is the true star of the movie; he can lay it on thick with the romantic scenes, pop out the cocky one-liners like no other, and even dance around like a pro. (We are treated to a preview of his talents; they would not be utilized in film until a few years later.) Young is absolutely beautiful, as she is in all of her pre-code movies, and her acting abilities hold up against Cagney's. Also notable are the sidekicks of the two leads: Leila Bennett and George E. Stone who play great backup.

This movie is definitely worth catching late night on TCM.

This Has It All

[Handlinghandel · 7/10 · 18 April 2006]

Roy Del Ruth's early movies are roller-coasters of nonstop excitement. He seemed to lose a lot of his style and passion once the Code was issued. His pre-Code movies, though, seem very modern: They're funny, naughty, touching, and shocking -- sometimes all at once.

"Taxi" is one of his best. It's also one of my favorite James Cagney movies. In this, he weeps when he learns that a family member has died. It's a full-frontal shot and very daring. How many leading men of his era would dared this? In the same movie, he slugs his girlfriend Loretta Young (always very appealing here.) He's funny, believable, and violent.

I like Guy Kibbee in the sort of sympathetic role he plays here. He is Young's father. Leila Bennett is an unlikely movie presence. She's gawky and goofy. But as Young's roommate, she's fun and adds to the general excellence of "Taxi."

Enjoyable from a whole lot of angles.

[lge-946-225487 · 19 September 2011]

Other reviewers have covered main topics like plot, cast, etc. I'd just like to comment on some incidentals I enjoyed.

Cagney always uses such colorful language, as he does in this movie. When a fat man stands on Cagney's foot in an elevator (and I mean STANDS on it for several seconds) Cagney gets mad. Loretta Young tries to calm him down, and Cagney bursts out, "Over nothing?!? What do you expect me to do -- let a big hippo like that plant his clod-hoppers all over me?"

Incidentally, the elevator scene showed a good lesson for all would-be hat-wearers today. Young has to remind Cagney to take his hat off in the elevator -- a necessity of etiquette then, as was taking your hat off indoors, when you got where you were going. People who wear hats today, should wear hats like people who know HOW to wear hats.

Leila Bennett -- some people don't appreciate her flavor of humor, but I get a big kick out of her. She drones on and on in that adenoidal, nasal monotone, completely oblivious to whether anyone's listening or not. In fact, Cagney asks her at one point to button her lip, and Bennett just drawls, "Oh, I ain't said much," and goes on with her story. She's just droll and comical because of her personality. (In the restaurant, she says, "Well, the fish died an unnatural death. It isn't fit to eat -- even in a restaurant.")

And say -- isn't Buck Gerard a nasty, low-life villain! He's abominable! On Cagney's wedding night, he says, "I bet you HAD to marry the bim" (i.e., bimbo).

Little touches enliven this movie throughout -- like Cagney throwing his hat into Young's apartment when she's mad at him, to see if she'll leave it in or throw it back out. Charming incidentals add to the richness of the mosaic. (How poetical!)

You don't see a lot of taxis but you do see a gangster movie

[raskimono · 7/10 · 17 July 2002]

Good gangster movie set in the world of taxis. The movie is really a character study of one and a half men and one and a half women. Two rival taxi companies are in a war to gain turf and territory. When the turf wars end, people die and revenge or forgiveness is the scorecard. The women represented by Loretta Young are willing to forgive and move on but the men represented by Jimmy Cagney won't and are on course to set their lives back. The love story is unequivocally well-written and the final scene escapes certain cliches that have come before within the movie to pack a powerful punch. It was a big hit for WB in 1932, and is definitely worth a see.

Are You Lookin At Me?

[1930s_Time_Machine · 6/10 · 23 December 2022]

Nothing could be more typical of early 30s Warner Brothers than this. Daryl Zanuck was pumping out about fifty motion pictures a year - not for the learned, not for the artists, not for the sophisticated dinner party sets but for the ordinary people whom The Depression had chewed up and unceremoniously spat out. These films were about people and for people whom society, authority and big business had treated like dirt. Zanuck's Warner Brothers was the people's studio and James Cagney was the people's actor. TAXI is not as powerful as the more 'campaigning' WB films of that era but it still has Zanuck's familiar: "we're on you side, boys" feel about it which when watched today still feels warm and caring.

What's fascinating watching this today is realising what a different race of people we are compared with those who lived here ninety years ago. It's amazing how different our attitudes were: how violence was so much more widespread and normalised. One could not imagine a scriptwriter today having a gentle old man (Guy Kibbee ) gunning down someone simply because he destroys his taxi - let alone the general casual use of guns, knives and fists used in response to things which today might just elicit 'a hard stare' (in the case of Paddington anyway!) Equally fascinating is how our attitudes, the way we treat each other - especially the relationship between men and women has changed. This is one of Cagney's least likeable characters, he's a violent, uncouth yob who treats Loretta Young absolutely horribly and yet he's the hero of the film. Loretta Young's feisty, self-assured character, Sue, is very much a modern woman and yet she simply accepts that that's just the way he is, this is how things are and so loves him just the same - different times!

As stupid as it is, I find myself comparing this with Scorsese's masterpiece TAXI DRIVER. Of course that's an idiotic thing to do but there are some similarities (besides the obvious). They're both broken people struggling to survive and struggling to have a relationship. However whereas Robert De Niro is a lonely repressed psychopath about to explode, James Cagney's psychopath's pressure is constantly leaking out through his uncontrollable temper. This temper is uncontrollable and although all the misfortunes which befall him are all because of it, he shows no remorse, no acknowledgment that all this is his fault, no realisation that he needs to change his ways.

However many times I see Loretta Young in these early 30s movies I am always shocked, amazing and astounded at how unbelievably pretty she is. Not in a sexual or saucy way, she's almost like a painting come to life. That aside, she seriously is an exceptional actress and portrays a very authentic believable young woman we can instantly empathise with and she is only 18! Can she change Cagney's character, if anyone can reform him, surely someone as optimistic, positive and sensible as she can? No, it's a hopeless task. The violence, the uncontrollable temper is as much a part of him as his own blood and bone. Like De Niro, where Cagney has come from, that cruel and brutal world has made him who he is. Growing up in the squalid slums of New York at the beginning of the century was especially tough for the Irish kids.

Overall this is entertaining and reasonably exciting upbeat movie. It is snappily directed and as it's a cost conscious WB production where every millimetre of film has to be used efficiently, there no time wasted on padding so it zips along. It's well acted by everyone, even the bit players - Leila Bennett as the annoying friend who never shuts up is particularly good and offers a good contrast with Loretta Young's quiet and considered persona. Worth an hour of your time.

Opposites attract, but can they coexist?

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 1 January 2013]

That's the question this 70 minute little movie asks in reference to hot-head independent cab driver Matt Nolan (James Cagney) and waitress Sue Riley (Loretta Young). The two are brought together after Sue's dad, Pop Riley (Guy Kibbee), has his cab deliberately smashed by a truck driver due to a war between the independent cab drivers such as Pop and Consolidated Cab. Pop grabs a gun and shoots the smirking truck driver dead in the back.

Pop dies in prison and Sue becomes a pacifist, urging the other cab drivers to shun violence. Matt wants the cab drivers to take the fight to the Consolidated Cab company. Matt and Sue are attracted to each other despite their differences and marry. Matt promises to change and keep a lid on his hot head. But then a drunken member of Consolidated Cab's muscle men, Buck Gerard, kills Matt's brother and Matt wants to kill the guy himself before the cops can find him - anything the police can dish out is too good for his brother's murderer, he figures. But then Matt would be a murderer too and Sue will do anything to prevent having a second loved one sent to prison. How does this all work out? Watch and find out. Sure, Matt is in the wrong here, but Sue takes some questionable actions herself begging the question - why doesn't she just call the police and TELL THEM where Gerard is, once she knows? Warner Brothers keeps this rather routine plot interesting with a good solid cast. Besides leads Cagney and Young you have George E. Stone as Matt's cab driving friend and constantly gabbing Leila Bennett as Sue's friend Ruby, which make for very colorful double dates. Then there is David Landau who looks as mean as he acts here as Buck Gerard, the drunken muscle that kills Matt's brother. Dorothy Burgess is Marie, Buck's girl. She's an attractive well-spoken girl and you can't help but wonder what she sees in such an abusive slob who is bound to turn his violent personality on her from time to time.

Some strange coincidences of film history make this one worth watching closely. Notice who James Cagney's character loses the dance contest to in the opening half hour or so - George Raft, famous for his Charleston, as an uncredited extra! During that dance contest a small part of "Yankee Doodle" plays, 10 years before Cagney plays the song's author, George M. Cohan.

Also, when Sue and Matt are double dating with Skeets and Leila they are going to the movies. The camera shows they are going to watch "Her Hour of Love" starring Donald Cook and Evelyn Knapp, both Warner Brothers stars of the day. They even show a rather stilted love scene from the movie once inside the theater. Problem is, that film never existed! I wonder why Warner Bros. just didn't show a clip from a real film they were trying to promote at the time rather than going to all of this trouble? It would have been cheaper, and, after all, the word "cheap" was music to Jack Warner's ears.

Classic Cagney

[barryrd · 8/10 · 29 September 2011]

The early 1930's in New York City is the scene for this movie where men fight one another for advantage in the taxi business. The women in their lives get embroiled in the crime wave that breaks out. Jimmy Cagney is Matt Nolan, the pugnacious rabble rouser and the little guy with a chip on his shoulder in a role that defines his mannerisms and style as the lovable tough guy. Loretta Young is Sue Riley, the daughter of a driver who gets killed in the working class warfare, who Cagney falls in love with. She is every bit as spunky in her effort to stop the vicious rivalry that took the life of her father. Young became one of the most loved actresses of her time. She made this movie in her late teens and is brilliant. Leila Bennett is Ruby, Sue's close friend, who delivers a large measure of humor and her New York twang gives it that extra zing. The movie takes us through the streets and into the ballrooms and apartments of depression era New York. Judging by the names, the characters are mostly Irish, with Irish cops and priest to complete the picture. However, it is Cagney and Young who shine. When he falls for Sue, Matt is putty in her hands but when his temper gets the better of him, the romance wanes. Sue is every bit as lovestruck when Matt kisses and flirts with her. This is a crime movie with lots of fun and a great slice of New York City life but most of all, I liked the match-up of the two stars, who are at their best.

"I wouldn't go for that dame if she was the last woman on Earth and I just got out of the Navy."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 22 July 2014]

James Cagney plays a cab driver whose quick temper causes problems in his relationship with Loretta Young, who hates violence. When his kid brother is killed, Cagney is out for vengeance. But getting it may cost him the woman he loves.

Jimmy's great. He makes a sometimes unlikable character relatable. Loretta is very pretty and endearing. George E. Stone, Guy Kibbee, Leila Bennett, and David Landau are part of the nice cast. George Raft has a bit part where he gets socked out by Cagney. Opening scene where Cagney speaks Yiddish is a classic. This is the movie where Cagney yells at his brother's killer "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" This would later be misquoted as "You dirty rat, you killed my brother!" and would become a staple of Cagney impressions.

"I'll knock her nose around her ear!"

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 25 July 2007]

Starting out, I'd have to say that you'd be hard pressed to come up with a more attractive screen couple than the young James Cagney and Loretta Young. What got them there however, and what ensues is a somewhat haphazard mess of a story, though memorable for a lot of great scenes and characterizations, not the least of which is a quick appearance by George Raft during a dance contest!

As always, Cagney lights up the screen with his commanding presence; here he's an independent taxi cab driver about to get embroiled in a dispute against a rival cab company that threatens the livelihood of the independents. Young's character, Sue Riley, is the daughter of a cab driver who dies in Sing Sing after killing a Consolidated goon who wrecked his vehicle. Uncharacteristically, Sue pleads for restraint at a meeting of the independent drivers, embarrassing Matt Nolan (Cagney) who wants more aggressive action. The first 'huh?' moment of the story occurs when Nolan and Sue are seen getting lovey dovey on line at a movie theater, when in the moment earlier scene she slapped his face, prompting the Cagney quote in my summary line above. But say, wasn't that the slickest wedding proposal ever when Cagney slipped the ring on Young's finger? - very smooth!

The film gets some good mileage out of secondary characters as well, with George E. Stone as Nolan's pal Skeets, and Sue's girlfriend Ruby, played by Leila Bennett. Ruby is comically annoying with her ceaseless chatter about nothing in particular, though conversations about fish dying an unnatural death and her own matrimonial prospects are noteworthy. It was probably convenient for her to be dating Skeets whenever the couples went out, but how would you like to be on the receiving end of "Come on, I feel like being bored and you can do the job better than anybody I know." You know, it didn't surprise me when she told Skeets her favorite actor was Joe E. Brown - who would have guessed?

Still, if you examine the film with any sense of credibility, you'll be left wondering about a whole host of questions. Like what did Marie (Doroth Burgess) ever see in Buck Gerard (David Landau)? What would make ANYONE think they could get financial help for the killer of one's own brother-in law? How could Sue rat out her husband when the cops came calling on the Gerard apartment (quite convenient timing I might add)? And why, oh why, didn't Nolan, or anyone, ever reveal to Sue Riley that it was Buck Gerard who set up her father's 'incident' that sent him away to prison?

Which makes the ending just a little TOO tidy for my taste, not that Matt and Sue couldn't live happily ever after, but geez, she pulled a gun on him just a few scenes earlier. BUT, if you're a James Cagney fan, this is a pretty good showcase for his talent, including some snappy Yiddish dialog, a fox trot that should have beaten Raft, and a quick tap dance at Sue's apartment. I'll watch it again!

All Hail

[Bolesroor · 8/10 · 9 July 2005]

This of course is not the classic sitcom Taxi (Tankyouveddymuch) or the Jimmy Fallon turkey-burger of 2004 but an early Warner Bros crime-romance-action-drama, the kind of sprawling but contained movie that packs a ton into a short period. James Cagney is a cabdriver on the streets of New York during the taxi wars, a real-life battle for business that led to almost as much violence and strong-arming as shown in the picture.

First I have to take a moment to praise Cagney... he was a screen star in every sense of the word, and held a physicality that has never been matched since... whether fighting, dancing, or romancing, (all three of which he does in the movie) he's got a presence like no other. It becomes almost comically enjoyable in this movie to see him lose his temper and beat the living daylights out of anyone who looks at him funny. Not even Loretta Young- as his love interest and later wife- is spared the big fist.

This movie was made in the years before Hollywood had such strict rules about language and implications, and not only is violence a way of life but sex is openly and repeatedly referenced. It's not perfect... Loretta Young's character of Sue crosses the line about two-thirds into the movie and goes too far in preventing her husband from becoming a murderer. (She's willing to rat him out and have him locked up for attempted murder while protecting the man who killed his brother AND her father?) My only other question about the film was why Cagney's character Nolan never told Sue that Buck Gerard was the man who set up her father and had his cab destroyed... it would seem an obvious revelation in explaining his motivations and might have made her back off just a bit in her efforts to stop him.

Otherwise the movie is great... Young's monotone friend- whiny and horse-faced- is hilarious, and I'm amazed at the real New York vibe they got in a movie obviously made in Hollywood. Cagney and Young share a great chemistry, and the movie is definitely worth a look as an early-era Hollywood lost classic.

Tough Taxi Driver Threatens All With a Punch in the Face, Even His Girl - And She Don't Mind!

[movingpicturegal · 7/10 · 20 January 2006]

I would basically break this film down into three parts - the movie starts out as a story of independent New York City taxicab drivers up against the Consolidated Cab Company, who are using strong arm tactics to boot the independents out of business. Loretta Young is fine as pretty waitress Sue Riley whose dad Pop Riley (Guy Kibbee) shoots a man (hired by Consolidated) who wrecks his cab on purpose in an effort by Consolidated to take over Pop's corner taxi business. Second part of the film takes a sudden turn into a romance between Sue and independent cab driver Matt Nolan (played by James Cagney), a conceited tough guy with a very bad temper, a constant chip on his shoulder and an urge to hit everyone who does him the slightest wrong. They go double dating, necking at the movies, enter a fox trot dancing contest, and bicker over the fact that he just can't stop getting into fights with people. He even picks a fight with a man who steps on his foot in the elevator on their way up to get a marriage license. The worst part is, Nolan threatens to hit Sue in the face multiple times during the film - and she marries him anyway (what a dope she is!). The third part of this film starts at the "Cotton Pickers Club" where we see, if briefly, an interesting floor show/dance number followed soon after by the stabbing death of Nolan's brother after Nolan has a confrontation with a man from Consolidated who was behind the attempted takeover of Pop Riley's taxi corner.

I find this film to be pretty good, though the character of Sue does a number of things in this film I really question and not just limited to marrying a man who threatens violence often (and actually does slap her in the face in one scene). The film includes some interesting interior shots such as the seafood restaurant where Sue works (complete with revolving glass door, fish tanks and 85 cent trout), the Harlem nightclub, and also some of the outdoor street scenes. The best part of the film is the strong performance of James Cagney who is always so great playing a tough guy such as this. We even get to see him dancing in a few scenes - it's fun to watch as Cagney and Loretta Young swirl around the dance floor doing the fox trot and later Cagney does a very brief tap dance in the apartment doorway. I do also enjoy the performance of Leila Bennett as Sue's daffy gal pal Ruby, who adds a bit of humor and fun to the film.

'30s-themed Warners programmer

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 23 March 2008]

"Taxi!" is a 1932 film starring James Cagney and Loretta Young, made after Cagney's big success in "Public Enemy." The '30s were a time when much of what was seen in theater and film reflected the plight of the blue-collar worker. Sophisticated drawing room comedies and rich folk were replaced by "Waiting for Lefty," "Golden Boy," "Awake and Sing" and the like.

The theme of taxi companies fighting the independent cabbies was used other films, "Born Reckless" in 1937 and "Big City" in 1937 being two. In "Taxi!" Sue (Loretta Young) sees her father (Guy Kibbee) go to prison for killing a driver sent by a thug named Gerard who deliberately smashes his taxi. He dies in prison; later on, Gerard stabs the younger brother of Matt (Cagney) and kills him. Matt and Sue fall in love, despite being on opposite sides of the fence - she's against violence, he's all for it - and get married. Matt can't let go of wanting revenge against Gerard.

The film is dated not only because of its theme but also the depiction of acceptable spousal abuse. However, it's notable for evoking a New York atmosphere and for the fact that Cagney speaks Yiddish at the beginning of the film. This was added to the movie when it was found out that Cagney knew Yiddish. Young is incredibly beautiful but maybe a little too classy, and Cagney does what will be a familiar role for him well. One poster here thought that Leila Bennett as Ruby was hilarious; to me she was totally annoying. Four years later, she made her last film.

"Taxi!" is interesting for the cast, but you'll be turned off when Matt let's Sue have it. Look for George Raft as a competitor in a dance contest.

A Snapshot of a Place and Time**SPOILERS**

[Noir-It-All · 19 July 2002]

After years as a James Cagney fan, I finally saw Taxi on TCM. I liked it, but my viewing experienced was influenced by how our culture has finally learned, during the seventy years since this movie was made, to challenge, not accept, physical and verbal abuse between men and women.

So, although James Cagney was as bracing as ever, Loretta Young sympathetic and beautiful and the evocation of the street life of New York City of the early Depression Years quite energizing, it was difficult to watch Cagney's treatment of Young, which didn't differ at all from his treatment of everyone. In fact, his inability to control his temper was the true theme of the film, ostensibly about a turf war between cab companies. It started with his verbal taunts of violence toward Young the morning after a cabbie meeting, at which Young preached love, not war, to the outrage of Cagney. This arguement ended with Young slapping Cagney. Next, inexplicably, they are shown well into a dating relationship that alternates between treacly sweetness, and, on a dime, all-out displays of his temper. Entertaining scenes of double-dating with their sidekicks at the hot spots of the time follow, culminating at a dance contest. (The relationship between their friends is not much better. She orders him around; he minimizes and discounts her desirability to him.) Cagney is shown pushing his love interest away, completely out of the frame, as he embarks on a fist fight with the male half of the couple who won the dance contest.

It comes as no surprise that, after their marriage, Cagney slaps Young on the face when he discovers she tried to buy peace by lending money to the girlfriend of the man who killed his brother (so he can get out of town so Cagney can't kill him and make her a wife of a murderer!). Although Young speaks out against his mistreatment of other people, she never reacts after his mistreatment of her. In between violent outbursts, they sweetly and sentimentally embrace. Even so, at the end, when she is preparing to leave him, he enters the apartment expecting her to enthusiastically take him back. She embarasses him by hesitating for quite a while before doing so.

Of course, Cagney's charisma is such that you can't take your eyes off him. You get the impression that Warner's had to invent cinematic techniques just to keep up with him. But the script's implicit acceptance of his character's entitlement to violence toward his wife was unsettling to me.

A worthwhile if not entirely smooth ride

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 26 November 2018]

James Cagney was always a more than watchable actor and no stranger to good and more performances in good and more films. He was my main reason for seeing 'Taxi' in the first place, as well as my love for classic film, which has been present for many years, and that it was recommended to me by many fans of Cagney. The premise was an interesting one too.

Am very happy at 'Taxi' being recommended to me, because it was a lot of fun and more than worthwhile. It is not without its flaws (which are not many but they are there and they are sadly not small) and bumps, and it is not one of Cagney's very best in terms of performances and films, but there is a huge amount to recommend and it does deserve to be seen more. If asked whether 'Taxi' is worth a watch, my answer would be yes and there is no hesitation saying that.

Cagney, as well as being my main reason to watch it, is also one of the main reasons why 'Taxi'. His character is not one of his more likeable characters, but the intensity and charisma is more than there and he is never less than compelling. He is more than well matched by a charming and spunky Loretta Young and their chemistry blisters. All but one of the supporting actors acquit themselves well in their performances, the biggest impressions coming from George E. Stone and sinister David Landau.

'Taxi' is directed in a no-nonsense, tight and fat-free fashion, while the cracking script and fast pace are also big assets. The story is never less than absorbing, with a few surprising scenes. While not exactly audacious, the production values suit the tone of the story very well, stark and moody.

Not without its drawbacks however. At only over an hour, 'Taxi' did feel a bit too short.

Bigger issues however were the contrived and out-of-kilter ending, where what happens really is difficult to accept, and the insufferably annoying performance of Leila Bennett, monotonous droning has rarely grated as much as it did here.

Overall, good and more than worthwhile. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Taxi driver circa 1932

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 8 July 2005]

(Minor Spoilers) Yiddish-speaking and two-fisted Irish New York taxi driver Matt Nolan ,James Cagney, learns the hard and deadly way that violence isn't the answer to solving one's problems.

With the Consolitated Cab Company trying to run all the independent taxi drivers out of business the company's hired hoodlum Buck Gerard, David Landau, tries to get Pop Riley, Guy Kibbee, off his corner by threatening him.

Pop refuses to leave and later one of Gerard's thugs truck diver Bull Martin,Nat Pendleton,rams his truck into Pop's cab totaling it. Pop mad as hell tries to slug Bull but is knocked down and then pulls a gun from his pocket and shoots Bull dead. Given ten years behind bars poor Pop doesn't last a week in Osssining, the State Pen, and dies a broken man.

Pop's daughter Sue, Loretta Young,is so hurt over his death and what caused it, his losing his cool, that at a taxi union meeting she gives a level-headed talk that's opposite the rip-roaring speech that Matt gave, against those who caused Pop to end up behind bars and later dead,that he want's to belt her right in the kisser for giving it. Matt soon starts to fall in love with Sue and later they get married.

After the wedding at City Hall the newlyweds go uptown to the popular "Cottonpickers Club" to celebrate only to run into Gerard, who's dead drunk. Exchanging words Matt lays out the nasty Gerard after he made a very insulting remark about Sue with a quick right. Matt's kid brother Danny, Ray Cook, jumped in between the two to breakup the fight only to end up getting a knife in his back by Gerard.

At the local hospital young Danny never regained consciousness and died leaving Matt hurt bitter and vengeful to make Gerard, who fled the scene of his crime, pay for what he did. Sue remembering what happened to her dad due to his loss of control doesn't want the same to happen to her husband Matt and tries to prevent him from killing Gerard and to let the police and the court do the job of bringing him to justice.

Trying to get Gerard away from Matt's retribution Sue together with Gerard's moll Marie, Dorthy Burgess,try to get him out of the country before Matt gets his hands on him in order to prevent Matt from becoming a murderer by offing Gerard.

Early James Cagney and Loretta Young movie that tell's and show's it's audience that using one's brains is far more effective then using one's fists to try to make things right. it was a lesson that Matt needed to make him realize how destructive he was, to both his friends and enemies, in his harsh and Neanderthal ways of doing things.

Look for a young George Raft in the movie as a competing dancer, with his girlfriend, to Matt & Sue at a local dance contest. Raft win the contest only to get belted by a sore losing and angry Matt.

"Buck Gerard" is the sort of brazen NYC killer who would brag that he could . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 22 October 2019]

. . . gun down someone on Fifth Avenue in front of scores of witnesses, and that no jury would convict him of this overt crime! With TAXI!, the always eponymous Warner Bros. warn America that the USA always has included a populous encompassing a cancerous 43% "Basket of Deplorables" who have signed on the dotted line with "Old Scratch." Individuals of this ilk lack souls, consciences, or any civilized scruples whatsoever, and perpetually perpetrate outrages such as the Alamo, Pickett's Charge, Wounded Knee, San Juan Hill, Tulsa, Mississippi Burning, My Lai, Abu Ghraib, and the Big Rotten Apple Cab Wars, as depicted by Warner Bros.' prophetic prognosticators in TAXI. So what does Warner suggest be done with these demons shaped like humans, such as "B. Gerard," "M. McConnell," "L. Graham," or "D. Trump" himself? A best case, "no fuss, no muss" scenario could involved self-deportation, the renunciation of U.S. Citizenship, and permanent exile with a single change of clothes, which Warner depicts as Buck's original Exit Scheme A. However, the seers behind TAXI realized that this was too good of a fate for mob boss ringleaders such as Buck. Warner ultimately recommends that We Patriots of the (then far) Future simply shove this sorry lot of miscreants out high-rise windows, UNLESS it proves more convenient to Guillotine the Top 10,000 or so traitorous Red Commie KGB pawns for High Treason on Pay-Per-View live TV.

Movie with Cagney's Most Famous Quote

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 31 October 2022]

Funny how actual lines delivered by actors in movies can be twisted into something different. Comedy impersonators, when mimicking actor James Cagney, always say his supposed signature line " You dirty rat, you killed my brother." Trouble is the actor never said that quote in any of his movies besides a hint of it in 1931's "Blonde Crazy." Notwithstanding that, the closest he came to say the phrase was in January 1932's "Taxi!" Towards the end of the film, Matt Nolan (Cagney) has one of his antagonists, Buck Gerard (David Landau), who had earlier killed Matt's brother Dan, cornered in a locked closet. With revolver in hand, Matt yells, "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!"

Cagney has been called cinema's first tough "street kid" movie star, and his fast-talking, wise-guy attitude made him popular with theater goers. Under the direction of Roy Del Ruth, one of Hollywood's highest paid directors in the 1930s, "Taxi!" centers on two competing taxi companies encroaching on each other's turf in New York City. A bloody rivalry between Matt and Buck's taxi companies leads to the death of cab driver Pop Riley (Guy Kibbee), who was defending his long-cherished taxi stand. His daughter, Sue (Loretta Young), finds herself attracted to Matt, but the rocky relationship has its powder keg moments whenever Matt loses his temper. During one episode, they are in a dancing contest competing with another couple, led by young actor George Raft. Both Cagney and Raft in real life came from professional dancing backgrounds and it shows on the floor. But Cagney erupts when he's called names, and explodes like a ticking time bomb.

Cagney had to learn how to drive for his role as a cab driver in "Taxi!" Living in New York City all his life, the actor didn't feel a need to handle a car before. He's also seen in the beginning of the film speaking fluent Yiddish to a customer he's picked up. He learned the language as a boy and is heard comfortably conversing with his Jewish customer. And there's a scene where, as practiced at the time, real bullets were sprayed by a firearms expert onto a nearby wall, barely missing Cagney. The bullets came so close, he vowed to never do a scene using real ammunition, a promise kept throughout his acting career.

The one actress who has more lines than Cagney and Young in "Taxi!" was Sue's friend Ruby (Leila Bennett). Her insistent talking contrasts with Loretta's more measured dialogue. Bennett was a recent arrival to Hollywood, appearing on the New York stage since 1919. In just her second role, she played the assistant maid to Marie Dressler in "Emma" before receiving the role in "Taxi." She voluntarily gave up film acting in 1936 soon after she married the manager of Palm Beach's Beach Club Restaurant and Casino, Francis Keough, where she divided her time between New York City and Florida.

You dirty rat!

[CinedeEden · 7/10 · 31 January 2023]

This review is going to be a little biased because I am a big James Cagney fan. The plot of the film was one half about taxis and the other half was a love story/gangster motion picture. The films plot almost played like a bad B movie I have rated on here from time to time (i will not review those films unless i have reason to) . The film is however memorable for the famous mis quoted line in the film "you dirty rat" also the scene were Loretta young and James Cagney were in a dancing competition which was my personal favorite because it stared future scarface actor geroge raft in an uncredited role and the dancing competition reminded me of my grandmother who said she and my grandfather would go to dance competitions when they were younger. The films flaw was the plot besides the memorable scenes. Oh wait major spoiler donald cook is in this film (donald cook played james cagneys brothers in the public enemy 1931) he plays an actor james cagney takes his girlfriend to go see the movie with. While James Cagneys character is watching the film he says "his ears are too big" referring to Donald Cook. I did not like Leila Bennett in this film and maybe it was because of her voice.

Taxi Wars

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 26 April 2007]

Something better than Taxi should have been given for a film in the one and only teaming of screen legends James Cagney and Loretta Young. It's a typical Thirties Warner Brothers potboiler about a taxi cab conglomerate making war on independent hacks. Of course you know that Cagney is the good Irish son of New York City leading the independents against the strong arm tactics of David Landau.

Landau is the best thing in Taxi, a real brute of a guy whether he's the head goon of Consolidated Taxi or a hunted fugitive after he kills Cagney's brother.

Taxi is just the kind of stuff that Cagney was trying so hard to get away from, scripts like these were what he was constantly battling with Jack Warner over, Cagney wanted better and eventually got it. Young has little to do but be the valiant wife.

Who pulls something incredibly stupid in the script. At the beginning her father kills one of the Landau goons and goes to prison and dies there. She doesn't like violence, but I refuse to believe she'd aid Landau just to keep Cagney away from a vengeance killing. I also can't believe that Landau's girl friend Dorothy Burgess would ever approach her with such a loony scheme.

George Raft has a bit part as a rival dancer to Cagney in a marathon dance contest. With the dancing background of both these guys, what a missed opportunity it was not to have them in a number together.

However Taxi is memorable for one thing. Cagney who learned to speak several languages growing up in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, got a great chance to show off what fluent Yiddish was at his command in a great scene with a potential fare.

Straight from Delancey Street, darling.

Cagney's range overcomes Taxi's flaws

[gbill-74877 · 8/10 · 10 May 2018]

Made just one year after 'The Public Enemy', James Cagney had truly made it in Hollywood when this film was made, and here he's engaging as always. However, while it's wonderful to see him dance a couple times (and to see George Raft dance as well), it's less than wonderful to see his character's pugnaciousness extending to threatening to hit his girlfriend (Loretta Young) several times. If you're sensitive to that, you may want to skip this one. Even at age 19, Young was practically an industry veteran given her filmography, and she turns in a good performance, both standing up to Cagney (at least to some extent) and falling for him. She also confessed to falling for him in real life, and maybe some of that chemistry shows.

It's a tight script and story-telling from director Roy Del Ruth, but it is a little silly how much Young's character helps Cagney's enemy (David Landau). I loved the stock city shots in New York that are used in transitions, and the film zips along in its 69 minutes. The scene in the nightclub, with music by the Cotton Club Orchestra and some sexy dancing, is also a nice little bit of pre-code fun, as is Young briefly in her lingerie in a typical pre-code dressing scene. The main reason to watch the film, though, is to see Cagney's range. He's playful, romantic, speaks Yiddish, dances, and of course gets tough, busting off lines like "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" Despite its flaws, it's entertaining, and worth seeing.

several factors ruin this movie

[jaybour · 5/10 · 10 October 2014]

Leila Bennett's droning was endless, intrusive, grating, and monotonous. She single-handedly ruined every scene in which she was featured, and there were far too many of those; oh, what a Fanny Brice or Judy Holliday could have done with this role! Also, Loretta's character forgiving Cagney's at the end of the movie is reprehensible and stomach-turning - all women should hate this facile and callous resolution. Cagney's character had absolutely no redeeming qualities. And how the hell did he get away with attempted murder? Definitely not my favourite Cagney vehicle although I really, really liked Loretta Young despite the ending foisted upon her.

Pugnacious Cagney manages to be likable even when his character is obnoxious...

[Doylenf · 29 September 2011]

TAXI takes the James Cagney persona to extremes in the context of showing him as a tough guy with a fist in love with a girl (Loretta Young) who abhors violence. The love you/hate you relationship between Cagney and Young is what keeps the movie interesting as the story develops, but the stupid things that Young's character does to keep her man from killing the thug who killed her brother-in-law is too incredible to swallow.

Thankfully, we have some funny and romantic moments that Cagney and Loretta Young manage to do beautifully. She looks lovely throughout and it's her sweet natured temperament that makes it hard to understand why she would be attracted to a man like Cagney in the first place. He's promising to stop his hot tempered violence in an attempt to convince her to marry him, but never manages to cool it.

Despite all the loopholes in the script and many flaws, this is a tidy little melodrama, very dated in its subject matter, with Cagney stealing the spotlight all the way through. Most annoying feature of the film is the so-called comic relief of Leila Bennett whose nasal voice and flat one-liners are supposed to invoke laughter. It doesn't work.

Worth a view to see early Cagney, but the motivations for Young's character are unbelievable.