Smart Money

The only film ever to star both Edward G and Jimmy Cagney together. Made in 1931 during the Warner Bros heyday of gangster blood and guts, it represents a slight departure for them both.Eddie G plays a small town gambler - a big fish in a little pond so to speak - with big ideas. His friends put a 10K poke together and send him off to the city to try his luck with the big boys. He is soon sucked into a crooked game by a sexy blonde at the hotel cigar counter. The scam artists soon take him to the cleaners. He is then humiliated by the sexy blonde and Sleepy Sam, played with delicious menace by Ralf Harolde.He is joined by his pal Jimmy Cagney, and they put together another grubstake. This time, they outcon the cons, humiliate the blonde and he becomes the biggest gambler in town. It becomes clear throughout the movie, that Eddie is learning on the job, but his one very big blind spot is his attraction to blondes. Gee, I can't understand it - a short, dark, rather unattractive guy falling for some of the sexiest females on celluloid.Well, the results are predictable,though I have to admit, the final blonde was a genuine surprise. It was the process that was interesting.The pairing of Robinson and Cagney was a masterpiece. They played off each other like dueling banjos. It is too bad that they both got so big they couldn't fit on the same screen together again.