I’ve just finished reading Doug Warren’s official James Cagney biography. After the Orson one, I was in a biog mood (actually, a mood to read more on Orson, but that’ll have to wait), and mom recommended this, which she’d read and enjoyed some time ago.
I’m not a big Cagney fan, really. I think he was a great personality and a fine actor, but many of the films he appeared in were not to my taste. (Reading this book, ironically, I find they often weren’t to Cagney’s taste either.) With Cagney being a rather private person, and this book being authorised, it’s a pretty slim volume, and eschews a lot of in-depth probing… but there’s still some interesting insight.
Most interesting is the dichotomy he shared with so many others of his generation and background—on one hand, he would casually and persistently dismiss his work as ‘just a job’; on the other, he fought tirelessly for his rights and for the chance to do the kind of films he wanted to do. He hated his ‘hoodlum’ image. But if it was ‘just a job,’ why would he care? It’s a tendency that is both endearing and mildly frustrating.
On the whole, it was an enjoyable read, although I think it raised more questions than it answered.
In personal news, ignoring the New Deal trouble, the legal process of our house sale/purchase seems to running smoothly and fairly quickly. That’s something to feel okay about!
The weather today was appallingly hot. I had to go out to run a few errands, and the experience was not pleasant. It felt like I discharged more fluid than I have in my entire body. It was surely the hottest day of the year so far. I might have thought it was just me, only other people seemed to be feeling it too. It was hot enough to cause ‘lipstick meltdown’ on a tube of said gunk that was standing on my chest of drawers.
Some people actually like this weather. Go figure.