Great Guy 1936

Format: PAL or NTSC (Region Free (0)) will play on US systems. Please read the FAQ below.

Great Guy is a 1936 American crime film noir directed by John G. Blystone and starring James Cagney. In the film, an honest inspector for the New York Department of Weights and Measures takes on corrupt merchants and politicians.

After the Chief Deputy of the Department of Weights and Measures is nearly killed in a car accident engineered by corrupt politician Marty Cavanaugh, he enlists ex-boxer Johnny Cave (Cagney) to take over his position. Johnny learns from Joe Green, the chief deputy, that there are men who are higher up in the organization than Marty. As the new leader, Johnny reiterates to his team the importance of their department and warns them that corruption is an ongoing hazard.

Johnny then goes out into the field with his naive partner, Patrick James "Aloysius" Haley, investigating merchants who are accused of using faulty measures and cheating the public. He ends up fining a market for adding lead weights to stewing chickens and fining a gas station for routinely shortchanging its customers. In each case, the merchants try to bribe Johnny in exchange for ignoring their corrupt practices, but he adamantly refuses. Meanwhile, Johnny's fiancee, Janet Henry, criticizes him for being constantly hardheaded in his indefatigable pursuit of fighting corruption.

Later on, Cavanaugh offers Johnny a cushy job with his organization in exchange for turning a blind eye to his citywide racket. After he refuses, Johnny is framed for both drunk driving and a robbery, but is then "exonerated" by an ornery Cavanaugh, implying that he can make or break him. Afterwards, the mayor, a puppet for Cavanaugh, offers Johnny a high paying job, but once again he refuses.

When Johnny learns that Janet's boss, Abel Canning, has been swindling a local orphanage by sending them half-shipments of food but charging them full-price, he declares that he's going to expose him for the criminal that he is. Once he realizes that Canning is in an alliance with both the mayor and Cavanaugh, Johnny releases the orphanage story to the newspapers, which angers his fiancee and eventually leads to her breaking their engagement.

As Johnny prepares for the case against Canning, Cavanaugh hires a thug, ex-wrestler Joe Burton, to attack and steal the evidence from him. However, instead of turning over the evidence to Canning, Burton decides to blackmail him for $5,000. While at a big cocktail party, Canning gives Burton a $5,000 check in exchange for a key to his apartment where the evidence is hid. After Johnny notices Canning at the party with a skeleton key, he spots Burton exiting a side room. Johnny goes over to Burton and punches him in the face, then removes what he thinks is the stolen evidence from his jacket pocket, but instead discovers a check written by Canning. He then realizes that Canning is on his way to retrieve the evidence in Burton's apartment.

Meanwhile, at the apartment, Canning and Cavanaugh locate the evidence hidden behind some wallpaper in a closet. They are about to burn the papers when Johnny arrives just in time, preventing them from destroying the evidence. Then, thanks to a tip by Janet, the police arrive moments later and arrest the two men. Later on, with Johnny and Janet's engagement back on, he presents her with a ring that he got on the "installment plan," even though he knows it's a racket.

Run Time: 66 Minutes

FAQ

Item details: Such is the nature of many films from this era that video and audio quality can be variable, reflecting the rarity of these titles. The best available sources for sound and picture quality are used wherever possible though are not ‘restored’ and are not in high definition. Please click on the listing images to enlarge screenshots from the title for a better idea of picture quality. Items are supplied on a colour printed DVD in a clear plastic wallet sleeve and not in a full size case, no additional artwork is supplied.

Shipping: Orders are securely packaged and dispatched within two working days. Overseas shipping is by Royal Mail International Standard, which is reliable and reasonably priced but does not include tracking. A tracking option with added costs is available at checkout. Please let me know if your order has not arrived, I can always follow this up with the post office and send another if required. Combined shipping is available, just add all your items to the basket or cart prior to purchase.

Returns and Refunds: I offer a simple refund policy to buyers, if unhappy with your purchase for any reason I will refund in full plus shipping costs. This is so buyers can try titles with confidence, as mentioned very old (some near 100 years) and rare titles can have sources of variable quality, and I would not want buyers to be disappointed.

Any questions please feel free to message me via eBay