Never Steal Anything Small

There was little that James Cagney did wrong on the screen, but his career did have its share of dubious productions like this weird effort, which misses the mark despite Cagney's dynamic performance as Jake MacIllaney, a waterfront thug and would-be union president who sings and dances on the side. A self-taught, hard-nosed stevedore with eyes for a married woman, Jake has little in his nature that is lofty, pure, or idealistic. To make Linda (Shirley Jones) his, Jake tries to frame her lawyer husband (Roger Smith) with a corruption charge; meanwhile, to expedite his rise in the union, he commits perjury, bribery, grand larceny, and just about every other crime in...