City for Conquest
1940  NR  DRAMA  1h 44min
CAST— James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Frank Craven, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Frank McHugh, George Tobias, Elia Kazan, Anthony Quinn
MUSIC— Max Steiner  DIRECTOR— Anatole Litvak

     A young easy going boxer from the slums of NYC, Young Samson rises up the ranks, soon to be the welterweight champion of the world. All the while, his dance champion girlfriend is touring the country with a no-good snob who sees everything in dollars and cents. As miserable as she is, she still holds onto the hope of being with Samson again. Now, as Samson enters the ring for the big fight, things are looking up. That is until his opponent smears poison on his gloves. After being struck in the face, Samson gets the junk in his eyes, blinding him. With his boxing career kaput, he becomes a newspaper vendor right back where he started. The first ¾ of the film holds little interest, unless you’re into repetitive Dancing With the Stars drivel, complete with banal soap opera dialogue, but the boxing holds some excitement. Cagney fans may appreciate this one more that others would.
OUR RATING— **