SMART MONEY.
Edward G Robinson & James Cagney,
Boris Karloff, Evalyn Knapp, Ralf Harolde.
Dir: Alfred E Green, 1931, Warner Bros.

SYNOPSIS:
Warner Bros were usually so astute at spotting money spinning ventures, we can only wonder at why they failed to capitalise on teaming up Cagney and Robinson, leaving them both to dwindle in a thin plot with a sketchy script. You'd have thought it would've been hyped like a 30s version of the Heat stand-off between Pacino and De Niro but unfortunately the meeting of Little Ceasar and the Public Enemy just wasn't that big a deal at the time.

"Meanwhile the quickies rolled on. In my second Hollywood year, 1931, came Smart Money, the only picture I ever made with that fine gentleman and splendid actor Edward G Robinson. Again Eddie was a gangster and I was his pal. I saw Smart Money not long ago because I was curious about it. Looking at it again gave me the pleasure of seeing Eddie as his usual self, that always solidly reliable self."
- Jimmy Cagney.

"There was much in common between the two stars. They were both Hollywood illusions, in a way. Short, dynamic men manipulated by the camera to seem tough and domineering. Cagney had always delighted in throwing a line or two of Yiddish into his films. The two traded Yiddish gags and became friends."
- Alan Gansberg, E G Robinson biographer.

REVIEWS:
"Rather ordinary crime drama, a distinct letdown for its star after Little Caesar."
- Leslie Halliwell.
"It will have no trouble upholding its title at the box office."
- Variety.