The Time of Your Life

MOVIE REVIEW OF The Time of Your Life (1948)

Cast
Director	h. c. potter	Runtime: 1hr 49min (109min)
joseph t.	.....	james cagney
nick	.....	william bendix
tom	.....	wayne morris
kitty duval	.....	jeanne cagney
krupp	.....	broderick crawford
mcCarthy	.....	ward bond
kit carson	.....	james barton
harry	.....	paul draper
mary l.	.....	gale page
dudley raoul bostwick	.....	james lydon
willie	.....	richard erdman
arab philosopher	.....	pedro de cordoba
wesley	.....	reginald beane
tippler	.....	john 'skins' miller
freddy blick	.....	tom powers
society lady	.....	natalie schafer
society gentleman	.....	howard freeman
lorene smith	.....	renie riano
elsie mandelspiegel	.....	nanette parks
nick's mother	.....	grazia narciso
'killer'	.....	claire carleton
side kick	.....	gladys blake
newsboy	.....	lanny rees
nick's daughter	.....	marlene aames

PLOT SUMMARY

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan, this movie can be easily imagined being performed on the stage.

Joe (James Cagney) is the quintessential people watcher. He does things without specific purpose just because he can, and he enjoys what he does. That's what life is to him...doing what gives you kicks, no matter how useless those things may seem to others.

Every type of person stops in at Nick's Saloon, and this is without a doubt the reason why Joe is there constantly to do his people watching. Among some of the highlighted characters Joe sees on this particular day include a terrific tap dancer (Paul Draper-- a real life dancer and choreographer) looking for a spot in the entertainment section of the Pacific Street Saloon. Unfortunately for everyone, along with the dancing comes a unique form of comedy which reminds you more of a poetry reading at a beatnik coffee house.

Another constant is a desperate young man (James Lydon) who is helplessly in love and is waiting for his girl while contemplating his own life's meaning.

We meet a starving black fellow looking for a job. And, oh yeah...did I mention that he's pretty good on the old ivories?!

And I won't forget the young college boy who gets his spotlight in the story by winning six nickels at the pinball machine.

TECH INSPECTION

This movie is produced by James's brother William Cagney and features his sister Jeanne as Kitty Duval, a wannabe actress.

Seinfeld has been described as the show about nothing. Well that, in my opinion, is a misnomer, as there is an actual plot to each episode. More accurately, there are several sub-plots without a main storyline. Not so with The Time of Your Life. This really is a movie about nothing in particular. However it is one of the best uses of characterization I have ever seen. In fact, the movie itself is not much more than 2 hours of characterization. And I mean that in the most respectful and fascinating way.

James Cagney pulls off this role like it is second nature to him. This part fits him like a shoe, as easily as his signature gangster parts, yet completely different.

QUOTES
Finally, a short list of quotes I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:

• What's the dream now...? ~ Joe
• Be of help? What kind of help could she be of? ~ Dudley Raoul Bostwick
• I don't even like to walk...I guess it's because I never got anywhere walking. ~ Joe
• Well I can be funny, but they won't laugh. ~ Harry
• I believe dreams sooner than statistics. ~ Joe
• I don't suppose you ever fell in love with a midget weighing 39 pounds. ~ Murphy
• It takes an awful lot of rehearsal for a man to be himself. ~ Joe

Here is my personal rating of this movie. This rating is out of ten meows.
¹⁰ /₁₀ and I'd give it more if I could.

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