Capsule Film Reviews - 3/14/14

A few thoughts on some movies recently watched or re-watched:

Each Dawn I Die (1939) - This Jimmy Cagney vehicle is intended as an exposé of prison conditions, and is particularly damning toward solitary confinement. Which, sadly, makes the subject matter as relevant as ever 75 years later. Unfortunately, adherence to the Code means that the prison conditions are far too antiseptic and the messaging is too muddled for it to be effective as a message movie. Yet Cagney is Cagney, and his charisma and intensity are enough to sustain the picture and make it worth a viewing, if perhaps not move it to the top of Cagney's oeuvre. Screened via Warner Archive Instant.