Taxi! (1932)
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77% of users liked it
(158 ratings)
A huge box office success and a key film in James Cagney's rise to stardom, this drama stars Cagney as Matt Nolan, a gritty New York City cab driver who is being squeezed by a monopolistic taxi trust which uses force to run him and other independent cabbies away from the most profitable… More A huge box office success and a key film in James Cagney's rise to stardom, this drama stars Cagney as Matt Nolan, a gritty New York City cab driver who is being squeezed by a monopolistic taxi trust which uses force to run him and other independent cabbies away from the most profitable locations. Nolan joins forces with Pop Riley (George Kibbee), whose cab is smashed by a truck when he refuses to cooperate with the syndicate. Kibbee is sent to prison for shooting at the truck driver. Nolan is dating his daughter, Sue (Loretta Young), and they enter a Peabody dance contest at a local nightclub. Cagney dances on screen for the first time, and so does George Raft as Willie Kenny, another dancing tough guy who was a friend of Cagney's, who pushed Warner Bros. to give Cagney the role. Nolan marries Sue Riley, and she tries to get him to cool down. But the taxi trust goons kill his brother Danny (Ray Cooke), and Nolan goes on a rampage. In several filmed gun battles, live machine-gun bullets are used, as they were in Cagney's famed The Public Enemy. This is the last time Cagney allowed that. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Directed By
- Roy Del Ruth
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Romance, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 23, 1932 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Sean Axmaker, Parallax View
How can you refuse a film that embraces non-violent arbitration and still gives a pass to Cagney taking revenge?
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John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Is James Cagney the greatest movie star in history? Watching 'Taxi!,' it's hard to vote no. As active as a terrier, as combustible as dynamite, he was made for motion pictures; he's so kinetic he threatens to ignite, like Johnny Blaze in 'Ghost Rider.'
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Just what a Depression audience wanted to see.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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James Cagney
as Matt Nolan
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Loretta Young
as Sue Reilly
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George E. Stone
as Skeets
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Guy Kibbee
as Pop Reilly
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Leila Bennett
as Ruby
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Dorothy Burgess
as Marie Costa
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Matt McHugh
as Joe Silva
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Berton Churchill
as Mr. West
- Donald Cook
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Ray Cooke
as Danny Nolan
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Cotton Club Orchestra
as Themselves
- Jesse De Vorska
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Eddie Fetherstone
as Dance Judge
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Aggie Herring
as Cleaning lady
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Evelyn Knapp
as Movie Star
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David Landau
as Buck Gerard
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George MacFarlane
as Father Nulty
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Robert E. O'Connor
as Cop with Jewish man
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Nat Pendleton
as Truckdriver
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Lee Phelps
as Onlooker
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Russell Powell
as Dance Judge
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George Raft
as William "Willie" Kenny
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Hector V. Sarno
as Monument Salesman
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Ben Taggart
as Cop
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Harry Tenbrook
as Cabbie
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Polly Walters
as Polly
