Warner gangster stars Edward G Robinson and James Cagney team up for the first and only time in their careers. Edward G's a backstreets gambler who hits the big time (a pre-Frankenstein Boris Karloff is one of the cardsharps he beats along the way) and Cagney the right-hand man who looks after him. Cagney made the film at the same time (literally: he switched from set to set) as the film that made him a star, 'The Public Enemy'. Robinson, too, was unsure of his new stardom - until he went to the premiere of 'Smart Money', and had to hide on the floor of his car to avoid being mobbed by fans on the way. "I said to myself afterwards," he reminisced later, "Well, Eddie, I guess you're a movie star. " Both he and Cagney give dynamic performances in a film whose dialogue crackles with confidence right down to the last line.


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