Don't bite the hand that feeds you
BOY MEETS GIRL is the classic tale of two snooty authors (James Cagney and Pat O'Brien) who were lured to Hollywood by filthy lucre and snub everybody in sight - especially the bumptious cowboy-star for whom they write (Dick Foran).

The film begins when Foran, whose contract is about to expire, realizes that he needs a hit. His agent urges him to beseech the pampered script doctors. Cagney ("I nearly won the Pulitzer prize, now I write dialog for a horse") is not impressed with Foran's bragging ("I have many fans who would write me if they could write") but O'Brien's beautiful wife has a weakness for mink coats...

Studio head Ralph Bellamy ("I'm the studio's only college graduate. I'm a linguist") tries to arbitrate. His wholesome meals, his masseur, his literature (Proust) keep him busy but he finds time to remind his scriptwriters that they make more money than the U.S. President.

The fainting-fit of a good-natured but slightly pregnant waitress (Marie Wilson) kindles Cagney's and O'Brien's creative urge and they hatch a story about Foran finding an exposed baby on his threshold in the Rocky Mountains. The big star is not amused but his partnership with a little star who grows up publicly (like Jim Carrey in "the Truman Show") secures him a long-term contract. Cagney quickly obtains Wilson's authority...

Wilson is wise enough to appreciate the godsend ("I have a house, a car, a chauffeur") but Foran isn't. He gives himself airs, refuses to bathe the baby ("That's unmanly!"), complains that he has to work longer than the baby...His agent advises him to marry Wilson and wrench the authority for the baby from Cagney's and O'Brien's hands. But the resourceful duo decides to put him out of the running and hires a "father" from a casting agency (Cagney: "Send me a good-looking extra. A gentleman..."). When they stumble upon a charming Errol-Flynn-lookalike - who made already eyes at Wilson - they drum the line "Why did you leave me? I'm Happy's father" into his head and prompt him to deliver it on opening-night. (the scene Where radio announcer Ronald Reagan fights a hard battle against the young mother who is determined to tell everyhting that baby did to the last detail is hilarious).

Bellamy is furios since baby's illegitimacy sullies the studio's reputation. Even an elaborate disguise cannot help Cagney from becoming his prime suspect. Bellamy seizes the opportunity to peach on his former proteges and give them the air. They are soon joined by baby (who contracted the measles) and Foran (who caught them too).

As much as the authors play down their misfortune - being fired from the very studio they despise rankles in their mind. Will Cagney end as a recluse in a mountain lodge in Vermont? Will O'Brien's wife come back to him? (Cagney: "do you want her back?". O'Brien: "Yes. Why not?"). And there is still Foran who believes: "I'm a capital investment".

How enjoyable to see James Cagney and Pat O'Brien in a film that does NOT end with O'Brien saying his prayers at Cagney's deathbed...(I counted three!). This comedy was Cagney's first Warner film after his two-years holiday at poverty row. But his act of defiance paid: Jack Warner gave him better roles and a higher salary. Soon he was the best paid actor in Hollywood...the two high-browed but mischievous authors were of course modeled on Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, but Samuel and Bella Spewack did not miss the opportunity to perpetuate their own memory. Curios that they wrote this farce at all: I-hate-Hollywood stories come usually from those who were refused admittance to the club and these authors were very successful...The film is even more irreverent than SUNSET BLVD. not only superannuated actors are profaned, but obtuse producers - risky. And an illegitimate child was a novelty in censor-bullied Hollywood. (Wilson's performance tempers the blow: she looks as if she does not know where babies come from). Cagney's and O'Brien's performance is so spirited that they consign the script's weaknesses to oblivion. A real pleasure to see these fine actors at their rollicking best.

A FUNNY VINTAGE COMEDY WITH GREAT STAR CHEMISTRY
Two crazy Hollywood scenerio writers make a star of an infant yet unborn. Robert Law (Jimmy) and J.C. Benson (Pat O'Brien) - two Hollywood screenwriters, are assigned to write a story for cowboy star Larry Toms, but nothing they write remotely pleases C. Elliott Friday (Ralph Bellamy) a pious Hollywood producer. As they argue, Susie, a divorced waitress (played by the elusive Marie Wilson) delivers lunch. Inspired by her pregnancy, the boys decide to do a Western variation of the classic Hollywood story: Boy meets girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy gets Girl. Larry protests, but Friday likes the story...Bella and Samuel Spewack copped the 1936 Roi Cooper Megrue Award for their play BOY MEETS GIRL. Because the character of Susie was unwed in the play, the movie version was understandably white-washed for the censor's approval - which ironically dismayed many critics. Marion Davies was considered for the lead, but W.R. Hearst was adamant: it was too risque for her image, he felt. Davies was a well-loved person in real life: all the stars loved her unaffected personality and generousity. But considering that she was Hearst's mistress - this revelation is rather hypocritical, don't you think? At any rate, this is a free-wheeling film version of a hilarious play: a fine satire of the zaniness of Hollywood's screwball comedies, which should please most everyone interested.

The Cagney-O'Brien Rapport
James Cagney and Pat O'Brien star in this screwball comedy about two movie writers (infamous for their antics) working at a struggling studio who need to come up with a hit script for its comboy star, Dick Foran. They stumble on the idea of using the baby of studio waitress Marie Wilson in a film, making the baby and the cowboy an unlikely team. The idea takes off, but creates a lot of complications in the process. Cagney and O'Brien are the whole show, and the interludes where they are not in the scene slow the film down. They have such timing and rapport together they are naturals bouncing ideas and gags off of each other. Watch Cagney in particular and his amazing timing and expressions, and it's not hard to see why he got frustrated by always being given gangster scripts. He had a gift for comedy. The supporting cast is OK, but pales in comparison. The other aspect apart from Cagney/O'Brien that makes this film so successful is the way it makes fun of the behind-the-scenes elements of moviemaking, with its pampered executives making bad choices all the time. This film takes a bite out of Hollywood. With its high energy, satiric slant and the Cagney/O'Brien teaming, this film entertains.

Hollywood never changes
James Cagney and his real life best friend Pat O'Brien are wonderful in this comedy about scriptwriting in Hollywood. It is as funny and fresh as anything you will ever see. A classic send up of Hollywood.