Taxi! (1932)

Independent cab drivers struggling against a taxi company consortium find a leader in Matt Nolan.

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Kenyon Nicholson (based on the play by), Kubec Glasmon (adaptation),

Stars:

James Cagney, Loretta Young, George E. Stone

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Cagney	...	Matt Nolan
Loretta Young	...	Sue Riley Nolan
George E. Stone	...	Skeets
Guy Kibbee	...	Pop Riley
Leila Bennett	...	Ruby
Dorothy Burgess	...	Marie Costa
David Landau	...	Buck Gerard
Ray Cooke	...	Danny Nolan

Storyline

Amidst a backdrop of growing violence and intimidation, independent cab drivers struggling against a consolidated juggernaut rally around hot-tempered Matt Nolan. Nolan is determined to keep competition alive on the streets, even if it means losing the woman he loves.

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Plot Keywords:

taxi | stabbed in the back | gun | coney island brooklyn new york city | reference to joe e brown | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

23 January 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Taxi, Please

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Vitaphone Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is the source of James Cagney's most famous misquoted line, "You dirty rat!" In the film, Cagney actually says, "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!"

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Quotes

Matt Nolan: Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!

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Connections

Referenced in QI: Families (2008)

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Soundtracks

"The Darktown Strutters' Ball"
(1917) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Shelton Brooks
Played by the band for the final number in the dance contest
Danced by James Cagney, Loretta Young, George Raft and his unidentified partner

User Reviews

A Fare to Remember

TAXI (Warner Brothers, 1932), directed by Roy Del Ruth, is not so much a tribute on the day in the life of taxi drivers and the involvement with their passengers, but solely on an individual cabbie out to avenge his brother's killer. While the story does start out with a taxi war, Gramercy vs. Consolidated Cabs, it shifts gears during its second half where the theme switches from "fare game" to "revenge is sweet." The cabbie in question is James Cagney, resident tough guy of Warners, still in the driver's seat after his triumph in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931). He's not a gangster this time around but a guy on the side of the law, his law in fact, coping with hostility from others which cause his temper to constantly reach its boiling point. Loretta Young, very early in her career, plays the girl he marries who tries every which way to break him out of his quick-temper habit.

TAXI immediately gets underway as Buck Gerard (David Landau) an organizer who leads his men to create "accidents" for other taxi drivers in order to do away with his competition. He orders "Pop" Reilly (Guy Kibbee) to leave his corner, but when he refuses, has his hired truck driver (Nat Pendleton) smash into his taxi. Reilly shoots the driver, but because he took the law into his own hands, the old man is sentenced to serve ten years in the state penitentiary in Ossining. After Reilly dies, Sue (Loretta Young), his daughter, goes against Matt Nolan (James Cagney), a taxi driver forming a staff meeting in getting the other drivers to unite by fighting back. In spite of their differences, Matt and Sue eventually marry. While in a night club celebrating their union, the Nolans encounter the drunken Buck Gerard with his girlfriend, Marie Costa (Dorothy Burgess). After Buck speaks out of turn, sort to speak, by insulting Sue, a fight ensues causing Gerard to take out his knife aimed at Matt, but accidentally stabbing his brother, Danny (Ray Cooke), in his attempt to save Matt. While Sue feels it best for the police to handle the situation, Matt wants nothing more than to avenge Danny's killer. Their marriage nearly comes at wits end when Matt learns Skeets (George E. Stone), one of his taxi driver pals, that Gerard's girl was seen visiting Sue in his apartment, asking her for $100, leading Matt to believe Sue has betrayed him, unaware of her true reason in doing this.

A forgotten 67 minute programmer with fast-pace action is notable mostly for a couple of memorable scenes: Cagney speaking Yiddish to a policeman, and a dance contest at the Rainbow Gardens involving Cagney and Young with another dancing couple, the male partner being the up and coming George Raft. With this being a Cagney picture, it is Leila Bennett as Young's best girlfriend who not only stands out with her comedy relief and witty dialog, but gets the final fadeout. Look fast for Donald Cook (Cagney's brother in THE PUBLIC ENEMY) and Evalyn Knapp in the movie theater sequence playing leading players of "Her Hour of Love."

As with many movies of the early 1930s, TAXI has gone through the remaking process by the end of the decade under the new title and locale as WATERFRONT (WB, 1939) with Gloria Dickson and Dennis Morgan, both films that have never been distributed on video or DVD. For a quick joy ride, be sure to watch TAXI next the time this and WATERFRONT shows again on Turner Classic Movies. (***)