''Taxi!'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film directed by

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...

and starring

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

and

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

. The film includes a famous, and often misquoted, line with Cagney speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet: "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" This line has often been misquoted as "You dirty rat, you killed my brother". To play his competitor in a

ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

contest, Cagney recommended his pal, fellow tough-guy-dancer

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

, who was uncredited in the film. In a lengthy and memorable sequence, the scene culminates with Raft and his partner winning the dance contest against Cagney and Young, after which Cagney slugs Raft and knocks him down.Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013, p. 20 As in ''

The Public Enemy ''The Public Enemy'' (''Enemies of the Public'' in the UK) is a 1931 American talkie, all-talking Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Ca ...

'' (1931), several scenes in ''Taxi!'' involved the use of live

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifl ...

bullets. After a few of the bullets narrowly missed Cagney's head, he outlawed the practice in his future films. In the film they see a fictitious Warner Bros. film at the cinema called ''Her Hour of Love'' in which Cagney cracks a joke about the film's leading man's appearance (an unbilled cameo by Warners contract player Donald Cook, who had played Cagney's brother in ''The Public Enemy'') saying, "his ears are too big". Also advertised in the cinema lobby in the film is ''

The Mad Genius ''The Mad Genius'' (1931) is an American pre-Code drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Cook, Charles Butterworth, and in small roles, B ...

'', an actual film starring

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Barrymore family, Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage ...

which was released the previous year by Warners.

Plot

When a veteran cab driver, Pop Riley (

Guy Kibbee Guy Bridges Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Kibbee was born in El Paso, Texas. His father was editor of the ''El Paso Herald-Post'' newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age ...

), refuses to be pressured into surrendering his prime soliciting location outside a cafe, where his daughter works, the old man's cab is intentionally wrecked by a ruthless mob seeking to dominate the cab industry. Upon learning of the "accidental" destruction of his cab (and along with it his livelihood), the old man retrieves his handgun and shoots the bullying man known to be responsible, which lands him in prison, where he dies of poor health in fairly short order. Pop's waitressing daughter, Sue (

), is asked by a scrappy young cab driver, Matt (

), to lend moral support to a resistance movement populated by other drivers, who are also experiencing similar strong-arm tactics by the same aggressive group of thugs. However, after enduring the crushing loss of her father, Sue undergoes a complete ethical reversal about the notion of fighting back, feels thoroughly sickened by the violence and bloodshed, and she angrily tells the drivers as much. Her unpredictably wilful but passionate rant instantly lands her on Matt's bad side, although he eventually has a redemptive change of heart, then seeks to charm Sue into becoming his girlfriend. They start dating and compete in a foxtrot dance contest. Matt and Sue get married. On their wedding night they go to a nightclub with Matt's brother Dan. They are all taunted by Buck Gerard, the man responsible for the attacks on cab drivers. Sue stops Matt from attacking Buck, but Buck stabs and kills Dan. Matt doesn't tell the police who killed Dan so he can get revenge himself. Sue warns Buck's girlfriend, Marie, that Matt is after him. Matt tracks down Buck but Sue and Marie keep him away from Buck long enough for the police to arrive. Matt fires a gun at the room Buck is hiding in but Buck has fallen to his death while trying to escape. Sue decides to leave Matt but changes her mind.

Cast

as Matt Nolan *

as Sue Riley Nolan * George E. Stone as Skeets *

as Pop Riley *

Leila Bennett Leila Bennett (November 17, 1892 – January 5, 1965) was an American film actress who primarily appeared in supporting roles as either slapstick sidekicks, mousy maids, and scatterbrains. Early life Bennett was born in Newark, New Jerse ...

as Ruby * Dorothy Burgess as Marie Costa * David Landau as Buck Gerard *

as William "Willie" Kenny

Home media

''Taxi!'' was released in February 2012 on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

through their print on demand Warner Archive label.

References

External links

* * * * {{Roy Del Ruth 1932 films 1932 crime films American crime films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films about organized crime in the United States Films directed by Roy Del Ruth Films set in New York City Warner Bros. films Yiddish-language films American gangster films Films about taxis Films with screenplays by Kubec Glasmon 1930s American films