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Winner Take All

  • 1932
  • Passed
  • 1h 6m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
647
YOUR RATING
James Cagney in Winner Take All (1932)
Drama

Young boxer Jim Kane, resting at a New Mexico "health ranch," meets and falls for Peggy Harmon, former nightclub table singer...who needs $600 more for her sickly son to stay in the place. T... Read allYoung boxer Jim Kane, resting at a New Mexico "health ranch," meets and falls for Peggy Harmon, former nightclub table singer...who needs $600 more for her sickly son to stay in the place. To help her, Jim endangers his health with a tough boxing match in Tijuana. Before long, he... Read allYoung boxer Jim Kane, resting at a New Mexico "health ranch," meets and falls for Peggy Harmon, former nightclub table singer...who needs $600 more for her sickly son to stay in the place. To help her, Jim endangers his health with a tough boxing match in Tijuana. Before long, he's back fighting while Peggy stays in the desert. But in the city, after new triumphs, Jim... Read all

  • Director
    • Roy Del Ruth
  • Writers
    • Gerald Beaumont
    • Robert Lord
    • Wilson Mizner
  • Stars
    • James Cagney
    • Marian Nixon
    • Guy Kibbee
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    647
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Roy Del Ruth
    • Writers
      • Gerald Beaumont
      • Robert Lord
      • Wilson Mizner
    • Stars
      • James Cagney
      • Marian Nixon
      • Guy Kibbee
    • 30User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos31

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    Top cast32

    Edit
    James Cagney
    James Cagney
    • Jim Kane
    Marian Nixon
    Marian Nixon
    • Peggy
    Guy Kibbee
    Guy Kibbee
    • Pop
    Dickie Moore
    Dickie Moore
    • Dickie
    Virginia Bruce
    Virginia Bruce
    • Joan
    Alan Mowbray
    Alan Mowbray
    • Forbes
    Esther Howard
    Esther Howard
    • Ann
    Clarence Muse
    Clarence Muse
    • Rosebud
    Clarence Wilson
    Clarence Wilson
    • Ben Isaacs
    Ralf Harolde
    Ralf Harolde
    • Legs Davis
    John Roche
    John Roche
    • Roger Elliott
    Ernie Alexander
    • Elevator Operator
    • (uncredited)
    Sheila Bromley
    Sheila Bromley
    • Joan's Friend
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Coleman
    Charles Coleman
    • Joan's Butler
    • (uncredited)
    Jay Eaton
    Jay Eaton
    • Mr. Wingate
    • (uncredited)
    George 'Gabby' Hayes
    George 'Gabby' Hayes
    • Interne at Rosario Ranch
    • (uncredited)
    Selmer Jackson
    Selmer Jackson
    • Ring Announcer
    • (uncredited)
    John Kelly
    John Kelly
    • Fight Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Roy Del Ruth
    • Writers
      • Gerald Beaumont
      • Robert Lord
      • Wilson Mizner
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews30

    6.0647
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    Featured reviews

    Michael_Elliott

    Good

    Winner Take All (1932)

    *** (out of 4)

    A hotshot New York prizefighter (James Cagney) leaves the city for the country so he can get some rest. While in the country he falls for a sweet single mother (Marian Nixon) but once he's back in the city he falls for a rich girl (Virginia Bruce) just using him. A subplot dealing with Cagney getting plastic surgery is rather weird as we get a different looking Cagney as well as one sounding a lot different. That aside, the story is actually pretty good and the moments at the start with Cagney and Nixon are very warm and touching. The film offers a lot of nice laughs and the boxing scenes are really, really good. There's one fight that has an ending, which appears to have been lifted in Rocky 2.
    6ksf-2

    early Cagney.

    Pretty new to the hollywood scene, James Cagney is Jimmy Kane, pro boxer, on a break at health ranch. He meets up with singer Peggy (Marion Nixon), who really needs money for her ill son. co-stars Virginia Bruce and Guy Kibbee, who were in so many films in the 1930s and 1940s. the usual boy-meets-girl story, and just before the film code was too strong. Kibbee is his manager "Pop", but when he lines up a big time fight, Kane isn't sure he wants to do it, because it might ruin his body even more. a really funny scene when Kane and his helper are practicing meeting various people in new york city. gotta pay attention, or you'll miss it. but now the girlfriend is running cold... she and her best friend are total idiots, and Kane is better off without them! but that's just me. watch the adventure unfold. Directed by Roy DelRuth; he didn't win any oscars, but he got his star on the the hollywood walk of fame, and made some biggies in the 1940s !
    6AlsExGal

    A paint by numbers boxing film, but Cagney makes it worth your time

    If it wasn't for the presence of cocky James Cagney, I'd probably say skip this one. It has a very mediocre plot line involving pride coming before a fall, with Cagney playing the boxer whose story is the object lesson. Cagney plays Jimmy Kane, a boxer who has a heart condition who, for some reason, needs a rest cure out West in the desert for a few months. His trainer is played by Guy Kibbee, who says things that lead you to believe that Kane loved the nightlife and that he is glad he is going somewhere that there isn't any.

    But that doesn't mean Kane doesn't find a woman out at the rest cure ranch where he is staying. He runs into widow Peggy Harmon (Marian Nixon) who is at the ranch for her little son's sake (Dickie Moore) and they hit it off. When she can't raise the money to stay the extra three months that her son needs, Kane risks his health for a 2000 dollar fight to help her out. He winds up with a messed up nose and a cauliflower ear as a result.

    Kane gets the medical OK to leave before Peggy can, and he pledges fidelity to her. The newly healthy Kane rises to the top of his profession again. And then he meets a society gal - Joan (Virginia Bruce). Joan is fascinated by Kane, but not sexually attracted to him and is also extremely embarrassed by his ignorance whenever they are out with "her set". The thing is, Kane doesn't see this and thinks Joan is as gaga over him like he is over the moon for her. His postcards to Peggy get increasingly infrequent and terse. Complications ensue.

    This one does have a few things to recommend it. For one, this is one of Virginia Bruce's earliest credited roles and she does a a good job of playing a bad girl. And she isn't obvious either. You never know EXACTLY where she is taking this thing with Cagney's character. There is also a rather odd conversation when Joan's set is discussing Russia and "the great social experiment going on" over there and "the five year plan".

    This film doesn't give the normally colorful and hilarious Guy Kibbee much to do, and that was a bit of a disappointment as was the bland part Marian Nixon got stuck with as Peggy. But, hey, how often do you get to see a plastic surgery angle dragged into a precode boxing film where it is the man trying to pretty up for the woman? Mildly recommended, and mainly for Cagney who never disappoints.
    5utgard14

    "I don't want any part of that Shakespeare guy. He's the one that ruined Gene Tunney."

    James Cagney plays a dim-witted boxer who falls for a widow with a sick kid, then for a sexy socialite (Virginia Bruce). This is notable for being Cagney's first boxing movie but, beyond that, there isn't a lot to recommend here. The script's kind of all over the place, with the early scenes seeming out of sync with the rest of the picture. Cagney's performance is fine, even if he doesn't have a lot to work with. A nice supporting cast including Guy Kibbee, Alan Mowbray, and Clarence Muse helps. George Raft has a bit part as a bandleader in a night club. Blink and you'll miss him. Clips from this were used in Cagney's final movie, the made-for-TV "Terrible Joe Moran". If you're a Cagney completist, give it a shot. Everybody else go watch City for Conquest.
    5Handlinghandel

    A Dame Almost Knocks Cagney Out Of The Ring

    This begins slowly: James Cagney is boxer who needs some rest. He gets sent to a rural area by his manager, Guy Kibbee. There he meets Marian Nixon and her son, the (ostensibly) adorable Dickie Moore. He falls for her.

    He goes back to New York and falls for high-class Virginia Bruce. And here it picks up. The early scenes are a little soppy. Back on familiar turf, Cagney can strut his stuff.

    Without giving anything away, Bruce humiliates him. He makes himself over for her. There's lots more to come; so I have not given away the plot.

    The cast is excellent, including the great actor Clarence Muse as a trainer named Rosebud. Nixon's role calls for her to be a little saccharine. But Bruce is excellent.

    This is a change from the early Cagney movies in which he is a cocksure guy who knows the score. He knows the score, but loses track of it for a while.

    There are some effeminate stereotypes, including a character played by the always entertaining Alan Mowbry. I can't hold these against the movie, though. They were of its time.

    It's not Cagney at his best but it's by no means his worst, either.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Clips from this movie were used in James Cagney's final film, Terrible Joe Moran (1984).
    • Goofs
      Jimmy sends to his manager a photo of himself, Peggy and her son who is dressed as a small Indian. In the next scene, returning to the desert health farm, shows the Cagney, Nixon and Moore characters all wearing the same clothes of the previous photo.
    • Quotes

      [Joan and Jim kiss.]

      Joan Gibson: You could stand a cold drink after that one, couldn't you?

    • Connections
      Featured in Hollywood and the Stars: How to Succeed as a Gangster (1963)
    • Soundtracks
      The Sidewalks of New York
      (1894) (uncredited)

      Music by Charles Lawlor

      Played as background music when Jim leaves New York

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    FAQ13

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 16, 1932 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Her Şey Kazananın
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 6m(66 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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