Deceit. Theft. Lawlessness. They can land you in the pen. Or they can land you a job in the legit world. James Cagney plays a con fresh out of Sing Sing and putting his criminal skills to work as a sneaky, snaky tabloid photo in the slam-bang Picture Snatcher. Cagney – spontaneous, freewheeling and roughing up guys and dolls alike – brings a million volts of starpower to this pre-Hays Code romp. The film draws from a jolting real-life incident: the secret snapping and subsequent publication of a forbidden photograph showing the execution of a convicted murderess. Every picture tells a story. The story here is the lengths one man will go to get that picture.
