Based on the novel by Aben Kandel, CITY FOR CONQUEST tells the heartbreaking but hopeful tale of Danny Kenny (James Cagney) and Peggy Nash (Ann Sheridan), two sweethearts who meet and struggle through their impoverished lives on the Lower East Side of New York City. When Peggy, hoping for something better in life for both of them, breaks off her engagement to Danny, he sets out to be a championship boxer, while she becomes a dancer in a nightclub (with sleazy partner Murray, as played by the commanding Anthony Quinn). However, tragedy soon strikes and it appears that the two might never be reunited. With a beautiful, ironic ending, excellent dialogue, and strong, poignant performances, CITY FOR CONQUEST is one of director Anatole Litvak's most inspired films.
A poignant and absorbing look at love, deprivation, and, ultimately, hope, CITY FOR CONQUEST showcases the dynamic James Cagney as Danny, a truck driver turned boxer, and Ann Sheridan as Peggy, an aspiring dancer. When the devoted couple go their separate ways and try to rise out of the poverty in the ghetto of New York's Lower East Side, tragedy ensues.
James Cagney, an accomplished dancer and amateur boxer, trained for his role as the boxer Danny, and, in many scenes, exchanged real, hard blows with his opponents in the ring.
Elia Kazan, who plays Danny's friend Googi, made his directorial debut five years later with A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, and became one of Hollywood's greatest directors.
Arthur Kennedy made his film debut as Danny's musically gifted brother Eddie. Kennedy later was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in PEYTON PLACE, and went on to star in many other films like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.
Raoul Walsh, director of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD and HIGH SIERRA, was originally slated to direct CITY FOR CONQUEST.
Studio head Jack Warner originally asked Ginger Rogers to play Peggy, but other commitments prevented her from taking the role.
DVD Features:
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.37
Audio:
Mono 1.0 English
Mono 1.0 French
Distributor Notes: City for Conquest
Ex-Golden Gloves fighter Danny Kenny has it all worked out. He'll turn pro to bankroll his brother's dream of writing a symphonic paean to the teeming city where they both live: New York. But life pulls the sidewalk out from under Danny when he's blinded during a brutal 15-round welterweight title bout.
James Cagney plays Danny in this heart-tugging melodrama co-starring Ann Sheridan, Anthony Quinn, film-debuting Arthur Kennedy and in a rare acting turn before becoming a director, Elia Kazan. Among familiar studio players, there's an unbilled one: a vivid backlot and rear-screen Manhattan. "Sometimes we wonder," The New York Times' Bosley Crowther wrote, "whether it wasn't really the Warner brothers who got New York from the Indians, so diligent and devoted have they been in feeling the great city's pulse."
Source: Warner Home Video
Director of Photography
James Wong Howe: Legendary cinematographer
Director of Photography
Sol Polito: American Diretor of Photography
Source Writer
Aben Kandel: Actor
Production Designer
Robert M. Haas:
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