Film

Johnny Come Lately

Name: Johnny Come Lately
Genre: Drama
Released: 1943
Cast: James Cagney, Grace George, Marjorie Main, Marjorie Lord, Hattie McDaniel

Drama
Light-hearted

A 1943 screwball charmer where James Cagney plays a con-man drifter who stumbles into a small town and gets swept up saving a struggling newspaper from a ruthless tycoon. It's all rapid-fire dialogue, physical comedy, and genuine warmth—Cagney himself loved it. A film that moves like it's being chased, full of character actors relishing their quirky roles.

TMDb rating

3.5

If you liked this

It Happened One Night1934

The template for screwball romance and small-town adventure: a fast-talking male lead, a feisty female co-star, a road-trip structure, and snappy banter that crackles. Capra's mastery of tone and pace influenced Cagney's own work.

But At ninety years old it can feel a bit slow in places, and the gender politics are of their era—she exists partly to be won over.

The Public Enemy1931

Cagney's breakthrough role shows why he was magnetic on screen: coiled energy, quick wit, genuine menace. You see the actor who would charm and hustle his way through Johnny Come Lately, but here turned toward darker ends.

But It's brutal in unexpected moments and Cagney's character is repellent by design. The violence is matter-of-fact rather than thrilling.

Yankee Doodle Dandy1942

Cagney won an Oscar playing George M. Cohan—all song, dance, and vaudeville hustle. It's the other side of his range from Johnny, showing he could carry a whole film with pure performance charisma and joy.

But It's a musical biography, so if you're not charmed by 1940s song-and-dance numbers and theatrical zaniness, it will feel long.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Johnny Come Lately

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Killers1946

Both feature drifters at the mercy of circumstance, but where Cagney's character hustles his way to grace, Lancaster's walks into darkness. They're moral mirrors.

A noir built from Hemingway's short story, starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. It inverts everything Johnny stands for—cynical, fatalistic, gorgeous—yet both films are fascinated by how ordinary people get crushed by larger systems and chance.

But It's bleak and baroque where Johnny is warm and direct. If you want another feel-good drifter story, you'll feel the tonal whiplash.

His Girl Friday1940

Rapid-fire newspaper comedy with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant talking over each other at breakneck speed. It's the gold standard for screwball pacing and wit—everything Johnny Come Lately is reaching for.

But The overlapping dialogue and breakneck pace can be exhausting if you're not in the mood. You have to lean in or you'll miss half the jokes.

White Heat1949

Cagney at his most dangerous: a psychotic gangster, intelligent and unpredictable. It's a masterclass in how an actor can inhabit a monster and still compel you to watch every moment.

But It's genuinely dark and violent in ways that can feel shocking even now. Not a comfort watch, and not interested in making you like its protagonist.

Libeled Lady1936

A newspaper screwball with Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow that moves like a well-oiled machine. Fast, funny, and full of the exact kind of scheming and double-crosses that power Johnny Come Lately's plot.

But The courtroom finale is a bit contrived, and some supporting characters exist only to move the plot forward. It's a formula, executed brilliantly but still a formula.

The Philadelphia Story1940

Screwball perfection: Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn in a comedy that balances romance, humor, and genuine warmth. If you want to see the form done at its absolute peak, this is it.

But It's a rich-people problem (divorce, remarriage) that doesn't land the same way if you find that world unrelatable. Some of the jokes land softer now.

The Crowd1928

A proto-realist drama about a small-cog clerk in the big city—it's made with such humanity and observation that you feel seen. It shares Johnny's warmth toward ordinary people navigating ordinary struggles.

But It's silent, so it requires active engagement. The pacing is glacial by modern standards and the ending is deliberately unglamorous.

Captains Courageous1937

Spencer Tracy leads a film about a rich boy learning humility aboard a fishing ship, surrounded by character actors stealing scenes. It has the ensemble warmth and the faith in decency that makes Johnny Come Lately feel so human.

But The child actor at the center hasn't aged well in his appeal, and the whole enterprise can feel a bit didactic and sentimental.

A Man Escaped1956

Both believe in the power of one clever, determined person to beat the odds. Cagney does it through charm and schemes; Bresson's prisoner does it through will and prayer.

Robert Bresson's spare, methodical film about a prisoner planning escape. It has Johnny's faith in human ingenuity and persistence—a man of action outwitting a system—but rendered as high art instead of populist comedy.

But It's a Bresson film: minimal dialogue, no score, austere cinematography. If you want plot-driven entertainment, this meditative approach will feel glacial and punishing.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Both are films made by artists who believed in charm and performance as moral forces. Both reward joy and goodness. But one is a street-level con and the other is a Hollywood soundstage—different worlds entirely.

Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor in the perfect entertainment: joyful, physically audacious, funny, and made by people who understood what it takes to move an audience. It shares Johnny's exuberance and its faith that talent and goodness matter.

But It's unabashedly an MGM musical spectacular, which means it can feel decadent or too clean-cut. Some people bounce off musicals on principle.