skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My Imagination Story which Includes Cagney Part 3
Raphael comes in at that moment and says to Homer, “Besides, Homer, you’re taking us to see Animal Crackers in September…” Raphael continues, “… (To Bart) After seeing Animal Crackers, Bart, we’re going to see Sinner’s Holiday, which has James Cagney but he’s not the star. It’s his film debut. And then we’re going to see Do
orway to Hell, which is another early James Cagney movie but he’s not the star either.” Homer asks, “Oh, so I’m taking you guys? Okay, I can do that! (To Maggie) Still, Maggie, Daddy won’t make you watch Jimmy Cagney.” Maggie says, “No! No Cag’ey movies at all!” Lisa says to her, “Maggie, Daddy will put his hands over your eyes and you can put your fingers in your ears.” Bart says, “But we’re still gonna see a James Cagney movie! (To Raphael) ‘Sides, Raphael, where are we gonna see Animal Crackers and Sinner’s Holiday and The Doorway to Hell?” Raphael says, “We’re going to Aberdare, Wales; Dun Laoghaire, Ireland; Halfax, Nova Scotia, Canada; and Boise, ID.” Lisa says, “What about our summer trip? Where are we gonna go for that?” Raphael says, “For our summer trip in July and August, we are going to Chicago, IL; St. 
Louis, MO; New Orleans, LA; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis, MI; Houston, TX; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; and San Francisco, CA.” The Simpsons all cheer ecstatically (well, except Marge and Grampa since they are not present). That night, Bart reminisces about how he, his mother Marge, and youngest sister Maggie went to Los Angeles, CA, from January to mid-February 1937 to watch the filming of the Marx Brothers movie A Day at the Races; he has an evocative dream of when he and Maggie went off the MGM lot one day in early February 1937 to see James Cagney (Bart actually forced Maggie to go with him because she didn’t really want to go see Jimmy Cagney as she is afraid of him). While watching a rather boring shoot of a scene of A Day at the Races on a soundstage on the MGM lot, a bored Bart says, “It’s time to get out of this yawn factory. (To Maggie) C’mon, Maggie! Let’s go see Jimmy Cagney!” Maggie protests, “I don’t wanna see Jim Cag’ey.” Bart says, “Oh c’mon, Maggie! I don’t wanna sit around here and be bored to tears! If the Marx Brothers ain’t gonna entertain us, then James Cagney will. ‘Member when we saw a rather sucky Marx Brothers movie back in 1940 and came outta the moviehouses with disappointed faces? Well, when we w
ent to see James Cagney in The Fighting 69th and City for Conquest, he lifted our spirits up with our high-spiritedness! Although we actually did see Boom Town after seeing the unfunny Marx Brothers movie so we eventually came outta the moviehouses in the many cities we went to satisfied. But still, Jimmy Cagney did lift our spirits! You just have particularly bad memories of him in movies where he shoots people, Mags.” Maggie says, “He scares me.” Bart says, “I heard that he is a nice man in real life. You’ll see: Once you see him, Maggie, you ain’t gonna be ‘fraid of him. C’mon…” Bart continues, “…Let’s catch a streetcar to Beverly Hills.”He puts Maggie in her stroller and runs off the MGM lot while pushing her. The kids then wait at a nearby streetcar stop for a streetcar to Beverly Hills. Just then, Bart spots a black person walking across the street and says, “Wow! A black man! You don’t see a lotta them around here.” At that moment, the streetcar to Beverly Hills arrives at the stop. Bart and Maggie get on the streetcar excitedly (Maggie, however, suffers from Bart struggling to pull her up the steps). At the streetcar stop in Beverly Hills, while trying to get Maggie and her stroller off the streetcar, Bart accidentally tips the stroller over even before the wheels reach the sidewalk. Consequently, Maggie falls into the dirty, cigarette-filled gutter and cries very loudly. Bart picks her up out of the gutter with the help of some people, 
while avoiding to bump her on the streetcar but is unsuccessful when Maggie accidentally bumps her head. The little tyke cries some more as her brother puts her in her stroller and says, “Oh, Maggie! I’m sorry!” A weary Bart pushes a wailing Maggie in her stroller on the street while finding a tourist brochure stand. Once Bart comes across a tourist brochure stand, he looks for a map to movie stars’ homes until a man whom he swears to God is James Cagney passes by. He asks the proprietor of the stand, “Hey, man! Who was that guy who just passed by?” The proprietor says, “Why I believe that was Jimmy Cagney. You wanna go on a tour of movie stars’ homes?” Bart says, “No thanks. I gotta go see a movie star!” He then pushes Maggie away from the stand and follows James Cagney furtively. Of course, Maggie is still crying so she makes hers and Bart’s presence obvious to James Cagney, who turns around to see who is following him. Bart immediately stops walking and pretends to be calming down Maggie. James Cagney starts walking again and Bart says to Maggie, “Shut up, Maggie!” Maggie stops crying and Bart starts following James Cagney again. James Cagney stops walking and turns around again to check to make sure that nobody is following him. Once again, Bart stops walking and pretends to mind his own business. Cagney starts walking again and Bart starts following him again. Bart follows James Cagney all the way to his house without the actor turning around anymore. At the actor’s home, Bart runs up to James Cagney and says, “Hi, Jim Cagney. My name is Bart and (points at Maggie) that’s my lil’ sister, Maggie Simpson.” James Cagney shakes his hand and says, “How do you do?” He waves at Maggie, who stares at him uncomfortably. Bart asks the actor, “You working on any new films right now, Jimmy?” James Cagney says, “No, not right now. But I just finished working on a film a couple months ago.” Bart asks, “At Warner Bros.?” Cagney says, “No, at Grand National.” Bart says, “Okay. I ain’t heard of that studio.” Cagney says, “It’s an independent studio. So what are you doing?” Bart says, “We wanted to see you! Can you let us come inside your house?” Cagney says, “Sure but don’t touch anything inside.” Bart pushes Maggie in her stroller up the door stoop and into Cagney’s house. He takes off his shoes at the front door and unstraps Maggie out of her stroller. Once her brother unbuckles her, Maggie holds out her arms for him to carry her because she is afraid of James Cagney. Bart says, “Okay, Maggie, I’ll carry ya. (Grunts as he lifts up the toddler out of the stroller) Damn! You got heavier, girl!” He carries Maggie into the living room; on Bart’s way into the living room, James Cagney approaches him and tries to entertain Maggie, who hides her face in Bart’s shoulder, by making faces at her. Bart says, “Aw! She’s ‘fraid of you, Jimmy!” James Cagney says, “Why is she scared of me?” Bart says, “’Cause she’s seen ya in gangster movies shooting people, Jimmy.” James Cagney says, “But I do more than just gangster movies. Don’t you ever take her to see my other movies? And why would you take a little kid like her to see a gangster movie?” Bart says, “We do take her to see your other movies. But she don’t pay understand your jokes or your romantic approaches. And she don’t pay attention when you dance and sing. I dunno why we take her to a gangster movie; we just don’t think, I s’ppose.” 
James Cagney then introduces his young guests to his wife, who asks them, “Would you kiddies like something to eat?” The two Simpson kids beam, “Sure!” Maggie still clings to Bart as he carries her and follows Mrs. Cagney to the kitchen. James Cagney sits with his young guests at the kitchen table and watches them as they eat his wife’s many treats (he sits next to Bart, which intimidates Maggie even more). Mrs. Cagney asks Maggie, who is sitting in her brother’s lap, “Would you like to sit in another chair, honey?” Maggie clings to her brother’s chest and says, “No.” Bart says, “I think she’s fine sitting on my lap.” Mrs. Cagney says, “All right then.” James Cagney asks his young guests, “So what do you wanna do next, kids?” Bart says, “I dunno. Whaddya like to do for fun, Jim?” James Cagney asks, “You wanna help me garden?” Bart stares at him and guffaws, “You like to garden!?” James Cagney says, “Well, yes. I find it relaxing.” Bart guffaws so much that he almost falls out of chair and almost drops Maggie, who joins him in his little laugh fest by chuckling nervously. Finally, Bart stops guffawing and says to James Cagney, “Okay, I’ll help ya, despite the danger of looking fruity.” James Cagney says, “Okay, then come outside with me. Maggie can come too.” Bart says, “All right then. You water, I dig. (To Maggie)…” Bart continues, “…Okay, Mags. Go into Jimmy’s arms while I dig up the dirt.” As Bart hands her over to Cagney, Maggie hangs onto his neck and shouts, “No! No!” Bart says, “Well, I guess I can hold her while I dig.” Cagney says, “You can but it’s gonna be difficult.” While digging, Bart says to James Cagney, “You know, Jim, we didn’t always bring Maggie to your gangster movies. Sometimes, my foster brother Raphael took her to a movie house around the next block or so to see a Shirley Temple movie during the dramatic scenes of your gangster movies. Like one time when we saw G-Men back in 1935, Raphael took Maggie to ‘nother movie house ‘round the block to see Shirley Temple movies Curly Top and The Little Colonel when one of the shooting scenes came on…” Bart continues, “…But ‘cause Shirley Temple didn’t really make no movies in 1933, when we saw your dramatic movies Picture Snatcher and Mayor of Hell, it was a case of every baby for herself for Maggie. So my sister Lisa put her hands over Maggie’s eyes during the scenes where the kids threw a riot.” 
Cagney asks, “Did you try to find another film she could watch?” Bart says, “No. Even though there was a couple of good movies out, Raphael knew Maggie would find ‘em either too scary or too boring.” Despite hindering her brother from using a shovel with both hands to dig up the dirt since he is carrying her, Maggie picks up another shovel and helps her brother dig up the dirt. Just then, Bart stops shoveling and asks, “Oh my God! What is it? (Grabs James Cagney’s wrist and looks at his watch) 4:51pm!? We’ve been gone from the studio for almost three hours now! We gotta be back at the studio afore our mom notices we’re gone!” James Cagney says, “I can drive you back. What studio is it?” Bart says, “MGM Studios. We’re gonna see some of your movies at the Pico Drive-In and they don’t start ‘til 6:00 so we hafta be there on time.” James Cagney says, “Okay, then get in the car.” Bart grabs his stuff and Maggie’s stroller as well as her stuff, puts them in the trunk of James Cagney’s car, puts Maggie in the back seat and sits in the front seat so he can be next to one of his favorite stars. James Cagney gets in the car, starts the engine and drives his young guests back to MGM Studios in Culver City. It only takes James Cagney 15 minutes to drive to the MGM studio lot, where in front of the gate stands a furious Marge, a rather unhappy Harpo Marx and a Groucho Marx and Chico Marx who are just as unhappy. Bart grimaces at the grim prospect and says to James Cagney, “Well, thanks for the ride, Jimmy. Good bye.” He hugs James Cagney, gets out of the car, opens the trunk, gets his and Maggie’s stuff out of there, and then takes Maggie out of the car. Maggie immediately squirms out of her brother’s arms and runs over to her mother and Harpo Marx. 
Marge picks her little daughter up and says with relief, “Oh my sweet little baby! (Hugs and kisses her baby daughter) You’re okay! I was so worried about you and your brother! (To Bart who approaches her) Bart, where have you and Maggie been?” Bart says, “Well, we got bored so we decided to go see James Cagney. That was him in the car that just pulled up and dropped us off… (Pauses when he sees that James Cagney’s car is gone) …And just drove away.” Marge hands Maggie over to Harpo Marx and hugs plus kisses her son and says, “Well, thank goodness you’re okay, my special little guy…” Marge continues, “…Was that really James Cagney who drove you here? I shoulda met him before he drove off. Maybe he didn’t want fans mobbing around his car.” Harpo asks Bart, “So Bart, I suppose you don’t wanna see The Crowd Roars and Lady Killer tonight since you just saw James Cagney?” Bart says, “No, I do! I really do! Please?!” Harpo says, “Well, okay. But don’t run away like that next time! You nearly gave us a scare, especially your mother! She almost killed us and nearly blew her brains out!” Maggie says, “James Cagney scared me!” Chico says, “I’m sure he didn’t hurt you.” Groucho says, “I never seen that man beat a little kid in any of his movies. Then again, I never really saw any of his movies.” Marge asks her son, “Why would you drag your little sister to James Cagney’s house in the first place if she doesn’t even like him, Bart? How would you feel if Maggie dragged you to Shirley Temple’s house?” Bart says, “I woulda been so damn bored to death!!” Marge says, “Well, that’s what Maggie probably felt when you dragged her to James Cagney’s house! Actually, she may not have been bored to death but she probably intimated and fearful of James Cagney because he did frightening stuff in his movies…” Marge continues, “…Maggie mainly knows James Cagney as the guy who shoots people, not as the song-and-dance man and comically witty man we also know him as.” 
Later, Harpo takes the Simpsons trio to the Pico Drive-In Theater to see the James Cagney movie from 1933—Lady Killer—and another James Cagney movie, this time from 1932—The Crowd Roars—as a double feature. Lady Killer comes on in the first part of the double feature; Marge and Bart get out of Harpo’s car during the previews to get refreshments from the refreshments stand. They come back to the car with lots of refreshments, which are mostly junk food, in their arms. The feature film then comes on, and Bart sits quietly next to Harpo in the front seat. To Bart, the scenes where James Cagney’s character and his new gang open a nightclub; where James Cagney’s character pretends to be hurt after purposely getting hit by a car of an heiress so his gang can sneak in and rob her; where James Cagney’s character find out they got caught and are about to be arrested for the heist until they decide to escape from the city; where James Cagney’s character and his girlfriend are in a Chicago train station and are looking at brochures at different places to decide on where they want to go next until Cagney decides to play roulette with a globe… …Where he throws his gum at any random city on the globe and wherever the gum lands, that’s where the couple goes (the gum lands on Los Angeles so that’s where the couple on the lam goes)… …And the scene where James Cagney and his girlfriend arrive in LA and find that the California sunshine that they’ve been looking forward to isn’t nothing but fog and rain are all ho-hum……until the film gets to the exciting scenes when the James Cagney character gets a job playing pit parts in movies. Everyone, except Maggie, is awed by James Cagney playing an Indian chief in a headdress. Bart really finds it funny when James Cagney discovers his ex-girlfriend, the broad from the gang, in his apartment when he brings in his new girlfriend, a famous actress, to show her the place. Bart bursts out laughing when after the new girlfriend leaves the apartment (and dumps James Cagney), the famous, versatile actor confronts his ex and drags her out of his apartment while literally pulling her hair; however, Harpo Marx is just appalled by the cruel, misogynistic act of Cagney’s character. Marge says to her children and host, “I thought the new girlfriend was gonna dump him when he gave her all those crazy things for her birthday.”
Raphael comes in at that moment and says to Homer, “Besides, Homer, you’re taking us to see Animal Crackers in September…” Raphael continues, “… (To Bart) After seeing Animal Crackers, Bart, we’re going to see Sinner’s Holiday, which has James Cagney but he’s not the star. It’s his film debut. And then we’re going to see Do
orway to Hell, which is another early James Cagney movie but he’s not the star either.” Homer asks, “Oh, so I’m taking you guys? Okay, I can do that! (To Maggie) Still, Maggie, Daddy won’t make you watch Jimmy Cagney.” Maggie says, “No! No Cag’ey movies at all!” Lisa says to her, “Maggie, Daddy will put his hands over your eyes and you can put your fingers in your ears.” Bart says, “But we’re still gonna see a James Cagney movie! (To Raphael) ‘Sides, Raphael, where are we gonna see Animal Crackers and Sinner’s Holiday and The Doorway to Hell?” Raphael says, “We’re going to Aberdare, Wales; Dun Laoghaire, Ireland; Halfax, Nova Scotia, Canada; and Boise, ID.” Lisa says, “What about our summer trip? Where are we gonna go for that?” Raphael says, “For our summer trip in July and August, we are going to Chicago, IL; St. 
Louis, MO; New Orleans, LA; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis, MI; Houston, TX; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; and San Francisco, CA.” The Simpsons all cheer ecstatically (well, except Marge and Grampa since they are not present). That night, Bart reminisces about how he, his mother Marge, and youngest sister Maggie went to Los Angeles, CA, from January to mid-February 1937 to watch the filming of the Marx Brothers movie A Day at the Races; he has an evocative dream of when he and Maggie went off the MGM lot one day in early February 1937 to see James Cagney (Bart actually forced Maggie to go with him because she didn’t really want to go see Jimmy Cagney as she is afraid of him). While watching a rather boring shoot of a scene of A Day at the Races on a soundstage on the MGM lot, a bored Bart says, “It’s time to get out of this yawn factory. (To Maggie) C’mon, Maggie! Let’s go see Jimmy Cagney!” Maggie protests, “I don’t wanna see Jim Cag’ey.” Bart says, “Oh c’mon, Maggie! I don’t wanna sit around here and be bored to tears! If the Marx Brothers ain’t gonna entertain us, then James Cagney will. ‘Member when we saw a rather sucky Marx Brothers movie back in 1940 and came outta the moviehouses with disappointed faces? Well, when we w
ent to see James Cagney in The Fighting 69th and City for Conquest, he lifted our spirits up with our high-spiritedness! Although we actually did see Boom Town after seeing the unfunny Marx Brothers movie so we eventually came outta the moviehouses in the many cities we went to satisfied. But still, Jimmy Cagney did lift our spirits! You just have particularly bad memories of him in movies where he shoots people, Mags.” Maggie says, “He scares me.” Bart says, “I heard that he is a nice man in real life. You’ll see: Once you see him, Maggie, you ain’t gonna be ‘fraid of him. C’mon…” Bart continues, “…Let’s catch a streetcar to Beverly Hills.”He puts Maggie in her stroller and runs off the MGM lot while pushing her. The kids then wait at a nearby streetcar stop for a streetcar to Beverly Hills. Just then, Bart spots a black person walking across the street and says, “Wow! A black man! You don’t see a lotta them around here.” At that moment, the streetcar to Beverly Hills arrives at the stop. Bart and Maggie get on the streetcar excitedly (Maggie, however, suffers from Bart struggling to pull her up the steps). At the streetcar stop in Beverly Hills, while trying to get Maggie and her stroller off the streetcar, Bart accidentally tips the stroller over even before the wheels reach the sidewalk. Consequently, Maggie falls into the dirty, cigarette-filled gutter and cries very loudly. Bart picks her up out of the gutter with the help of some people, 
Later, Harpo takes the Simpsons trio to the Pico Drive-In Theater to see the James Cagney movie from 1933—Lady Killer—and another James Cagney movie, this time from 1932—The Crowd Roars—as a double feature. Lady Killer comes on in the first part of the double feature; Marge and Bart get out of Harpo’s car during the previews to get refreshments from the refreshments stand. They come back to the car with lots of refreshments, which are mostly junk food, in their arms. The feature film then comes on, and Bart sits quietly next to Harpo in the front seat. To Bart, the scenes where James Cagney’s character and his new gang open a nightclub; where James Cagney’s character pretends to be hurt after purposely getting hit by a car of an heiress so his gang can sneak in and rob her; where James Cagney’s character find out they got caught and are about to be arrested for the heist until they decide to escape from the city; where James Cagney’s character and his girlfriend are in a Chicago train station and are looking at brochures at different places to decide on where they want to go next until Cagney decides to play roulette with a globe… …Where he throws his gum at any random city on the globe and wherever the gum lands, that’s where the couple goes (the gum lands on Los Angeles so that’s where the couple on the lam goes)… …And the scene where James Cagney and his girlfriend arrive in LA and find that the California sunshine that they’ve been looking forward to isn’t nothing but fog and rain are all ho-hum……until the film gets to the exciting scenes when the James Cagney character gets a job playing pit parts in movies. Everyone, except Maggie, is awed by James Cagney playing an Indian chief in a headdress. Bart really finds it funny when James Cagney discovers his ex-girlfriend, the broad from the gang, in his apartment when he brings in his new girlfriend, a famous actress, to show her the place. Bart bursts out laughing when after the new girlfriend leaves the apartment (and dumps James Cagney), the famous, versatile actor confronts his ex and drags her out of his apartment while literally pulling her hair; however, Harpo Marx is just appalled by the cruel, misogynistic act of Cagney’s character. Marge says to her children and host, “I thought the new girlfriend was gonna dump him when he gave her all those crazy things for her birthday.” 
No comments:
Post a Comment