Something to Sing About (1937 film)

Something to Sing About, 1937, rereleased in 1947 as Battling Hoofer, is the second and final film James Cagney made for Grand National Pictures the first being Great Guy before mending relations with and returning to Warner Bros. It is one of the few films besides Footlight Parade and Yankee Doodle Dandy to showcase Cagneys singing and dancing talents. It was directed by Victor Schertzinger, who also wrote the music and lyrics of the original songs, as well as the story that Austin Parkers screenplay is based on. Cagneys costars are Evelyn Daw and William Frawley, and the film features performances by Gene Lockhart and Mona Barrie.

Terry Rooney James Cagney is the stage name of Thaddeus McGillicuddy, a popular New York band leader and hoofer with a radio show, who gets an offer to go to Hollywood to make movies. He leaves behind his fiancee, the bands singer, Rita Wyatt Evelyn Daw, and finds himself in the hands of studio boss B.O. Regan Gene Lockhart, who sets a team of studio professionals to mold Rooney into a star. Regan, after struggling with another new talent who quickly developed an uncontrollable ego, also secretly insists that no one praise Rooneys work, on pain of being fired.While shooting a bar fight for his first film, a stunt man who is supposed to throw a fake punch at Rooney hits him deliberately instead. Rooney retaliates, and a fullout fistfight breaks out. Disgusted with Hollywood, Rooney leaves to marry Wyatt, and for a honeymoon takes her on a tramp steamer for a cruise to the South Seas, ending up in San Francisco. ........

Source: Wikipedia