Author Scott Allen Nollen's approach to this study of the Warner Brothers actors James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart is certainly a novel one.  Instead of separate sections for each actor's films, Nollen  heeds cinema's evolutionary process by chronologically examining every film by each actor according to their release.  Hence, all 112 Warner movies featuring Cagney, Robinson, Bogart, or any combination therein (all three never appeared together in the same film) are presented, with synopses, background information, and critical comments, but in a continuing historical fashion.  I don't know how innovative this approach is, but it is certainly quite effective.

These three actors are best known for having essayed identifiable tough guy images at a studio where gritty social dramas were featured without the gloss found in similar productions elsewhere.  Beginning with Edward G. Robinson as  LITTLE CAESAR (1930) and James Cagney as Tom Powers in PUBLIC ENEMY (1931), Warners capitalized on the gangster mystique of the Prohibition and Depression eras, most effectively in the pre-code films made before 1934, after which restrictions forbade the sexual undertones in the narrative or casual references to drug use found in earlier films like THREE ON A MATCH (1932).  Robinson, a classically trained actor, and Cagney, a song and dance man, seemed  unlikely for the roles that defined their respective careers, despite Cagney having been raised in the NY slums.  They were, offscreen, private and gentle, merely accepting the roles as jobs they were given during a period when studios told actors which vehicles they were to steer.  Appearing together only once (in the 1931 Robinson starrer SMART MONEY, made before PUBLIC ENEMY became one of the biggest hits in the studio's career), each actor was defined, and later suffocated, by their status as Hollywood tough guys.  Humphrey Bogart has small parts in a few Warner films during the early 30s (including THREE ON A MATCH), but  became more notable a few years later in 1936 by recreating his stage role as Duke Mantee in THE PETRIFIED FOREST (at the insistence of co-star Leslie Howard;  Robinson was originally tapped for this role by the studio).  Bogart continued to toil in the B ranks and as support until nailing stardom some years later with films like THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) and CASABLANCA (1942), both of which were expected to be far less significant than they turned out.  So Bogey can be found supporting Cagney three times and Robinson four.  In these cases, the lead actors were comparative good guys, even if they also played gangsters, while Bogart was the ruthless one.

This overlapping among actors extended to studio owned directors and screenwriters, so it is assumed that the author realized that examining each actor's filmography separately would lose some semblance of historical context.   In any case, Nollen's choice to present the films as a continuous narrative according to release makes this perhaps the most effective study of these films, adding insight and substance in areas unapproached by separate career analyses.

Along with the tough guy sagas, Nollen also includes the films that branch off into other sub-genres.  There is the western THE OKLAHOMA KID (1940) in which Cagney and Bogart play their gangster roles in cowboy garb.  Robinson investigates cheeky humor in gangster sendups as early as LITTLE GIANT (1933), but again with A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER (1937), BROTHER ORCHID (1940, also with Bogart), and the later LARCENY, INC. (1948).  Perhaps the most interesting comic twist Robinson tackled was the oddly titled AMAZING DOCTOR CLITTERHOUSE (1938) which cast him as an erudite professor (eschewing his noted snarling delivery and speaking in a manner that was said to be the same as the offscreen educated, multi-lingual actor).  Cagney's forays into his musical roots, including FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933) and the George M. Cohan bio YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) are included as well, the author realizing that despite the genre (comedy, western, musical, or even B-level sci-fi such as Bogart's RETURN OF DOCTOR X), the boys were always within throwing distance of their tough guy personae.

WARNER WISEGUYS is an exceptional look at three remarkable series of important studio films from Hollywood's golden age, using an offbeat and wonderfully effective approach that is beneficial for reference and scholarship.  Most highly recommended, indeed.