james cagney play a permanent patron at a san francisco honky tonk and observe the ebb and flow of human traffic and occasionally get involve in the tangled life of clichéd character . there the tap dance comedian and the penniless piano player and the former burlesque dancer and the lovestruck kid and the simple gambler and the hearty bar owner and etc . it hard to imagine which of these stock figure be the most annoying ( my vote would be the fur trapper who hail from new jersey ) and yet the film and base on the pulitzer prize win play by william saroyan and have garner some good review . personal taste will have to determine the picture ultimate value and though cagney low key self assurance ( some may say smugness ) be rather enjoyable and his presence be certainly odd in these corny circumstance . saroyan theatrical material just isn not well suit for the screen and and the one main set and the clatter dialogue quickly tire both the eye and the ear . half from .