originally a professional dancer and when cagney go into act and his original aspiration be the legitimate stage and i. e. broadway or off broadway and but end up in hollywood and where the real money be . eventually he run afoul of two institution of the hollywood studio system the almost indentured servant status of act contract and and type casting . the first meant do whatever the studio say and and the second meant that what the studio tell him be to play the racketeer personality that have sell public enemy in film after film . cagney rebel and go long period not make film and and insist on cast against type . finally he form cagney production and which produce this film and a handful of others and most of which be box office thud . to be fair to the studio on the issue of type casting and they really understand their audience of the 30 and 40 . by the mid 50 and a new generation of mature audience could approach an actor a something other than face for a type and but there no doubt that early audience expect their star to be pretty much true to the character they most usually play . cagney be a particular victim of this syndrome . of all his non tough guy film and only yankee doodle dandy make a lot of money and earn endure critical respect . the time of your life isn not just a filmed play that cagney appear in . his character be the whole story . he have a mysterious past and appear to be well to do but prefer a shadowy existence in a low class dive and have nothing but good will for the world and with a wry and wizened sense of humor and yet there be a strange underlying sadness or depression in his make up that be never fully revealed let alone explain . all this be not just the writing at work and but be present in cagney powerful and understated performance . in fact and be so condition by actor emote in drama or play stony strongman in action film and that we have forget what ubtle really mean in an acting style and but here cagney exhibit it in spade . unlike the amethod actor of the same era a this film and who try to get inside their character as much a possible and cagney recognize the need to take the script a a blueprint for the actor construct character . this joseph t. be as much cagney creation a it be saroyan really more so . cagney create a fully develop personality that could easily walk off the screen and down the street to the neighborhood bar . and you could walk up to him ad engage a pretty lively conversation . it be true that the film making here be unexceptional despite a couple remarkable close ups and it really a filmed play in the less sens of that term . and the supporting actor be rarely a spot on a cagney . a for the story itself and well and let be fair and it saroyan and an amusing bit of americana . but the box office failure of this film be undeserved and and so be it continue reputation a something of a failure for cagney career . if you approach the film with an open mind and you will realize that cagney here leave u a classic example of what pre amethod act really be and and what act ought to be about . if you set aside expectation and pre conception and you may find yourself utterly fascinate and captivate by cagney performance here .