Editing James Cagney (section)

===1942–1948: Independent again===
Cagney announced in March 1942 that his brother William and he were setting up Cagney Productions to release films through [[United Artists]].<ref name="SIMPP"/><ref>Warren, pages 164–165</ref> Free of Warner Bros. again, Cagney spent some time relaxing on his farm in [[Martha's Vineyard]] before volunteering to join the [[United Service Organizations|USO]]. He spent several weeks touring the US, entertaining troops with vaudeville routines and scenes from ''Yankee Doodle Dandy''.<ref>Warren, page 164</ref> In September 1942, he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Almost a year after its creation, Cagney Productions produced its first film, ''[[Johnny Come Lately]]'', in 1943. While the major studios were producing patriotic war movies, Cagney was determined to continue dispelling his tough-guy image,<ref>Warren, page 167</ref> so he produced a movie that was a "complete and exhilarating exposition of the Cagney '[[Alter ego|alter-ego]]' on film".<ref name="auteur99">McGilligan, page 99</ref> According to Cagney, the film "made money but it was no great winner", and reviews varied from excellent (''Time'') to poor (New York's ''[[PM (newspaper)|PM]]'').<ref>Warren, pages 167–168</ref>

{{quote box|quote="I'm here to dance a few jigs, sing a few songs, say hello to the boys, and that's all."|source=''Cagney to British reporters''<ref>Warren, page 168</ref>|width=225px|align=right}}
Following the film's completion, Cagney went back to the USO and toured US military bases in the UK. He refused to give interviews to the British press, preferring to concentrate on rehearsals and performances. He gave several performances a day for the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Army Signal Corps]] of ''The American Cavalcade of Dance'', which consisted of a history of American dance, from the earliest days to Fred Astaire, and culminated with dances from ''Yankee Doodle Dandy''.

The second movie Cagney's company produced was ''[[Blood on the Sun]]''. Insisting on doing his own stunts, Cagney required [[judo]] training from expert Ken Kuniyuki and from Jack Halloran, a former policeman.<ref>Warren, page 170</ref> He continued to study judo for some time after the film was finished.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nic |date=2016-02-10 |title=1945 film fight scene using reality based real martial arts |url=https://www.mixedmartialarts.com/judo/1945-film-fight-scene |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=MMA Underground |language=en}}</ref> His use of actual judo throws and holds in the movie has been noted as the first appearance of eastern martial arts in Western film.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} The Cagneys had hoped that an action film would appeal more to audiences, but it fared worse at the box office than ''Johnny Come Lately''. At this time, Cagney heard of young war hero [[Audie Murphy]], who had appeared on the cover of [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/audie-murphy-life-cover-07161945.jpg |title=Cover Image |magazine=[[Life Magazine]] |date=July 16, 1945 |access-date=November 1, 2007 |archive-date=December 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218014755/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/audie-murphy-life-cover-07161945.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> Cagney thought that Murphy had the looks to be a movie star, and suggested that he come to Hollywood. Cagney felt, however, that Murphy could not act, and his contract was loaned out and then sold.<ref>Warren, page 171</ref>

While negotiating the rights for his third independent film, Cagney starred in [[20th Century Fox]]'s ''[[13 Rue Madeleine]]'' for $300,000 for two months of work.<ref>Warren, page 178</ref> The wartime spy film was a success, and Cagney was keen to begin production of his new project, an adaptation of [[William Saroyan]]'s Broadway play ''[[The Time of Your Life]]''. Saroyan himself loved the film, but it was a commercial disaster, costing the company half a million dollars to make;<ref name="Warren180">Warren, page 180</ref> audiences again struggled to accept Cagney in a nontough-guy role.<ref name="Warren180"/><ref name="auteur112">McGilligan, page 112</ref>

Cagney Productions was in serious trouble; poor returns from the produced films, and a legal dispute with Sam Goldwyn Studio over a rental agreement<ref name="Warren180"/><ref name="auteur112"/> forced Cagney back to Warner Bros. He signed a distribution-production deal with the studio for the film ''[[White Heat]]'',<ref name="auteur112"/> effectively making Cagney Productions a unit of Warner Bros.<ref name="I Journal"/>