Editing James Cagney (section)

===1936–1937: Independent years===
Cagney spent most of the next year on his farm, and went back to work only when [[Edward L. Alperson]] of [[Grand National Films Inc.|Grand National Pictures]], a newly established, independent studio, approached him to make movies for $100,000 a film and 10% of the profits.<ref name="SIMPP">{{cite web|url=http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/cagneys.htm|title=Hollywood Renegades – Cagney Productions|access-date=January 15, 2009|archive-date=December 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216090423/http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/cagneys.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Warren, page 122">Warren, page 122</ref> Cagney made two features for Grand National: the crime drama ''[[Great Guy]]'' (1936) with Cagney as a federal inspector, and the musical ''[[Something to Sing About (1937 film)|Something to Sing About]]'' (1937) with Cagney as a bandleader and dancer. He received good reviews for both.<ref>McGilligan, page 66</ref><ref>McGilligan, page 70</ref> 

Cagney might have continued with Grand National but the studio, having spent lavishly on the Cagney films, couldn't recoup the production costs. Grand National usually made low-budget features for small, neighborhood theaters, and the Cagney films proved too expensive for the intended market. Grand National had acquired a promising story property from author [[Rowland Brown]], ''Angels with Dirty Faces'', for $30,000.<ref>''New York Times'', Nov. 16, 1937, p. 27.</ref> Cagney was slated to star in the film version but, with the studio in financial trouble, the project went no further. Cagney took the script to Warner Bros., which bought it from Grand National and filmed it in 1938.

Cagney also became involved in political causes, and in 1936, agreed to sponsor the [[Hollywood Anti-Nazi League]].<ref name="WIL">Wilford, Hugh, The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0-674-02681-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-674-02681-0}} (2008), pp. 12–13</ref> Unknown to Cagney, the League was in fact a front organization for the Communist International ([[Communist International|Comintern]]), which sought to enlist support for the [[Soviet Union]] and its foreign policies.<ref name="WIL"/><ref>Doherty, Thomas, ''Hollywood's Censor: Joseph I. Breen and the Production Code Administration'', New York: Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-231-14358-5}} (2007), pp. 206–207</ref>

[[File:Something to Sing About Cagney.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Cagney in ''[[Something to Sing About (1937 film)|Something to Sing About]]'' (1937)]]
The courts eventually decided the Warner Bros. lawsuit in Cagney's favor. He had done what many thought unthinkable: taking on the studios and winning.<ref name="Warren 123">Warren, page 123</ref> Not only did he win, but Warner Bros. also knew that he was still their foremost box office draw and invited him back for a five-year, $150,000-a-film deal, with no more than two pictures a year. Cagney also had full say over what films he did and did not make.<ref name="Warren 124">Warren, page 124</ref> Additionally, William Cagney was guaranteed the position of assistant producer for the movies in which his brother starred.<ref name="I Journal">{{cite web |url=http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue03/infocus/stars7.htm |title=Some Historical Reflections on the Paradoxes of Stardom in the American Film Industry, 1910–1960: Part Six |access-date=March 3, 2008 |last=Gallagher |first=Brian |archive-date=February 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206123903/http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue03/infocus/stars7.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cagney had demonstrated the power of the walkout in holding the studios to their word. He later explained his reasons, saying, "I walked out because I depended on the studio heads to keep their word on this, that, or other promise, and when the promise was not kept, my only recourse was to deprive them of my services."<ref>Cagney, page 51</ref> Cagney himself acknowledged the importance of the walkout for other actors in breaking the dominance of the studio system. Normally, when a star walked out, the time he or she was absent was added onto the end of an already long contract, as happened with [[Olivia de Havilland]] and [[Bette Davis]].<ref name="Cagney52"/> Cagney, however, walked out and came back to a better contract. Many in Hollywood watched the case closely for hints of how future contracts might be handled.<ref>McGilligan, page 63</ref>