An ex-con turns tabloid photographer in Picture Snatcher, one of my favorite James Cagney movies.
Danny Kean (James Cagney) has just finished up a three-year stay at Sing Sing, and he's decided he's finished with being a racketeer as well. While in prison, he'd met J. R. McLean (Ralph Bellamy), the alcoholic city editor for a tabloid called The Gothic News, and Kean now goes to McLean for a job as a reporter. Instead, he gets a gig as a picture snatcher, his background as a crook allowing him to weasel in and out of tough spots and nab hard-to-get photos. Kean also has a knack for getting a lady's attention, including Allison (Alice White), McLean's girlfriend. However, Kean is more interested in Patricia Nolan (Patricia Ellis), an aspiring reporter - whose father, Lieutenant Casey Nolan (Robert Emmett O'Connor) is the same cop that arrested Kean. However, Nolan reluctantly admits that Kean's turned his life around, and reluctantly gives the two love-birds his blessing.