Something to Sing About wittingly mirrors Cagney's frustrations with the Hollywood rat race and pokes fund at the studio system as a whole.

Production methods, acting styles, pompous executives, overzealous agents, and the era's intense fandemonium all provide choice fodder for the film's writers.

Cagney is as smooth as silk, acting with a comfortable naturalism his usual high-voltage portrayals often lack. During the dance sequences, he has a ball, obviously relishing the opportunity to strut his terpsichorean stuff before the cameras. Watching him flawlessly perform complicated steps in a bouncy, marionette style makes one rue the lack of more Cagney musicals.