A James Cagney love scene is one where he lets the other guy live.

Bob Hope’s quip plays on James Cagney’s screen persona—tough, pugnacious, and often associated with gangster roles and explosive confrontations. By calling a “love scene” one in which Cagney “lets the other guy live,” Hope humorously inverts romantic expectations: tenderness is redefined as mere restraint from violence. The joke depends on audience familiarity with Hollywood typecasting and the contrast between conventional cinematic romance and Cagney’s hard-edged image. It also showcases Hope’s style of celebrity-wisecracking, where a performer’s public persona becomes shorthand for a whole genre of behavior.