| G Men | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | William Keighley |
| Produced by | Louis F. Edelman Hal B. Wallis |
| Written by | Darryl F. Zanuck (story, uncredited) Seton I. Miller |
| Starring | James Cagney Ann Dvorak Margaret Lindsay Robert Armstrong |
| Music by | David Buttolph Bernhard Kaun (both uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Editing by | Jack Killifer |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 18, 1935 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
G Men is a 1935 Warner Bros. crime film starring James Cagney and Ann Dvorak. It also marked Lloyd Nolan's film debut. According to Variety Magazine, it was one of the top-grossing films of 1935.[1]
G Men was made as part of a deliberate attempt to counteract what many conservative political and business leaders claimed was a disturbing trend of glorifying criminals in the early 1930s gangster film genre. Although the gangster films were typically presented as moral indictments of organized crime where the criminal protagonist inevitably died, they nevertheless depicted a life of freedom, power and luxury enjoyed by gangsters in the midst of a real-life economic crisis. Foremost of these films were Little Caesar, the original Scarface, and perhaps the most memorable, The Public Enemy, which catapulted Cagney to stardom. Also notable about these films was that law enforcement was typically portrayed as either impotent in the face of crime, or, as with Public Enemy, akin to a derelict and largely absentee father shirking his duty. Based on this interpretation, G Men supplanted the criminal protagonist with the heroic federal police officer.
Most prints of this film include a brief scene added at the beginning for the 1949 re-release. This scene depicts a group of FBI recruits preparing to view the film so that they may learn about the Bureau's history.
In 2008, G Men was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films.[2]
Contents |
One year after graduation, New York lawyer Brick Davis (James Cagney) has no clients. His friend Eddie Buchanan (Regis Toomey) tries to recruit him as a federal agent or "G Man" (government man), but Davis is not interested. However, when Buchanan is killed while trying to arrest a gangster, Davis changes his mind, determined to bring the killer to justice. He bids farewell to his mentor, "Mac" MacKay (Willliam Harrigan), a gang boss who financed his education to keep Davis on the right side of the law. He bids farwell to Jean Morgan (Ann Dvorak), the star of MacKay's nightclub who has feelings for Davis.
Davis travels to Washington, D.C. to begin his training. A mutual dislike forms immediately between him and his instructor, Jeff McCord (Robert Armstrong). However, Davis is attracted to McCord's sister Kay (Margaret Lindsay).
Meanwhile, MacKay retires and buys a resort lodge out in the woods of Wisconsin. His men, free of his restraint, embark on a crime spree. Hamstrung by existing laws (federal agents have to get local warrants and are not even allowed to carry guns), the head of the G-Men pleads for new laws to empower his beleaguered men. They are enacted with great speed.
Davis identifies one of the perpetrators, Danny Leggett (Edward Pawley), by his superstition of always wearing a gardenia. Not having completed his training, he can only give agent Hugh Farrell (Lloyd Nolan) tips on Leggett's habits. Farrell tracks down and arrests his quarry, but he and some of his men are gunned down, and Leggett escapes.
McCord is put in charge of the manhunt and given his choice of five agents. He picks Davis, a decision that later pays dividends when Davis pushes him out the way and takes a bullet meant for him. Davis ends up in the hospital (where Kay is a nurse) for his shoulder wound. When Jean is brought in for questioning, Davis learns she is now married to Collins (Barton MacLane), one of the crooks. She inadvertently lets slip that the gang is hiding out at MacKay's lodge (against MacKay's will). In the ensuing wild shootout, Davis kills MacKay, who was being used as a human shield. Before he dies, MacKay forgives his distraught friend.
Only Collins gets away. He kidnaps Kay to use as a hostage. Jean finds out where he is hiding and telephones Davis, only to be killed in cold blood by her husband. Davis sneaks inside and rescues Kay. Collins is shot to death by McCord as he tries to drive away.
The struggles faced by Brick Davis mirror a public image that was being carefully cultivated for the FBI during the war on crime, particularly by J. Edgar Hoover. Not only was Davis incorruptible, for example, but he had a law degree at a time when police work was usually learned on-the-job. The FBI opened its training academy the same year G Men was released, and claimed that it recruited college graduates. Although Hoover did not directly serve as an advisor to G Men, as his power and independence from his political superiors grew over time, he became more overtly involved in cultural offerings that promoted his agency, including comic strips and radio dramas.