G Men
| G Men | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | William Keighley |
| Written by | Darryl F. Zanuck (novel, uncredited), Seton I. Miller |
| Produced by | Louis F. Edelman, Hal B. Wallis |
| Starring | James Cagney Margaret Lindsay Robert Armstrong Ann Dvorak |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Edited by | Jack Killifer |
| Music by | David Buttolph (uncredited), Bernhard Kaun (uncredited) |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date | April 18 1935 |
Running time | 85 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ? |
G Men is a 1935 Warner Brothers movie starring James Cagney and Ann Dvorak that is based on the mythologized origins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The film's significance is less in its cinematic merits than as a propaganda effort in the FBI's so-called war on crime in the middle years of the depression.
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 movie 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 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, 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.
James Cagney plays a young criminal lawyer, Brick Davis, who attempts to resist the lure of the criminal underworld even though his own education was paid for by a gangster. But in a world where the only successful lawyers are the crooked ones, Davis finds it nearly impossible to establish a successful law practice without compromising his integrity and ideals. His life takes a dramatic turn after a friend and federal agent, or G-Man, is killed by a gangster shortly after attempting to recruit Davis to the FBI. After the murder, Cagney closes his law practice and joins the FBI, determined to bring the killer to justice. Davis, not surprisingly, prevails and gets the girl, but must first overcome major obstacles, such as a complacent policing culture and legal constraints on federal agents like not having the right to carry firearms.
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 increased grew, he became more overtly involved in cultural offerings that promoted his agency, including comic strips and radio dramas.
Most prints of this film include a brief scene added at the beginning for the 1949 re-release.
Cast
- James Cagney as James 'Brick' Davis
- Margaret Lindsay as Miss Kay McCord
- Ann Dvorak as Jean Morgan Collins
- Robert Armstrong as Jeffrey 'Jeff' McCord
- Barton MacLane as Brad Collins
- Lloyd Nolan as Hugh Farrell
- Regis Toomey as Edward 'Eddie' Buchanan
External link
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