'G' Men

This is definitely Jimmy Cagney's film all the way. He is superb in it and his acting actually makes the rest of the cast better in support. Cagney was such a great actor he would always help elevate others performances in his films and he does so very much in this one. This film is well done for it's time though it looks a little flawed with age now.

The story is actually based upon a real FBI case in the early 30's. It stretches the truth after a while in order to fit the task. The gun fight sequence towards the end is amazingly violent yet most of the what seems to be thousands of shots fired seem to miss everything.

This is one of many films that established Warner Brothers as :Gangster Films Inc" during the 30's & 40's. It is a strong entry which was well produced for a 1935 (early) film. It treats it's subject pretty well. If you like Cagney, this is a film you must see to understand how far he had already developed his acting skills in 1935.

"G-Men" is one of the best of Warner Brothers gangster films. It casts James Cagney, known at that time for his gangster roles, on the right side of the law for a change.

Lawyer "Brick" Davis (Cagney) is a well educated lawyer with no clients. He is visited one day by an old friend Eddie Buchanan (Regis Toomey) who encourages Brick to join the Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation (soon to be named the Federal Bureau of Investigation).

When Eddie is murdered by gangster Collins (Barton MacLane), Brick decides to apply to the Department of Justice. It should be noted that in the FBI's early days they could only engage lawyers and accountants and were not permitted to carry firearms. Brick is assigned to tough laconic Jeff McCord (Robert Armstrong) who is of the opinion that Brick will never make an effective agent.

McCord and Bureau Director Bruce Gregory (Addison Richards) both believe that to be effective, the bureau needs to have national jurisdiction, be allowed to carry weapons and hire law enforcers and not lawyers.

As it turns out Brick was rescued from the street by gangster Mac McKay (William Harrigan) who took him in and provided him with his education. Brick soon demonstrates his capabilities and quickly gains the confidence of his superiors. Along the way he meets McCord's sister Kay (Margaret Lindsay) and the two fall in love. Bad girl Jean Morgan (Ann Dvorak) also has this thing for Brick.

When Collins' gang disappears, Jean is brought in for questioning and we learn that she has married Collins after Mac closed his night club. She gives Brick the lead he needs and the Bureau takes action. Collins escapes the Bureau's attack on his gang and.....................

Director William Keighley gives us one of the classic gangster movies. It changes the focus on the hero from a gangster to a law enforcement officer, but at the same time offers one of the best shoot outs of the genre.

Cagney loses nothing in his switch from the wrong to the right side of the law. He remains his usual cocky fast talking self. Armstrong in a role that usually was played by Pat O'Brien, is effective as McCord. Of the female leads, Dvorak has the best role. Lindsay is merely around as Cagney's good girl love interest. MacLane, Warners resident gangster, turns in his usual good performance as the brutish Collins.

Others in the cast include Lloyd Nolan in an early role as Brick's fellow agent, and Edward Pawley, Noel Madison, Harold Huber and Raymond Hatton as assorted gangsters.

In 1949, the film was re-released to help mark the FBI's 25th anniversary. A prologue featuring David Brian showing the film to a group of new recruits was added.

A word about the DVD commentary by film historian Richard Jewell. For someone who should know better, he makes two glaring errors regarding the cast. He identifies David Brian as Brian David and Margaret Lindsay as Margaret Livingston. I wouldn't have been surprised to have heard him call Cagney, James Pygmy or MacLane, Barton Fink. A little more thorough research Mr. Jewell.

Here's an old-time (about 75 years old!) gangster movie that is fast-moving as all James Cagney crime films tend to be. In here, Cagney is the good guy, a "government man" out to get crooks, one of whom turns out to be his old pal. All the characters in here are pretty interesting, particularly Cagney's boss played by Robert Armstrong.

Watching this film, one discovers an interesting fact: government agents weren't allowed to use guns in the early days. That didn't change until things got totally out of control with too many defenseless lawmen getting killed.

Margaret Lindsay also stars in this movie, and that's a good thing. The more I see of her, the more I like her. It would have been interesting to see what roles she'd play if she was a young actress in today's films.

Finally, the action scenes in this film reminded me of the old television series, "The Untouchables" with the machine guns blazing out of those big, boxy 1930 automobiles.

Recently, I've watched a lot of James Cagney's gangster movies. Usually, he plays the gangster. He is always the mafia leader. But in this one Cagney is a FBI agent. That's right. This time, James Cagney is fighting against the gangsters. At first, it sounded weird, but it works quite well.

The movie tells the story of Brick Davis, a lawyer related to the mafia that decides to join the FBI force, known as 'G-Men' after his friend, also a 'G-Men', is killed.

As usual, James Cagney gives a fine performance as Brick Davis, regardless his better works, like in 'White Heat' and 'Public Enemy'. The other members of the cast do a normal job, just like William Keighley's direction. A supporting member of the cast that did a great job was Barton MacLane, as the villain.

The movie sounds more like a propaganda to the FBI force, but this isn't a bad thing. For 1935's, the movie has great action scenes, with car chases, shooting, kidnapping, robbery, etc, and they are all very well filmed for its period. Even though I prefer the action sequences in 'Scarface', they are great here also.

In resume, another great gangster movie from the 1930's.

8 out of 10.

"G" Men (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Raised by a gangster as a child, James Cagney grows up to be a lawyer but after a friend's murdered by the mob he decides to join the FBI. This film is a tad bit overrated in my opinion because we've seen this type of thing from Warner quite a few times but there are a few nice elements that make it worth watching at least once. Cagney turns in another wonderful performance but to be fair, he rarely turns in anything but. The supporting cast are pretty good but there's no doubt this is Cagney's picture all the way. There are several wonderful shoot outs, which are a lot of fun and the ending is also very nice.