Les hors la loi

In 1935 people paid to watch the physical, strutting, smart-mouthed James Cagney, and even in this film about FBI agents in the production code era of the 1930's Cagney gives them that. This time, though, Cagney is one of the guys trying to apprehend gangsters like Tom Powers of "The Public Enemy", rather than playing one.

Cagney is Brick Davis, a guy who came up from the slums of New York, a man whose personal benefactor is in the rackets himself, but he never wanted anything for or from Brick other than for him to make good. The opening scene shows Cagney giving a legal summation - something about a poor man fighting the big corporations. As the camera pans back we see that there is no jury, and in fact Brick is getting nowhere with his law practice.

An old friend, now a G-Man himself, visits Brick and suggests he join the FBI. After that old friend is shot in the line of duty by a gangster, Brick does just that. This film is pretty much a conventional, paint-by-numbers cops and robbers picture made exceptional by exceptional performers. Robert Armstrong, who comes across as more of a mug than Cagney, is supervising agent Jeff McCord who doesn't like Cagney from the start for really no good reason that I could surmise. Ann Dvorak is the "tarnished angel" - a chorus girl without a chorus who does what she has to do to survive but also wants to do the right thing and seems to harbor a bit of a thing for Cagney's character. Margaret Lindsay is Jeff's sister, a nurse no less, who doesn't like Brick either - at first. Then there are a host of bad guys the worst of which is Barton McLane in the kind of "so mean he's terrific" role at which he excelled in the 1930's and beyond.

For people who love Cagney in action with lots of shoot outs and fighting an uphill battle to get the girl of his dreams, this one fits the bill.

One thing that you may find puzzling if you watch the DVD release of this film, which is actually from a 1949 re-release, is the presence of a prologue. That prologue has Warner Brothers contract player David Brian playing an FBI instructor talking to a class of FBI men about the history of the agency and how it was before the agents could even carry guns. Apparently, the FBI offered no cooperation in the making of "G Men" in 1935, but by 1949 the agency really liked this picture and so this prologue was tacked on. Just don't get too confused about the time warp.

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" 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.

"G-Men" is a 1935 film that was reissued in 1949. At that time, the FBI was 25 years old, and a scene was added where David Brian, as an FBI head honcho, tells his rookies that they are about to see an early film about the FBI. He then starts the movie.

"G-Men" is directed by William Keighley and stars James Cagney as Brick Davis, an attorney whose college friend Eddie (Regis Toomey) is murdered by a mobster (Barton MacLane) while working for the Department of Justice. Brick quits lawyering and joins the FBI. When the fact that he was close friends with a mobster (who put him through law school) turns up, Brick is able to supply a lot of information to the bureau.

The action in this film is non-stop, with car chases, kidnappings, lots of shooting, and scenes at a lodge, reminiscent of a well-known real-life happening in Wisconsin.

Cagney is excellent as usual, and Barton MacLane gives a strong performance as the enemy. Lloyd Nolan, as a fellow recruit, makes his film debut. The supporting actors are all good.

Warner Brothers again proves why they were King of the Crime Flicks with this film. If you like Cagney and action, don't miss this one.

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.