'G' Men (1935)

Director:

William Keighley

Writers:

Seton I. Miller (story)
Seton I. Miller (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 May 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Hollywood's Most Famous Bad Man Joins the "G-MEN" and Halts the March of Crime!

Plot:

It's the early days of the F.B.I. - federal agents working for the Department of Justice. Though they've got limited powers...

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Murder | Public Enemy Number One | Hotel | FBI

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

James Cagney	...	'Brick' Davis
Margaret Lindsay	...	Kay McCord
Ann Dvorak	...	Jean Morgan
Robert Armstrong	...	Jeff McCord
Barton MacLane	...	Collins
Lloyd Nolan	...	Hugh Farrell
William Harrigan	...	'Mac' McKay, aka Joseph Lynch
Russell Hopton	...	Gerard
Edward Pawley	...	Danny Leggett
Noel Madison	...	Durfee
Monte Blue	...	Fingerprint Expert
Regis Toomey	...	Edward 'Eddie' Buchanan
Addison Richards	...	Bruce J. Gregory
Harold Huber	...	Venke
Raymond Hatton	...	Gangsters' Messenger with Warning

Also Known As:

G'Men (USA) (alternative spelling)
G-Men (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) | Norway:16 (1936) | USA:Approved (PCA #745)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Two of the prominent action scenes in the film were based on real events. The rail station shoot-out in which gangsters free Danny Leggett, was based upon the famous "Kansas City Massacre" in which gunmen attacked FBI agents and policemen as they were transporting federal prisoner Frank "Jelly" Nash on June 17th, 1933. In real life, one agent, three policemen and Nash himself were killed. As shown in the film, this was incident that increased the power of the FBI and turned into the agency it is today. The other incident was the shoot-out at the lodge. That was based on a battle between FBI agents and the John Dillinger Gang (which included "Baby Face" Nelson) on April 22, 1934.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Robert Armstrong is riding in a car driven by a uniformed policeman towards the end of the movie, a crewman is reflected off the small passenger window. He shows up in three scenes and may be rocking the car to simulate a bumpy road.

Quotes:

James 'Brick' Davis: I'm leaving tomorrow morning. That puts me on the other side of the fence than you, Mac.
'Mac' McKay, aka Joseph Lynch: That's where you ought to be.
James 'Brick' Davis: Yes, but they're out to get you. You and everybody else in your racket. And if they assign me to go after you, I've got to use everything I know about you.
'Mac' McKay, aka Joseph Lynch: You've got to play ball with them, Brick. Go to it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Great Depression" (1993)

Soundtrack:

You Bother Me an Awful Lot

This time its Cagney AGAINST the Underworld

James "Brick" Davis gives up his law practice to join the Department of Justice (FBI) following the murder of Buchanan, department agent and Brick's former college roommate. Once arriving in Washington for training, Brick is given a hard time by McCord, the officer in charge, but McCord thinks Brick has the makings of a great agent, even though McCord uncovers the fact that Brick's education was paid for by McKay, a racketeer, who now wants to get out of the rackets. Leggett, who was one of the people McKay sold his interests to, is now Public Enemy number one, following a mob shootout with the G-Men. The agency gets Congress to pass laws that allow the FBI to cross state lines, carry ammunition, make kidnapping and bank robbery federal crimes, and others to strengthen the agency. Leggett is captured and the FBI next goes after Collins, who is hiding out at McKay's hotel in Wisconsin. A shootout ensues, McKay and several of Collins' gang is killed, but the head gangster gets away. Can Brick and McCord apprehend Collins, before he kills his wife (a former flame of Brick and the person who gave away Collins' location to the police) and also kills McCord's sister, Kay (who Brick is sweet on)? Good film from Warner Bros. trying to sanitize Cagney's character from his earlier gangster pictures. Keighley's direction makes good use of all the shootouts which spare little and do paint a decent picture of the FBI's problems during its infancy. Cagney still manages to play the tough guy very well, even though this time he's on the side of law and order. Dvorak is sympathetic as Jean. Lindsay is OK, but she is not given much time to establish much character and when she does, she becomes the stereotypical love interest for Cagney. Much of the last half-hour of the film does seem rushed as compared to the first hour. Rating, 7.