'G' Men

I could go on record as saying that G-men is probably my favourite film of all time, but I won't. Though it would certainly have no need to fight for a place in my top 5, as anyone who's seen this movie could see why it would have a well earned place there.

Cagney plays the tough guy again, but this time firmly on the side of Uncle Sam, as a laywer turned Federal Agent to avenge the death of a friend. Cagneys performance is one of his best, and it's not just cagney that shines, Robert Armstrong is brilliant as Cagney's tough talking FBI boss. and Regis Toomey's good but brief appearance as Cagney's doomed friend is equally pleasing.

I love everything about this Movie, the guns, the Cars, the suits, the music. The only thing I don't like, is that every version you find of this great film these days has the annoying and rather pointless prologue added in 1949, showing a group of 'FBI Men' (or actors as I like to call them) having a training session where the instructor tells this fledgling officers that Gangsters are scum and and that law and order will prevail. WHY????????

The 1930's were Warner Bros's glory days, and their gangster films were rightly regarded as the best crime movies ever (until supplanted by the brilliant Godfather movies). However, the new makes way for the old, and Pacino, De Niro, Brando, as good as they are, could NEVER replace the cockiness of Cagney, the ruthlessness of Raft,and the barbarity of Bogie(though sadly neither Bogart or Raft appear in this picture I'm afraid). Maybe that's where the film could have been better with Barton McClanes lacklustre performance as Cagney's gangster nemesis, being replaced by either George Raft or Humphrey Bogart. I'm not going to spoil the plot, as this movies a treat for all fans of B&W gangster films. this is a MUST SEE