Customer Reviews

G-Men [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

James Cagney stars in this brisk crime melodrama from 1935, directed with verve by William Keighley. When hoodlums dispose of Cagney's pal, Cagney becomes a government agent and goes after the mob. Fans of old movies may lose count of all the familiar faces: Lloyd Nolan, Ann Dvorak, Robert Armstrong, Barton MacLane, Noel Madison, Harold Huber, Addison Richards, and so many more fine character players. The film has unfortunately dated more than some Cagney pictures (the nightclub floor show and the crimefighting technology of 1935 have since become quaint), but for simple cops-and-robbers action with mugs, molls, gunplay, guttersnipe slang, and getaway cars, not to mention a sterling performance by Cagney, "G-Men" is hard to beat. The print is excellent, and so is the video transfer..

This is a turnabout film for Cagney, one where he changed his film image, from ruthless gangster to fearless FBI man. Harrigan is a bigshot gangster who genrously puts Cagney through law school. When Toomey, Cagney's pal, becomes an FBI man and is gunned down without a snowman's chance in hell, Cagney joins the force to seek revenge...In the force of mounting criticism of the tendency of making heros out of gansters in their melodramas, Warners pulled a clever switcheroo: by showing the same crimes but by a different angle - that of the law enforcer. After a fairly slow start, the action picks up - and never falters. Strangely enough - because he was cast against-type - begininning with this film, Cagney's career soared into a second wind: each of the films he made within a year's period grossed over 1 millon dollars at the box-office. Obviously, the public liked Cagney. I know I do. As Jean Morgan, Ann Dvorak is excellent, as usual. She was special in an off-beat kind of way. The working title of the film was THE FARRELL CASE: written by Gregory Rogers - the pseudonym of Darryl F. Zanuck (!).

James Cagney stars as Brick Davis, a young lawyer who can't get his practice off the ground. He was practically raised by a wealthy racketeer, Mr. McKay (William Harrigan), who also put Davis through law school. Realizing that his legal career is going nowhere, Davis joins the FBI and begins a tough training period under the harsh instructor Jeff McCord (Robert Armstrong), who doesn't like him.

When Davis' best friend Eddie Buchanan (Regis Toomey) is murdered by gangsters, he vows to avenge his death. Meanwhile, Davis falls in love with Jeff McCord's sister Kay (Margaret Lindsay) and questions his former girlfriend Jean (Ann Dvorak, whom you might remember from 1932's classic "Scarface") to try and find out the names of the gangsters who killed his friend. Jean is married to a man with mob connections, and because she's still in love with Davis she gets the names that he needs. All that remains next is for Davis to visit the gangsters and get his revenge!

Shot in just six weeks on a budget of $450,000, "G-Men" was a huge box office success, opening to rave critical reviews and standing-room only crowds. Some of the reviews stated that it was Cagney's best film since "The Public Enemy", which had made him a major star. Though Cagney played a crime fighter, he retained the same toughness that had served him well in gangster roles. "G-Men" was directed by William Keighley, one of Warner's top directors of the 1930's, and one of Cagney's favorite co-workers. In 1949, "G-Men" was reissued to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the FBI, and a newly shot prologue was added, in which the film was called the "grand-daddy" of all FBI movies. When viewed today, one can hardly disagree.

This is one of the verry best films I've ever seen. Cagney displays a superb acting job, that is a perfect match for a incredible screenplay.This is indeed one of James Cagney's best jobs ever for sure.

James Cagney ( Public Enemy) shows his versatility in this film. This is a classic gangster film of the '30's with Cagney on the side of the law. Barton Mclain is classic as the baddy with Robert Armstrong and Lloyd Nolan as the top notch agents. Margeret Lindsay as the love interest and Ann Dorvak as the not so bad "moll" round out the cast of characters and make for an entertaining portrayal of the early F.B.I. Of course, a lot of the cliche's, along with the Psuedo- history is part of it, but that only enhances the film. For film buffs such as myself, this is one excellent film and well worth the effort.

James Cagney stars as a struggling lawyer who joins the FBI when his friend, an FBI agent, is killed while on duty. Cagney's law studies were financed by a man with mob ties, but he turns his back on that to avenge the death. He gets off on the wrong foot with his superior, Robert Armstrong, and Armstrong's sister Margaret Lindsay, but he quickly proves his courage and ability. The cocky character played by Cagney is nothing new for him, although it's good to see him on the side of the law this time around. The rest of the cast does well, with Ann Dvorak particularly fine as the wife of one of the gangsters, a former girlfriend of Cagney's. When the action gets going, the film really picks up. The Armstrong character isn't well written (or acted, for that matter), but other than that one drawback, the film is easy to watch and a real throw back to the Thirties way of presenting crime in movies - especially the great shoot-outs.

After solidifying his reputation as Hollywood's number-one bad guy, Cagney played a straight-edge lawman in this gangland drama, a huge hit for Warners and great publicity for J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling department, which had only recently granted officers the right to bear arms (a big plot point in the film). Cagney is mesmerizing as Brick, prudent and principled but also tough as nails and willing to throw his weight around. His two love interests, a bar-girl-gone-wrong (Ann Dvorak) and hospital nurse (Margaret Lindsay), land him in a tangle and also help amplify the theme of divided loyalties. Cagney is at his riveting, entertaining best in "G Men."

James Cagney blazes the screen in this contrived yet entertaining crime thriller from the Warner Bros. assembly line. "G Men" finds the movie tough guy joining the FBI to avenge a friend's cold-blooded murder, with plenty of chases and shootouts along the way. Cagney's charismatic energy and William Keighley's crisp direction overcome a predictable script. Good support from Robert Armstrong, Lloyd Nolan and the underrated Ann Dvorak. No masterpiece, but historically important for its Production Code shift from iconic gangsters to crime-fighting heroes.

When the production code came around, movies got cleaned up, and that included gangster movies. In consequence, gangsters could not be glorified, so James Cagney went from hoodlum to the side of the law in G-Men. This is the story of the beginning of the FBI. Cagney plays Brick Davis, a former lawyer who turns to police work after his friend (Lloyd Nolan) is murdered in the line of duty. Brick grew up in the slums and was given his break by a gangster so he knows how the underworld works. That makes him a great cop. It is up to him to round up the top ten most wanted men in America and with the help of menotor Jeff McCord (Robert Armstrong), he can do it.

An entertaining movie, G-Men is nothing too significant. It seems more like a Warners programmer than anything with plenty of stock actors. Ann Dvorak appears as a gangster's wife, Margaret Lindsay as Cagney's love interest, and Barton MacLane as the most elusive gangster Collins.

Jimmy Cagney polishes his tough, street smart, gangster-type image. This time he is not a punk, he's a fed, if not squeaky clean, at least honest. He's a young lawyer who joins the FBI to avenge his best friend's murder. The name FBI is not used nor is J. Edgar's culture present. New technologies for the time are shown. Interesting, but certainly not the CSI of today. Real life events of the time are woven into the story such as the Kansas City Massacre which occurred in 1933.
It is an old fashioned cops n' robbers movie from the 1930's with the stock characters, classic old cars, chases, gunfights & crashes. This movie is guileless. The guilty are killed or captured, Cagney is the hero, gets shot, recovers & gets the girl in the end, his boss's sister no less. An old favorite.