| G Men | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William Keighley |
| Written by | Darryl F. Zanuck (story, uncredited) Seton I. Miller |
| Based on | Public Enemy No. 1 by Gregory Rogers |
| Produced by | Louis F. Edelman Hal B. Wallis |
| Starring | James Cagney Ann Dvorak Margaret Lindsay Robert Armstrong |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Edited by | Jack Killifer |
| Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $307,000[1][2] |
| Box office | $1,963,000[2] |
G Men is a 1935 Warner Bros. crime film starring James Cagney, Ann Dvorak, Margaret Lindsay and Lloyd Nolan in his film debut. According to Variety, the movie was one of the top-grossing films of 1935.[3] The supporting cast features Robert Armstrong and Barton MacLane.
G Men was made as part of a deliberate attempt by the Warners to counteract what many political and business leaders claimed was a disturbing trend of glorifying criminals in the early 1930s gangster film genre.[citation needed] Although the gangster films were typically presented as moral indictments of organized crime where the criminal protagonist inevitably died, they nevertheless depicted a life of freedom, power and luxury enjoyed by gangsters in the midst of a real-life economic crisis. Foremost of these films were Little Caesar, the original Scarface, and perhaps the most memorable, The Public Enemy, in which Cagney portrayed street tough Tom Powers, the role that catapulted him to stardom. What was deemed most objectionable about these films was that law enforcement was typically portrayed as either impotent in the face of crime, or, as with Public Enemy, akin to a derelict and largely absentee father shirking his duty. Based on this interpretation, G Men supplanted the criminal protagonist with the heroic federal police officer.
Most prints of this film include a brief prologue added at the beginning for the 1949 re-release (on the FBI's 25th anniversary). This scene depicts a senior agent (played by David Brian) introducing a screening of the film to a group of FBI recruits so that they may learn about the Bureau's history.
- ^ Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 15: 55–73. doi:10.1080/01439689500260031.
- ^ a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 16 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- ^ Canning, Gregory A. (1999). ""The Moral Importance of Entertainment": Hollywood, Censorship, and Depression America, 1933-1941" (PDF). p. 135. Retrieved 2007-05-05.