In celebration of the FBI’s 100th anniversary, TCM will be featuring pre-code movie “G-man,” on Thursday, July 24th with Jimmy Cagney playing the lead G-man who catches crooks. This was a different role for Jimmy. Before this role he played roles on the other side, violent crooks like in “Public Enemy,” (1931). So why were the roles reversed? The Production Code Standards had just been enacted, but the masses still wanted juicy stuff during the depression, and Hollywood had to figure out how to do that without violating the Code.
Here was their chance to still show violence, and all kinds of vice, and come out smelling like a rose. Although these movies had a good mix of “sin” and violence, there was a good guy getting the bad guys. And that is all that mattered to the Production Code people. Somehow all the vice was overlooked because a hero was ridding the world of scum. Talk about a win-win situation. The Hayes office and the audiences were happy, and Hollywood was raking in the dough.
The world loved Cagney on the other side. Somehow Cagney had the power to keep audiences captivated either way. But I get the impression that he was more loved when he went to the other side. Only Cagney could pull that one off. Will Rodgers once said, “Every time I see him work, it looks to me like a bunch of firecrackers going off.” That about sums up Cagney!
But the movie sounds like a gem. Cagney plays a G-man who is put through law school with the help of a gangster. The gangster ends up killing Cagney’s friend who happens to be an FBI agent. Cagney decides to join the FBI and goes after the villains including the one who put him through school. The movie has realistic crime scenes that will send chills down your spine. In fact, in one of the scenes with Cagney getting shot at, real bullets were used!
I am just amazed at how Hollywood was able to take something as the Production Code and used it to their advantage…ingenious indeed.
