Review of 'G' Men

This is a fast-paced movie which suited the fast-moving Jimmy Cagney and, thus, proved to be a big box office success. It was a watershed role for Cagney who had previously played the "tough guy" in various movies of the gangster genre. This movie finds him still playing a tough guy, but this time he is on the side of the law. Cagney is well-supported in his role with an excellent cast which includes Robert Armstrong playing Cagney's boss, Margaret Lindsay and Ann D'Vorak playing Cagney's love interests, Lloyd Nolan as an FBI agent, Barton McLean as one of the gangster mob which included "public enemy number one" (Danny Leggett) played capably by former Broadway star, Edward Pawley (he was the original "Elmer Gantry" in the 1928 Broadway play of the same name). According to Pawley, his role in G-Men was based upon the notorious real-life gangster, John Dillinger. This was Pawley's defining role as a "bad guy" in the movies, and it served him well in his future movies in which he primarily played the bad guy. He played "bad guy" roles not only in gangster films but also in horror, western, and comedy films as well. He once stated that he played so many "bad guy" roles during his 10-year stint in Hollywood that policemen often eyed him with suspicion whenever he walked down the street. They couldn't decide whether they had seen him in the movies on in the line-up! After deciding to leave Hollywood in 1942, he moved back to New York and replaced Edward G. Robinson in the role of "Steve Wilson" on radio's very popular Big Town drama series. He finally got to play the "good guy"!