G-Men (Warner Bros.) (1935)

jimmie Cagn “6” men. dory of h Armstrong DAILY PUBLICITY Two directors. Eight assistant directors. Three camera crews, each comprising a cameraman, a sistant cameraman. each comprising a microphone boom man, @ mixer and a sound recorder, Two hundred twenty-five lights, ranging in size from huge sun ares and 10,000 kilowatt incandescents down to tiny spotlights. Fourteen miles of electrie cable. bearing electricity generating equip ; ment. An entire railroad depot. I'wenty-three electricians and twice that many general handymen. A locomotive and seven coaches. ; ers and 250 extras. Result: ey is now one of Uncle Sam’s secret service agents—the He’s starred in the First National picture, “G-Men,” a | ow gangland met its Waterloo. Also featured is Robert (shown at left). *“¢-Men”’ is now at the ....... Theatre. Mat No. 10—20ce Many Months Required To Make “G-Men,” First U.$. Federal Agent Film Theatre on A vast amount of research was necessary to depict efectively the six months’ training period through which | il recruits go before becoming full-fledged “G Men.” In order to assure technical acaracy in the fingerprinting and bal iisties department the studio called upon Frank P. Gompert, head of the riminological department of the las Angeles county sheriff’s office to aid in furnishing these divisions. Gompert obtained fingerprinting apparatus, selector devices, magnifed photographs of bullets, fingerpat comparators, microscopes, ilixometers and a maze of other mysterious apparatus employed by the modern criminologist. Experts who visited the sets dewribed them as remarkable exam ples of a complete criminological laboratory. The heroic part the department of jushee played in bringing to jus lee the perpetrators of these crimes 8 dramatically depicted. Pn picture is one of the most . ng dramas ever screened taken ‘om ewspaper headlines of the past three years of the battle of ee | government men against the arch criminals of the country. The all star cast is headed by James Cagney and includes Mar| garet Lindsay, Ann Dvorak, Robert | Armstrong, Barton MacLane, Lloyd Nolan, William Harrigan, Russell Hopton and Edward Pawley. Wil liam Keighley directed it from the sereen play by Seton I. Miller based on the story by Gregory Rogers. Cagney, Hollywood’s most famous Bad Man, deserts his past roles to portray the part of a ‘‘G-Man.’’ His acting is said to be the finest in his career. Some critics have gone as far as to say that in ‘‘GMen,’’ he has turned in a perform anee even greater than in the memorable ‘‘ Public Enemy.’’ Ann Dvorak, who revealed a sur prising talent for song-and-dance in ‘Sweet Music,’’ the Warner Bros. | musical, has a similar part in this film plus an opportunity to show her | dramatie talents. Tourist Crowd Gets Thrill On Movie Battle Eastern tourists arriving at a the Southern Pacific eS "ay depot one night during the Production of the First Na‘onal picture ““G@ Men,’’ now ‘howing at the ~aae Were treated to an untage thrill when they step‘ a their traing directly into = web Spectators to the bigfilmed at Picture seene ever Recent l@ railroad terminal. ; Sout the lo troupe, compris Progressed thr night, as a stuing 300 persons, Ough a sequence of any of b them aga, Temained for Scene | rent which lugging heavy T several hours. ie actual — 'eWapaner -“S emblazoned in ) ~ 10 long eadtines of the nation Ying by > he the sensational City, of & feder Ssters in Kansas ther al agent and three of the law. Lost Handcuffs Key Keeps Actor Prisoner 1 Hour Edward Pawley, who plays the role of a Public Enemy, in the First National picture ‘‘G Men,’’ now showing at the er Theatre, had a bad hour at the Southern Pacific railway depot in Los Angeles where exterior sequences were filmed for the picture. The scenes depicted the slaying of four officers in front of a Kansas City railway depot and throughout the action Pawley wore a pair of handcuffs. The company worked the entire night and when quitting time ar rived at daybreak, the property man discovered the key to the handeuffs was missing. An hour later, about the time his aides were discussing the advisibil ity of filing the handcuffs off, the prop man found the key in his watch pocket where he had placed | it for safe-keeping. ‘‘G Men’? is the first story of America’s battle against crime and the Mad Dogs of the Mobs ever | filmed. It has an all star cast headed by James Cagney and includes Margaret Lindsay, Ann Dvorak and Robert Armstrong. | showing at the First National production ‘‘G How Ann Dvorak Keeps Her Figure Ann Dvorak whose dancing thrilled theatre audiences in the Vallee picture ‘‘Sweet Music,’’ and who has one of the leading roles in | which she both sings and dances in 'the James Cagney picture ‘‘G Men,’’ which will open at the Theatre on keeps fit by a series of exercises she invented herself. Wearing shorts and a sweater, Ann begins her day by jumping up and down from a crouching position. Then she does shoulder exereises and high kicks, in order to gain suypleness and strength of the stomach and back muscles. Ann takes her exercises in the center of a bare room, shunning all apparatus, and her slenderness is the envy of her girl friends. She is five feet, five inches in height Many months were spent in preparation before aj and weighs only 110 pounds. camera turned on the First National picture “G Men,” | astory of the daring exploits of the men of the United States Department of Justice, and which comes to the Wins Many Fights | Ann Dvorak’s Photo One of Ann Dvorak’s pictures has been knocking a lot of fighters cold recently. It rests in the potent | right glove of Bud Lewis, amateur boxer of San Francisco. Miss Dvorak, whose current pic ture is ‘‘G Men,’’ the First Na tional production showing at the Theatre, has an ardent fan in Lewis. He clipped her likeness from a newspaper and before every fight slipped it into his right glove. He won five of his last four teen fights by knockouts and eight by decisions. The only one he lost was when he misplaced the snapshot and didn’t locate it till after the bout, he says. Reads of Slaying And Wins Job Regis Toomey was reading an article concerning the slaying of a Department of Justice agent by gangsters, when he was called by the First National studios, with an offer. Next day he discovered he | was to play in ‘‘G Men,’’ the story of the Department of Justice now Theatre. second cameraman and an as| Two complete sound crews, | | realism, Three principals, twenty bit play| Men,’’ now showing at the Theatre. The sequence in the finished picture occupies about two minutes of screen time. But the scene in the opinion of William Keighley, rector, bears the stamp of absolute ‘Vast Crew Needed To Film | di| Audiences see a train roll into a| depot. Clanging bells and the general hubbub of a metropolitan rail way station, rolling tractors, lug gage burdened red-caps, passengers, conductors, brakemen and baggagemen accompany the ar r | rival. ['wenty-four trucks, six of them | From the train emerges Lloyd | Nolan, who portrays the role of a Department of Justice agent, taking a prisoner, Edward Pawley, to Leavenworth penitentiary. They are met uniformed policemen. On the sidewalk in front of the | depot there is a burst of gunfire. A single sequence of the | Rudy | And, when the smoke of battle clears away, all save one lies in the Robert Armstrong, National production ‘‘G theatre, is preparing to motion picture business hurrying | | ing, “G-Men"™ street, mortally wounded. Seream hysterical women and whitefaced men cluttered the street, seek ing to the awful blast of deathdealing lead. It is a reproduction of an actual incident which occurred not long ago scape in Kansas City, an incident which sent a chill of horror along the collective spine of the American public. The incident is one of several such episodes pictured in the production, the story of which revolves around ithe heroic deeds of the Department of Justice. Cagney plays the part of a federal lagent who brings to justice the gang by a deputy sheriff and two! Armstrong Would Desert Screen To Be Film Director which perpetrated the Kansas City crime. | Others in the cast include Margaret Lindsay, Ann l)vorak, Robert Armstrong, Barton MacLane and others. The screen play is by Seton L. Miller, based on the story by Greg jory Rogers. e who has a leading role in the First Men,’’ now showing at the step into another department of the — directing. Armstrong is independently wealthy and could live hand somely upon his income. But he feels that even after the ad ditional years he expects to spend in the acting branch of the motion picture business he still will! have too many useful years of life to quit working. ‘‘My temperament is not suited to a leisurely life,’’ he said. ‘‘ Ever since my graduation from the Uni| versity of Washington I have been the show [ am going to continue in the business as long as I can stand on my two feet. ‘(To my way of thinking,’’ he said, ‘‘acting should be the best possible training for the directorial end of the business.’’ connected with business. ? From all present indications, how ever, Armstrong is many years from a director’s chair. He has scored heavily in the role of of the Bureau of Investigation of the United States Department of Justice, in ‘'G Men.’’ In this picture Armstrong plays opposite James Cagney, Hollywood’s most notorious bad man leader an executive who has now become a in the war on crime. Armstrong believes his part held greater possibilities than any he had | undertaken since he skyrocketed to fame on the stage with Jimmy Gleason in ‘‘Is Zat So.’’ ‘(No two directors in pictures work exactly alike,’’ he said. ‘‘I compare the methods of the director under whom I am working with my | Trigger-fingers poised for action, James Cagney and Regis Toomey (right) symbolize America’s battle against crime. They’re both government operatives in the First National picture, “G-Men,” a film dealing with America’s battle against crime. It is current at Theatre. | + ee ee | | the ideas of how the action of the pie ture should conducted. Then, when the picture is finished, I try to measure from an abstract view oint the audience’s reactions to the completed product and to visualize | the response of emotions to the | scenes as I would have done it.’’ This course of self-instruction, Armstrong believes, has given him an invaluable fund of knowledge concerning the psychology of film audiences and will serve him when the time comes. He feels, incidentally, that directorial end of pictures is more creative than acting. be the far Armstrong has already spent sev eral years with his uncle, Paul Armstrong, writing and producing many full length plays. Miss Lindsay Proves She Can Take Film Bump Margaret Lindsay had a rough reception recently at the First Na | tional studio during the production of “G Men,” which. comes to the Theatre on The picture had been im work days, but Miss playing the role of the sister of official of the United States of Justice, called until several days after the film was started. The first scene in which the ae{tress appeared showed James Cag|ney, star of the production, opening a hallway door in the Depart{ment of Justice building. The door strikes Miss Lindsay, who is in the act of recovering her purse, which she has dropped, knocking her down with considerable foree. several Lindsay, an Department was not Director William Keighley, a stickler for realism, was not satisfied with the action until the third take was completed, but Miss Lindsay took all three bumps, the last one so severe it jarred her | hat off. | “At least,” she remarked to Cag|ney, “that’s not quite as bad as having grapefruit shoved in your face.” “G Men” is a stirring story of battle of Government men |against the gangsters of the country. Crime Expert Used For ““G-Men”’ So that no technical error could creep into sequences of ‘‘G Men,’’ | the First National picture now showing at the Theatre, the company engaged Frank B. Gom| pert, criminologist of the Los An|geles county sheriff’s office, one of the country’s leading experts. James Cagney has the stellar role in the picture, which depicts the J. 8. Department of Justice men’s battle against crime. | |