G-Men (retro trailer)

We catch a glimpse of a cinema marquee showing this 1935 classic in the trailer for Clint Eastwood’s new FBI flick J. Edgar, so I figure now is the time for a closer look.

This clip was created to promote the 1949 rerelease, and it strikes me as somewhat hyperbolic. The for-real FBI showed a James Cagney action flick as a training film? *snort* Were descriptions of one’s upcoming travels typically considered threatening in the 1930s? (“A gangster leaves Chicago on the 9:15 train headed for Pittsburgh, see...”) Every word of G-Men is true?

We might need to start going a little easier on the people who make trailers today.

Watch G-Men online via Amazon Instant Video.