Brutality And Violence In Gangster Films

Between 1931 and 1934 Warner Bros typically made violent gangster films that glamorized mobster through brutality and violence. This was until 1935 which saw the film G-men starring James Cagney who previously starred in films like Public Enemy. This film intended on putting the focus onto the law enforcement and glamorizing them rather than the mob.
It had been described that (Leich, 2002, p27) “the film was brutal, fast paced as the gangster films which it borrowed everything but its moral loyalties.” This is showing that the film was just like the other films at the time, having a similar style but the story itself focused on the side of the law. This allowed the studio to work around the Production code so that they could make their trademark film that was filled with violence.

The Hays Production Code was a set of rules put in place for studios to follow so that their films were considered socially acceptable. They were optional until 1935 when they were made mandatory. The protagonist of Warner Bros films were typically antisocial and used violence as a way of getting their way. Since the new production code said that they could not glamorise a criminal or their lifestyle, the gangster was
The films started out in 1931 under the influence of Darryl Zanuck who was chief of production at Warner Brothers, a company who made backstage musicals beforehand. G-men did this as well, according to Roddick, it was influenced by real events including; Kansas City Train Depot Massacre, careers of Dillinger Baby Face Nelson as well as the Wisconsin report siege. These show the dramatisation of the ‘War on Crime’ that Warner Bros wanted to get across with their films, showing a different side to their gangster films but keeping this real world