G Men vs. Infernal Affairs/the Departed

Earlier, I mentioned seeing the Hong Kong picture Infernal Affairs and its US remake the Departed. Both films concern a pair of police officers, one good, one rogue. The rogue cop is the cat's paw of a mobster who wants an operative working for him on the inside. The good cop works undercover for a respectable detective and had to be drummed out of the force to seem like a criminal-in-the-making. The good cop winds up working against the mobster who employs the rogue cop, so the films create some tension around whether one of the cops will realize which side the other is really working for.

Now, ultimately the rogue cop is out for himself, not his mobster benefactor and that's what brings me to William Keighley's G Men, starring James Cagney.

By 1935, Cagney was already infamous for his gangster roles at Warner Bros, with his fairly cold-blooded role in the Public Enemy becoming one of his all-time best-remembered performances. After a few years taking more gangster picture parts than anything else, G Men was a big change for Cagney; the content made it more-or-less another gangster picture, but this time Cagney was playing a proper protagonist: an FBI agent.

Cagney plays James "Brick" Davis, a struggling lawyer in the 1920s. Coming from a poor background, Brick only afforded law school because of his benefactor, MacKay ("Mac"), portrayed by character actor William Harrigan. MacKay runs a nightclub and is involved in some shady enterprises, but although Brick could use some extra money, he always refuses to work for Mac, preferring to remain legitimate. In fact, this is why Mac paid for Brick's education - he wanted to help out someone from a similar background, but always hoped his protegee would make it as an honest man.

One of Brick's friends is murdered by the mob, spurring Brick to join the FBI for revenge. Brick has to keep his relationship with Mac secret to gain admittance to the department and has one last friendly meeting with Mac.

Mac: "They want you in Washington."
Brick: "Yeah. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. That puts me on the other side of the fence from you, Mac."
Mac: "That's where you oughta be."
Brick: "Yes, but I'm out to get you! You, and everybody else in your racket! And if they assign me to go after you, I've got to use everything I know about you!"
Mac: "You've got to play ball with them, Brick. Go to it. You won't get me, Brick. I'm going to quit. I've been thinking about it for a long time."

Although Brick and MacKay's unusual friendship is a minor part of the film - which is mostly about Brick clashing with his superior in the department and leading fights with the mob - to me, this was the highlight of the film because it stands out so sharply from other law enforcement pictures of the time. Well into the 1950s, pro-law films portrayed lawmen as virtual paragons of justice and their opponents as the lowest scum of humanity. But this picture, one of the first gangster films post-Hays Code to take the law's side still finds space to treat some of the crooks sympathetically.

Of course, even the sympathetic crooks meet a bad end in classic Hollywood pictures, be it Scarface or High Sierra. So it is with Mac, who tries to cut his ties to organized crime, but his old associates choose his lodge in the woods as their hideout from the FBI, taking him hostage. When Brick leads the FBI to raid the lodge, Mac is used as a human shield and takes a bullet from Brick's gun. After the carnage, Brick realizes he's fatally wounded his oldest friend, but the dying Mac doesn't blame Brick, delivers some parting words of encouragement, then dies.

"It wasn't your fault. You're okay, kid. I was thinkin' about you the other day, wondering when you were coming up for that..."

In a sense, the all-but-irredeemable rogue cop of Infernal Affairs/the Departed is a step back in motion pictures to Hays Code-era unsympathetic villains. For that matter, the benefactor mobster in both films is repugnant, unlike G Men's Mac.

I don't really have a point to make with these observations...I simply found it interesting. There's life in those old gangster pictures yet!

Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe due tomorrow!

The latest and greatest Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is released this Wednesday: Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe, a book devoted to events from throughout Marvel history! More about it here!

Also keep your eyes open for Proof: Endangered#2, featuring more back-up profiles from yours truly!

Index to Thor: collected!

Due this April from the House of Ideas...

THOR: OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE GN-TPB

Get the complete history of the God of Thunder from his earliest appearances all the way up to the present day. This book comes packed with synopses — introducing you to the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within; and providing vital information about all things Thor! Collecting material from AVENGERS, THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1-12. 328 PGS./Rated A …$19.99 ISBN: 978-0-7851-5098-5

These tomes are great, the perfect way to read the Index. If you haven't been following the Official Index in single issues, I highly recommend these volumes.

Marvel Index in April

AVENGERS, THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #12

Return with us to the Silver and Golden Ages as the chronicle of the Marvel Universe continues its coverage of the Avengers (from AVENGERS #385), Thor (from 2002’s THOR #43), and Captain America (from both CAPTAIN AMERICA #426 and 1944’s CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #37). Watch the Marvel universe’s history unfold month by month as we provide synopses for dozens of individual comics, including back-up strips — introducing the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within with vital information about first appearances, where they last showed up and where they appeared next! 64 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

Official Handbook to Thor in April!

Why, you'd think he had a movie coming out or something...

THOR: ASGARD'S AVENGER

Select Character Artwork by GUS VAZQUEZ Cover by TOM RANEY

Verily! The ideal companion for the THOR motion picture! Begin quenching thy curiosity of all things Asgardian with this assemblage of all-new Thor-related profiles in the time-honored OHOTMU manner! Learn of foul rogues such as Malekith, Mangog and the fiery Surtur; lovely visions like Jane Foster, Kelda and Karnilla; mystical items including the Norn Stones and the Oversword; and, of course, heroes worthy of song: the new Thunderstrike, Vidar, Volstagg and an update on the noble Thor himself! Plus: the Nine Worlds of Asgard, an Appendix of its citizenry and more! Featuring new art by Gus Vazquez! Truly, a tome worthy of the gods! Miss it not! 64 PGS./Handbook/One-Shot/Rated T+ …$4.99

Considering 2010: Music

Music is not tremendously important to me. In fact, this is the first post on the subject for Section 244. There was a time (high school) when I spent a lot of time fixating on albums, music videos, concerts, etc. By college I had lost interest in music altogether and never really recaptured an ear for contemporary sounds.

Still, in 2010 I did attend a concert with my brother: we went to see the Newsboys with their new front man Michael Tait (formerly 1/3rd of DC Talk). I was impressed at Tait's ability to perform familiar Newsboys tunes from the 90s and it was clear to see the band benefited from adding him to their lineup since he brought the entire DC Talk back catalogue to their repetoire; it's a shame the band had to lose their long-time front man Peter Furler, but Tait might be the only man alive who can fit his shoes. I've bought the new album for my brother, but haven't snagged one for myself yet.

At work I listen to classical music all day long but I haven't sought out recordings of classical music. I don't know enough about particular performers to know which I would want to own and classical tends to be more expensive than contemporary.

However, thanks to some sage advice from my friend Craig, I've made film soundtracks my new diversion. In 2010, I probably played the soundtrack of Avatar more than any other disc; for his part, Craig provided me with How to Train Your Dragon. I've also found a nice collection of Bernard Herrmann scores and the various Halo soundtracks have a great sound.

Finally, I've been taking an interest in Oscar Levant's music, due to suddenly realizing...there are recordings of Oscar Levant's music! As an old-time radio buff, I had heard Levant on various broadcasts of Information Please, where he impressed me with his intellect, humour and piano playing. It took me some time to realize Levant recorded albums of his performances, albums which can obtained via cd.

So, looking ahead to 2011 I see myself finally getting the Newsboys' Born Again, tracking down more soundtracks to films I enjoy (hopefully with some more Herrmann) and scouring for a bit of Levant.

Considering 2010: Books

I didn't read many novels in 2010 as compared to other years. I usually have two books running at a time: one at work, one at home. But I spent most of this year reading short story anthologies instead of full-length works. The most notable books I delved into were non-fiction (very unusual for me) and even the two major fictions I read came more tightly hewn to real world histories.

I'd been interested in Michael Shaara's Killer Angels ever since I learned it was an influence on Joss Whedon's television show Firefly. I didn't realize at first that it was adapted into the film Gettysburg (a movie I quite like) and when I finally read it for myself I was stunned to see just how closely the film followed the novel. Given that both are fictional recreations of the Battle of Gettysburg, it's amazing to learn how closely the filmmakers followed Shaara's sequences and dialogue.

The other big historical novel (with a film adaptation of its own) was the Name of the Rose. To this, I credit my cousin Andrew for repeatedly bringing up Umberto Eco and encouraging me to seek out his work. Having read Eco's most famous book - and being rather impressed - I hope to seek out some more in the future.

Also thanks to Andrew I sought out Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond, a tome which recounts various tales of human civilizations which passed into history and what factors undermined them. I hear that Diamond has his critics, but I found this book an eye-opener, particularly his chapter on Arizona which describes how the state is barely able to sustain itself.

I really treasured Michael J. Lyons' World War I: a Short History and World War II: a Short History. I needed to research both wars for a Marvel Comics project (Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe, on sale this month!) and these books filled in the gaps of history I barely understood (or had forgotten). I particularly appreciated how the Pacific war was described in his World War II volume as my high school education fixated on Europe.

My growing interest in mission work lead me to Ishmael Beah's Long Way Gone and Romeo Dallaire's Shake Hands With the Devil. Dallaire's book has one described moment so horrible that I had to put it down for a while before resuming. Both made me upset with the world's indifference to human suffering and what better way to put my money where my mouth is than to volunteer myself to a mission?

Next: Music