Little Caesar, The Public Enemy and Scarface, released 1930, 1931 and 1932, respectively. Once the Production Code (which had been in existence for several years) began being enforced in the summer of 1934, all the films Hollywood had been cranking out and collectively known as "pre-code" films stopped being made. All the racy sex, the criminal violence and the like was replaced with films which relied upon innuendo to hide such themes.

Well, what about the gangster film? It's gotta have gangsters, doesn't it? Surely, and these films were very popular with the public, so what's a Hollywood studio to do in order to keep the cash box full during the depression?

A new sub-genre was created- the "comedic" gangster film, and two examples of this are airing tonight on TCM.

The Whole Town's Talking from 1935 and A Slight Case of Murder from 1938, both starring that gangster icon Edward G. Robinson. You've got your gangsters, but the films are played for laughs. It's all a big joke, see? (wink wink)

The Whole Town's Talking is a particular favorite of mine. From Columbia Pictures (and directed by John Ford, no less!), this film uses the "identical stranger" or "doppelganger" gimmick, and ol' Eddie G. gets to play a milquetoast clerk who looks just like a wanted fugitive killer. Yes, it's all fun and games, including the scene where the killer makes everyone thinks he's the clerk and then murders someone. But hey, it's all a big joke, nothing more, right? How's that for slickly circumventing the code?

Anyway, coming on tonight on TCM, back to back.

Remember G-Men starring James Cagney? Let's see, 1935, right? Yet another subversion of the code. Cagney is the film's protagonist on the right side of the law but he gets to "go undercover" and act like a gangster. All these films came after June, 1934, the one exception in the "gangster comedy" sub-genre is The Little Giant, another Eddie G. film, which reached theaters in May of 1933. By that time, the heat was on the studios for the inevitable change the following year.

Brother Orchid is another example of this sub-genre, also starring Eddie G. 1940 IIRC

Another favorite of mine is It All Came True, starring Humphrey Bogart as the gangster, also 1940 IIRC. The self-parody of these icons of Hollywood film gangsters is really enjoyable.

Once WWII came along, Hollywood grew up, the style known as Film Noir bloomed, and then it was no longer necessary to hide the gangsters amongst the laughs. However, the gangster comedy continued to be made after that, not out of necessity for the theme, but as the fun films they are.

I'd be curious about thoughts you may have on Laura from 1944.

Well, it's an early example of film noir, directed by an excellent director, Otto Preminger, who made several films noir after Laura- Whirlpool, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Angel Face.
It's an A-list film, with pretty big stars in it. Its well-known and well-liked. It's a good film, and one I consider required viewing for fans of film noir but it's a different animal altogether than what I'm talking about in this thread.

The Hays code is responsible for the famously confusing plot of The Big Sleep. There was no way a film that followed Chandlers book, which featured drug use, pornography and homosexuality was going to be made.
And Cagneys return in 1949 to gangster films with White Heat pushed code limits, including a flash of Virginia Mayos upper thigh.
The Code did not officially die until 1967.

Robinson does a good job of playing the clerk. It reminded me of another film of his Woman in the Window where he plays the College Professor. Scarlett Street was also one of my favorites where he plays the poor henpecked husband. He was a very versatile performer.

EGR was one great actor no matter the role.