The Public Enemy (1931)

The Public Enemy is the definitive classic gangster film. The Public Enemy has all the all marks of what one thinks of in a classic gangster film. Fast-talking dialogue, snappy one liners, beautiful lethal women, oozing glamour, and charismatic tough guys creating a criminal empire. This film is also a stark contrast to the film of my previous review High Sierra. While High Sierra is a poetic film following a brooding lead. The Public Enemy is like a gritty documentary following an explosive lead. This film could also be considered the crowning achievement of the Warner Bros. gangster pictures and spawn several dozen more to follow. 

How do you want 'em this time, up or down?

1931 the year The Public Enemy released was a very interesting year in America. Prohibition of Alcohol which was enacted in 1919 created the great criminal gold rush of the 20th century (well until the Drug War) as every hood with a six shooter and a brass set were bootlegging and flooding the streets of America with black market alcohol and criminal violence from an illegal trade. Also with the Stock Crash of 1929, the vast majority of Americans faced economic hardship and looked upon the establishment and the rich with distain and distrust. These circumstances served to vault criminals, robbers, gangsters, and murderers to the front pages of the news papers and served to turn them into cult heroes to the majority of the American public. The film studios at the time not ones to miss out began to turn out films that reflected the mood in the country and followed the characters in the headlines that drew so much attention. These gritty violent films soon became box office champions and captivated the audience's imagination with their violence and rags to riches stories.

CASH OR HIS HEART, ONE OR THE OTHER!
HA HA, I'LL BRING YOU BOTH!

The Public Enemy is the typical gangster story. It follows the rise of the gangster, the gangster's love story, and the gangster's end. What's interesting about The Public Enemy is how much it humanized it's characters. A signature of Warner gangster movies is how they tried to explain and humanize their gangster leads to explain how and why they became criminals. In The Public Enemy we follow two main characters, a pair of friends through their childhoods as we watch them rise into crime. From stealing watches from a store to killing a cop in a botched robbery, to eventually get into bootlegging. Our lead is Tom Powers (James Cagney), a tough guy from the working class who was brought into crime through some poor adult influences. In this career path, the great criminal gold rush of Prohibition begins. We follow Tom in the infancy of his criminal career and his rise through the criminal underground to his eventual end by the hands of a rival gang. Tom is joined by his lifelong best friend Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) as a partner in crime. This film also features sex symbol Jean Harlow as Power's love interest.

Sure, we might have been ding-dings on a streetcar.

This movie is captivating to see Cagney in his first leading role and to see him embody everything that would inspire nearly a century of bad impressions (you dirty rat!) In this film Cagney is pure energy and electricity as his sneer and short jab commands the screen. Interestingly enough Cagney was cast to play Matt Doyle the supporting role, and Edward Woods was cast to play Tom Powers the lead role. However Cagney was so convincing in rehearsals that William Wellman switched Woods and Cagney roles. You'll notice this when in the beginning of the film the child version of Power's looks more like Woods and the child version of Doyle looks more like Cagney. This movie has been heralded for being one of the most honest looks at prohibition during the time period. This film also features several scenes taken directly from stories in the headlines at the time. Cagney himself based his character off of Irish Prohibition Dean O'Bannion and two local street hoods he knew in his childhood growing up in New York.

... I didn't ask you for any lip. I asked you if you had a drink.

This film was directed by legendary film maker William Wellman who was infamous for directing bravado movies and being a bit wild. For instance in one of the final scenes Wellman insisted in using real ammunition. We see Cagney duck behind a wall and as soon as his head disappears, a weapons expert with a machine gun lights up the wall. This film features a strong quick moving documentary like feel through the pivotal moments of Tom's life. The symbology and psychology of this film is an astounding artistic statement. This film also just barely made it past censors in it's re-releases due to some lude inside jokes and violence. A re-edited cut was usually issued (that's why some scenes look strange and grainy on some DVD releases) on a double billing with Little Caesar. This movie is also one of the first sound films to break out of the early limitations of sound recording and camera technology. In large part due to Wellman's skill we get a flowing movie with many action shots on location. By comparison a film like Little Ceaser (1930) which came out just a few months before hand seems slow and hemmed down because of the previous limitations.

It means they buy our beer, or they don't buy any beer.

The Public Enemy is incredible and deserves your attention because it's the debut of perhaps the finest actor in screen history. This film also is a great historical piece of a time often romanticized but not really understood today. It's also one of the definitive gangster movies and a film where 90 minutes goes by without you realizing it. This film also has one of the most engrossing endings of any film I've ever seen.