The Public Enemy (1931)

Jimmy Cagney is in his first starring role as Tom Powers, who starts out even as a child doing naughty things such as stealing roller skates and lying about the fact, despite having a policeman father who keeps spanking him as a result. He has a straitlaced older brother who keeps fighting with him over this bad behavior, and as everyone gets older, Tom and his childhood friend become young criminals and eventually mobsters, hitting the big time in dealing with booze when Prohibition is enacted. Tom becomes more brazen and harsh over time, and takes women easily and discards them with equal speed. He barely keeps contact with his family, his brother furious with him for his having chosen the life of crime. But the good times don't last...Of note is the fact that most of the violence is depicted off screen, and the sexuality implied but clear. But Tom Power's becoming a more and more unpleasant person is very clearly depicted. What make this different from the standard morality play is when Tom Powers is forced to become aware of what he has become when things turn sour. Recommended, and not merely as a period piece.

The Public Enemy is a classic of American Cinema and brought the rise of the gangster genre. Sound films were still new at the time and James Cagney became the first star to truly shine in the sound era. He pulls off his role so well and is believable throughout. The rise and fall of the American gangster is a storyline used many times over the years, but something about this particular one hits all the right notes.

Cagney is something special in this film, an early gangster and bootlegging movie that was made in 1931, while Prohibition was still the law (it ended in 1933). The way he wears his many hats, the way he talks, and the way he playfully bumps his fist into someone's face as a sign of respect is all truly iconic. He is great in scenes of pure evil, the most famous of which has him smashing a grapefruit in a lover's face for not serving him alcohol for breakfast. There are several others though - spitting beer in a bartender's face for selling a competitor's product, killing a horse for having thrown and killed his boss, killing a guy who had betrayed him years ago, 'Putty Nose', without remorse, shocking even his partner, and slapping a woman for seducing and sleeping with him the night before while he was drunk. The seduction is clearly pre-Code as there is no doubt what's happening, but it's far from erotic, and more of an indication of the depths to which he's sinking before his ultimate end.And yet, despite all this, and despite the warnings that Warner Bros. put at the beginning and ending of the film, to the point that they were not trying to glorify gangsters, we somehow still care about Cagney, and as much or more so than his upright and moral brother, who dutifully goes off to WWI, doesn't take crooked money, and tries to set him straight. There seems to be little threat that he's going to be arrested, it's rival gangs that threaten him, not the police (which is perhaps telling to the sentiment of what was going on in Chicago and other cities at the time), but we don't want to see him gunned down.The rest of the cast is decent but mostly in the background, even Jean Harlow, who is actually a bit ghoulish as one of Cagney's love interests. Joan Blondell is frankly better, and says a lot with her eyes as his partner's girlfriend. The only poor bit of casting was Leslie Fenton, he is not believable as big mob boss 'Nails' Nathan. The action is all a bit over-the-top, and I'm not that big a fan of the modern gangster film, but this one has that sense of being historical and classic, and as such was entertaining. It's also definitely worth watching just to see Cagney.

Jean Harlow ruined her health (and died young) because of her bleached out platinum blonde hair, and looks a bit chunky (the 1920's term was "scatback") but is the perfect foil for tough little James Cagney (was he short!) in the movie that "put him on the map." From a script entitled "Beer and Blood," his character starts out innocently enough stealing $1 pocket watches from "Woolworth's." Soon he is a whiskey runner and beer "distributor" as prohibition begins. Whiskey transported in a gasoline tanker? He is fast and loose with his women, and shoves a grapefruit in Mae Clark's face. He's hellfire with a gun. He shots a cop. He kills his old boss "Putty Nose" and a race horse. He steals two blue steel .38 revolvers from the gun store owner! His "goody-two shoes" brother Mike goes to war and comes back a hero. He finally gets what he deserves and is shot down in a hail of bullets, with a machine gun. Most violence is only "heard" off-screen,but it's still pretty effective. His mama continues to believe that he is a good boy. He is left on his doorstep, looking like a mummy wrapped in hospital bandages and plaster casts. He falls forward (quite dead) in a shocking finale. TCM does a great job of restoration. When I saw this many years ago on TV, it was nothing but a pile of splices and scratches with a terrible soundtrack. A must-see, but (for me) not enjoyable enough for repeated viewing. Curiously, Jean Harlow is shown in the lobby poster with fire-red hair!