The Public Enemy

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (aka ENEMIES OF THE PUBLIC) (PG)

D: William A. Wellman

Warner Bros (Darryl F. Zanuck)

US 🇺🇸 1931

83 mins

Crime/Drama

W: Harvey Thew, Kubec Glasmon & John Bright

DP: Devereaux Jennings

Ed: Edward Michael McDermott

James Cagney (Tom Powers), Jean Harlow (Gwen Allen), Edward Woods (Matt Doyle), Joan Blondell (Marnie), Donald Cook (Mike Powers)

Amongst James Cagney’s most iconic roles was in this 1931 gangster film, in which he plays Irish-American hoodlum, Tom Powers, who cuts his teeth in organised crime by selling his loot to a local gang member, whose entourage he later joins and works his way up the ladder of organised crime.

Perhaps a sign of its age, but the narrative doesn’t flow wonderfully here and it’s only really the excellent performances that carry it.

It’s clear that it did provide influence for later films, and it’s upon that reason that I respect it, but I wouldn’t consider it a classic of its genre, even for the decade it was made.

7/10