1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- The Public Enemy

#62- The Public Enemy (1931)
Starring: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
Directed by: William A. Wellman


Plot Summary: After Tom Powers and Matt Doyle align themselves with the gangster, Putty Nose, they are left to fend for themselves after Putty Nose leaves town as a result of a botched robbery. With Prohibition in effect, Paddy Ryan recruits Tom and Matt as beer "salesmen" in his bootlegging business. The business becomes successful, with the wealth going to Tom and Matt's heads, and catching the attention of Tom's older brother, Mike. Despite Mike's wishes, Tom will not quit the bootlegging business and continues to live like a king, with no signs of giving up his fame and wealth on his own terms.


To continue Mobster March, it's time to look at one of the innovators of the gangster genre's popularity. Before the days of The Godfather or the numerous films directed by Martin Scorsese, before Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, or Marlon Brando, there was James Cagney. Cagney was considered one of the top actors that popularized the gangster genre in the early era of film, so let's look at one of his most famous of films, The Public Enemy.

James Cagney stars as Tom Powers. Cagney has a very distinct way of speaking, and that helps Tom stand out from the rest of the characters. Like the gangsters in Goodfellas, the fame and wealth goes straight to Tom's head and he becomes a more deplorable character than he already was. He starts off somewhat harmless at the beginning, but it is not until he gets involved with the gangsters, that he becomes an enemy of the public (hence the title). What's interesting about his character is that he is NOT a gang leader, but rather, one of the associates to a gang leader. With a film title like The Public Enemy, and a recognizable name like James Cagney attached, you'd expect him to be a leader like Don Corleone. That doesn't mean his performance is bad though, as the audience hopes that Tom can change his ways by the end and reconcile with all those broken relationships he made throughout the film.

Edward Woods plays Tom's right hand man, Matt Doyle. Matt is a very loyal friend to Tom and is willing to do anything for him, but it is obvious that Tom's success has clouded his perception on that. Tom constantly treats Matt like a lackey and considers him his unequal. At the beginning, it seems like it is out of humor, but as it continues to build, it begins to sound more bitter and resentful towards Matt, and that's not fair to him because of how much he actually does to help Tom and himself become successful. Tom's brother, Mike, is played by Donald Cook and boy does he sound annoying. I'm not sure if Cook really talked like that, if they were trying to make him sound similar to Cagney, or what, but something got lost in the execution, because his dialogue sounds really rushed and lacking any form of believable emotion.

The main gangster that helps Tom and Matt earn their success is Paddy Ryan, played by Robert Emmett O'Connor. Paddy is a smooth and quick talker, which gives his character a great presence to serve as a mentor for Tom and Matt. He's no Vito Corleone, but you get the idea that Paddy knows what he is doing and has a sense of loyalty for his men, but could be very vengeful if he were ever to be crossed. Tom and Matt receive earlier "mentoring" from Putty Nose, played by Murray Kinnell. Putty Nose is a great contrast to Paddy because he does not have the same amount of respect for his men that Paddy does. He has no sense of value or morality, as he is a small time gangster compared to Paddy, who also has no problem getting his men to do what he needs them to and then ditch them when it best suits him.

The women of The Public Enemy are not too much to write about. Tom has two girlfriends throughout the film, Kitty and Gwen Allen, played by (an uncredited) Mae Clarke and Jean Harlow respectively. Apart from a scene in which Tom shoves a grapefruit in Kitty's face to shut her up, not much between the two characters is really important to write about. They don't add a lot to the story other than the fact that Tom is sick of Kitty and Gwen has a weakness for "bad" men. The best female character in the film is Tom's mother, played by Beryl Mercer. All she wants is for her two sons to stop fighting so their family can have peace, which is of course something any loving mother would want of her kids. She also displays the need to constantly cook, clean, and take care of her boys. Her peppiness should be something humorous (that seems to be how it's conveyed on film), but it ranges more on depressing because the audience can tell that the emotional state of Ma Powers is hanging by a thread and won't be able to take much more if Tom and Mike can't make up.

One of the more refreshing aspects of The Public Enemy was that it did not have to rely on guns and violence to convey the concept of on-screen gangsters. While there are some forms of violence, the use of gangsters is more or less to shape perceptions on morals and values within the individual characters, like in The Godfather. However, the genre has evolved over time, leaving older representations of gangsters, like this film, a product of its time but still something fun to check out when detailing the metamorphosis of the gangster genre (like I have).


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Public Enemy is a very influential film in the gangster genre, but a lot of it hasn't aged too well. The only part of the film that still holds up well is the performance from James Cagney, which is enough for me to recommend for a DVD rental.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

The Public Enemy and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.