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DVD The Public Enemy
Director William Wellman (Wings), a World War I veteran who turned his experiences in battle into an insistence on unpretentious violence in his films, made Public Enemy a particularly brutal account of the rise and fall of a monstrous gangster (James Cagney). Cagney delivers one of the most famous performances in film history as the snarling crook who--in one of the film's most famous scenes--smashes a grapefruit into the face of Mae Clarke. The film's a bit dated, but its action scenes still pack an unusual wallop. --Tom Keogh
Little Ceasar made the year before was the prototype. But Public Enemy is a better movie. Better sound, better camera work etc. It is the baseline on which all gangster movies are measured, even today. James Cagney is Tommy-boy, lively energetic & funny. He is also a remorseless, psychopathic killer. But he is at the same time appealing. It was a character type he perfected. A bad-boy persona with a comedic flair. He is the star in this one. After several more co-starring roles he emerged as one of Hollywoods top actors.
The movie opens with a short sketch of Tommy's boyhood in 1909 Chicago. He is a junvenile deliquent, a bad seed, with few options. The years pass & the story picks up again. Tommy is a young hood. Criminal activity is the only thing he knows being too lazy to work diligently like his older brother.
The movie is full of interesting characters. His partner is played by Edward Woods, his older brother, by Donald Cook. No review is complete without a nod to one of the top ten scenes in all of history: the grapefruit in the face of poor Mae Clark, perhaps her only claim to fame. Jean Harlow is rather wooden as his girlfriend in a small part. She looks great, but it was not much of a performance.
This is a pre-code Hollywood movie but even so Warner Brothers proceeded the movie with a a disclaimer that they deplored the events in the movie. Tommy could not get away with it. Crime does not pay, at least not in depression America. He dies in a particularly grisy manner. This is relatively new in dvd format. There are lots of extras, comentary & period pieces that are a nice touch.
Weak Script/Story but interesting for what the censors let by.
First the title. The Public Enemy leads one to think of such characters as he portrayed in "White Heat" now there was a dangerous character. Here it seems more like a collage of scenes that got linked together to form the film.
I never felt that Tommy Powers was a real Public Enemy like the Dillingers or the Little Ceasers . He was more or less a Kid from the slums who made it big by joining up with the more veteran criminals. He never really ran a gang and was basically just trying to make some money being muscle for the boss, he didnt seem to have any ambition other then money and taking care of his mother.
The tension between him and his angelic brother was not as developed or fleshed out as it could have been which might have been interesting as a subplot including his brothers seeming manic depression upon his return from the battlefield of WW2.
What makes this film worth a thorough view is the countless innuendos that pass between Cagney and those dames he falls for.
One evening his bosses girl starts to get frisky touchy kissey feeley with him and in more words then not came just short of saying lets f.....
The Next morning. While Cagney is at the breakfast table still hung over she come by on cloud 9
Bosses girlfriend: Thanks for last night Tommy.
Cagney: You mean we?!?!?!
Bosses girlfriend: We sure did.
Well how the censors let these obvious sexual ribbings get thru I dont know but it sure is a interesting piece of roaring 20s culture I would guess.
See this film as Cagneys first, enjoy him for being Cagney and watch for the scened between him and the ladies.
A Classic James Cagney Film.
There are several reviews of this film so I will focus on one aspect: Jean Harlow. As an ardent Harlow fan, I will come to her defense since the then 20 year old actress was being loaned out from one studio to another by Howard Hughes who had her under contract. In 1931, she appeared in five films inbetween making personal appearance tours to promote "Hell's Angels". Jean never wanted to be a film star, but her Mother wanted her to be one. The films she gave good performances in during 1931 include "The Iron Man" and "Platinum Blonde". She was superb in both and acceptable in "The Secret Six" but William Wellman cut some of her dialouge but used her popularity in promoting the film. Jean Harlow had very little to do in "The Public Enemy" and she seems wooden in the two scenes in which she has dialogue. Unlike Frank Capra who worked with her, it appears that William Wellman had no patience putting the actress at ease. James Cagney and Edward Woods found her likeable but Wellman lost an opportunity to make Jean Harlow an asset to the film. In the speakeasy scene she doesn't get to speak a word though she looks like a million bucks. One important point about her speaking voice in this film which seems halted is due to Jean's Mother having her take diction lessons to try to rid her of her Kansas City twang. It didn't work and was dropped. It did cause Jean Harlow feel even more insecure than she already did. More film goers saw "The Public Enemy" than any of he other five films Jean appeared in during 1931. It was the first Harlow film I ever saw and once I saw her in a comedy, I could really see why she had such popularity. The fact is that much like other supporting cast members, like Joan Blondell who has even less to do than Jean Harlow, the film belongs to James Cagney and Edward Woods, a very talented actor. This is far from a Jean Harlow film. It is a James Cagney film. In that sense, this is a film that truly holds up.
Gangster Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) returns from prison to make a name for himself in the crime world. He's soon discovered by the Dead End Kids, who idolize him, and childhood pal Father Jerry Connolly (Pat O'Brien). The good Father has taken a different turn from Rocky and is struggling to bring the Kids around; while still friends with Rocky, he tries to persuade him to steer clear of the gang of urchins. Rocky runs afoul of the law, however, when he guns down his former partners Frazier (Humphrey Bogart) and Keefer (George Bancroft) after they betray him over a cut of crime-related profits. Seen as a whole, Angels with Dirty Faces may seem dated to many viewers, but its ending is still enough to bring chills. Director Michael Curtiz infused this gritty 1938 effort with an... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Cagney - Pat O'Brien - Humphrey Bogart - Ann Sheridan Director(s): Michael Curtiz DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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James Cagney plays gangster Cody Jarrett, a killer with a mother fixation. After he and his gang rob a train of $350,000, he gives himself up for a lesser crime he didn't commit, knowing he'll only have to serve a year or two in the slammer before going free. (That he gets away with this is a bit far-fetched, but it finally doesn't matter.)
While in prison an undercover cop (Edmond O'Brien) is placed in his cell, hopefully to find out where the money is hidden. Also while in prison his mother dies, and Cagney performs a mad scene (apparently made up by Cagney on the spot) in the cafeteria that is a brilliant acting performance (and often parodied).
Cagney eventually breaks out of prison, plans another big heist, but it's foiled. In the final, most famous scene,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Cagney - Virginia Mayo - Edmond O'Brien Director(s): Raoul Walsh DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Edward G. Robinson had a star-making vehicle in this 1930 film by Mervyn LeRoy (Random Harvest), about a small-time gangster who becomes a top boss in the underworld. As Rico Bandello, Robinson's portrayal is that of a certain kind of American success, when a successful rise to the top somehow throws open the doors on every neurotic element in one's personality and magnifies them. The film is creaky as early sound films were wont to be, but the actor's multidimensional role and ugly charisma keep everything interesting. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Edward G. Robinson - Douglas Fairbanks Jr. - Glenda Farrell Director(s): Mervyn LeRoy DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Adapted from a hit Broadway play by Robert Sherwood and starring original cast members Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, this 1936 suspense drama is set in an aging desert roadhouse café, where a young woman (Bette Davis) dreams of escaping a dead-end existence spent with her father and a lunkheaded, would-be suitor. Along comes a penniless poet (Howard), a wanderer who has made a mess of his life and crossed the hot sands as a symbolic act of meaningful futility. Davis's waitress is instantly enchanted, and in short order they begin talking about heading out to the world together. Then a twist: the world comes to them--in the form of escaped convicts, led by the monosyllabic Duke Mantee (Bogart), who secretly agrees to the poet's request that the fugitive gangster kill him.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Leslie Howard - Bette Davis - Humphrey Bogart Director(s): Archie Mayo DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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