The Public Enemy (1931)

The Public Enemy (1931) – Two neighborhood boys rise through the ranks of local crime.  They come face to face with the reality of the life they have chosen.

Directed by William Wellman                       Starring – James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Joan Blondell

Before there was “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas”, before “The Asphalt Jungle” or Bogey took on Edward G. Robinson in “Key Largo”, before all the great crime and mobster movies there was “The Public Enemy”.  Along with “Little Ceasar” (also from 1931), this was the movie that set the stage for all that followed it.  These two movies come along at a very interesting moment in Hollywood history.  The Silent Era is over and the Production Code era hasn’t begun.  The Code would attempt to improve the “morality” of the movies, scrubbing away a lot of the reality with it.

At the time, “The Public Enemy” (you will often hear this movie called “Public Enemy” but that’s not the full title) was a startlingly realistic movie.  Director Wellman promised “the most violent movie ever made”.  By today’s movie standards this is very tame stuff, but it was shocking in its time.  Warner Brothers gained a reputation for this kind of realistic gangster movie.  After 80 years the movie holds up extremely well.

A large part of the credit for that needs to go to William Wellman.  A contract director with Warner Brothers, Wellman had a reputation for handling action.  What really impresses here are the quieter, almost lyrical touches he brings.  The reveal of the policeman killed by Cagney’s character early on is amazing in its simplicity and is almost visual poetry.  While the tempo of the movie will seem slow at times to the modern viewer, that’s not directorial issues, simply the style of the day.  The effects of the silent movie style of storytelling would linger for a while longer in Hollywood.

There are two performances that stood out.  The original “blonde bombshell”, Jean Harlow, is terrible here.  Her career will take off shortly after this movie, but here her dialogue is bad enough on the page.  The delivery she gives it makes it sound as if she were not a native English speaker.  In the six years between this movie and her untimely death, she would move into more comic roles and become one of the biggest stars on the screen.  While several of the actors appear a little wooden at times, Harlow’s work here is singularly jarring.

At the other end of the spectrum is James Cagney.  Any time he’s on the screen (and that’s most of the movie) you can’t take your eyes off of him.  Cagney doesn’t appear to be acting, he simply is Tommy Powers.  Method acting wouldn’t explode for another decade or more, but what Cagney does here is clearly a precursor to what is to come.  The streetwise urchin grows into a vicious adult gangster.  Every movement, every word breathes the reality of the character.  The most famous scene in the movie features a grapefruit half shoved into the face of Powers’ girlfriend when she annoys him beyond enduring.  There’s no theatricality to it, Cagney expresses his exasperation with a quick, vicious push.

The script is predictable, and even granting the change in movie style, there are times when it’s just dog slow.  But between Wellman and Cagney, it’s a movie you will want to see.

Why You Want To Watch – 86 years later and some gangster movies still haven’t caught up to Cagney’s style and Wellman’s skill.

Rating – **** Recommended