Cheap The Public Enemy (Video) (James Cagney, Jean Harlow) (William A. Wellman) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Public Enemy

Cagney Comes On Strong
James Cagney burns up the screen in this early gangster film, and I would say that The Public Enemy is a step above its counterpart, Little Caesar, made around the same time. This film is made better by Cagney's edgy, angry performance as a seemingly heartless thug (the breakfast scene with the grapefruit shoved into his girlfirend's face is a classic). It's not hard to see how this film made him a star. The story is also pretty adult, although some of the dialogue dates badly. There are a lot of sexual overtones that took me by surprise for a film made in the early Thirties. Jean Harlow plays one of Cagney's girlfriends, and she's a little stiff in what must have been one of her first films. The film moves well, with plenty of action, and it seems smoother than other early talkies. Cagney fans (and grapefruit lovers!) will want to check this film out.

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Public Enemy: The Warning that Failed
From the beginning of Prohibition in 1920, crime was the number one topic in the American consciousness. Organized crime was just establishing a stranglehold on nearly every sector of life and street crime punctuated by the use of the Tommy gun was becoming increasing evident. Hollywood lifted the previous blanket of movie anonymity on crime with the release of PUBLIC ENEMY in 1931. The producers were careful to insert two disclaimers that the characters in the film represented a type of criminal that had to be identified and eliminated. Tommy Powers, superbly played by an alternating snarling then smiling James Cagney, was meant to be seen more as an allegorical figure of vice run riot than as a fully fleshed human being. Unfortunately for the hopes of the censors, they did not figure on the capacity of James Cagney to invest his role of Tommy Powers with a complex surge of passion mixed with no small dose of audience sympathy that ultimately allows a straightjacket bound Powers to exit the final reel in such a way that the audience can feel the same loss that his brother felt when he opened the door to see Tommy fall through.
The movie opens with a juvenile Tommy living with his family in Chicago, learning even then the rudiments of a criminal code of honor and justice that he would adhere to for the rest of his life. At home, his policeman father often beats him with a strap in such a futile way that Tommy's nonchalant response brings to mind a future Marlon Brando telling his abductors who are beating him that his old man hits harder than that. Although the film does expicitly show the father being abusive to the rest of the family, director William Wellman suggests that the violence inflicted on a youthful Tommy is not limited only to him. Violence, then, becomes a way of life and a solution to both personal and professional problems. As an adult, Tommy (now played by Cagney) and his chum played by Edward Woods embark on a life of crime that shows both as willing to kill when killing can solve a problem. Further, Tommy cold bloodedly kills a man in revenge for a hurt done years before in a way that resonates as savage even by today's standards. The victim begs Tommy for his life even as he plays a piano and sings a song in the hope that the song will arouse a shred of pity. Tommy shoots him in mid key and walks out of the room without a backward glance. Tommy's relations with women are equally twisted by his belief that violence is the solution to any issue. The infamous grapefruit scene with Mae Clarke has lingered long in the audience's mind as an archetype of misogynistic hatred of women. Tommy seems a little more relaxed in the company of Jean Harlow whose love for him alters and softens the audience's perception of his clear failings. As Tommy pokes his friends and family on their respective chins, the viewer can sense that Tommy is struggling to express a lighter, gentler side that his environment has taught him to suppress. When Tommy walks into a bar to avenge the killing of his best friend, his smile radiates his certainty that his revenge will kill him, but his code of honor demands nothing less. When he exits the bar, he has killed them all but is badly wounded. As he staggers, he shouts, 'I am not so tough.' He may have thought so, but the audience would probably disagree. His stoic convalescence, his being kidnapped by a rival gang, and his unexpected return as a bound mummy left leaning on his mother's door have rendered the public perception of Tommy Powers in a way far different from the producers' original intent. Tommy Powers was meant to be seen only as the criminal scum of the earth. James Cagney managed to do that but also forced viewers to look behind the snarl to see a little boy being whipped by a sadistic father and learning even then how to hide his emotions under a veneer or false bravado.

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cagney unleashed on world
the most explosive debut in movie history was made by james cagney. little caesar was a better movie, but cagney epitomizes the depression era movie mobster in this movie. jean harlow gives the worst performance of her career in this movie, which is naturally something of a mystery. a year later she was great in red-headed woman, red dust and later bombshell. wellman was a great director but surely not with harlow. this is best known movie of mae clarke because if features the famed scene where cagney shoves a grapefruit in her kisser. this is totally unjust because clarke was a wonderful actress, especially in waterloo bridge. anyway, she is in only two brief scenes. the only good performance besides cageny is that of leslie fenton as nails nathan. despite public enemy's shortcomings it's one of the movies you have to see.