The Public Enemy Movie Review

The Public Enemy (1931)

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Written by: Kubec Glasmon and John Bright, )Harvey F. Thew (screen adaptation) 
Directed by: William A. Wellman
Starring: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
Rated: --
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Plot
Tom Powers climbs the ranks as gangster in prohibition era Chicago

Verdict
A classic gangster film propelled by James Cagney's terrific performance.
It depends.

Review
Tom Powers (James Cagney) and his friend Matt start as petty thieves and become a premiere bootleggers. Tom is quick to brandish a gun and just as quick to pull the trigger. A theft becomes murder when he's startled by a stuffed bear and shoots it. This alerts a cop, whom he then dispatches.

Tom keeps his occupation a secret from his family, but his older brother knows and urges him to give up crime.

The Public Enemy - James Cagney is a gangster not to be messed with.

Tom's brother joins the Marines during World War I, while Tom and Matt are recruited into the bootlegging business. When Tom's brother returns from the war, he again urges Tom to wash his hands from a life of crime. Tom tells his brother that his hands aren't so clean. He didn't get medals for holding hands with the Germans.

In a memorable scene, Tom shoves a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face, tired of her complaints. Director William Wellman stated he had often imagined doing the same thing to his wife over breakfast. Now he could rid himself of that fantasy.

Tom undertakes a one man gang war, but when you live by the gun, you die by the gun.