The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman, 1931, USA)

William Wellman's 1931 film The Public Enemy put star James Cagney on the map. It set the standard for the typical tough guy Cagney performance that audiences would learn and love throughout the 1930s and beyond. The film features not only one but two icons of 1930s American cinema - the other being Jean Harlow, who would die tragically early only a few years later. This combined star power coupled with a story of gangsters in Prohibition-era Chicago was almost guaranteed to be a success, and it was - making $557,000 on a budget of either $151,000 or $230,000.

The Public Enemy is one of the three most prominent gangster films of the early 1930s, the others being Scarface and Little Caesar. While the other two films focus on Italian-American gangsters, we are treated to a story of Irish-American gangsters. We watch the rise and fall of James Cagney as Tom Powers, an Irish kid from the streets of Chicago who grows from petty theft to running a successful bootlegging operation. But things can never turn out successfully in these films and - like its contemporary Scarface - The Public Enemy ensures that the audience realizes that crime doesn't pay.

The Public Enemy has several memorable scenes, the most famous of course being the scene when Tom smashes a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face. This scene was shocking at the time and even became something of a meme in its day. The scene was even parodied by Cagney in later films. Cagney is an undeniable presence on screen, and his charisma shines through even early on in his career. It is easy to see why he became a star. The same for Jean Harlow, although unfortunately, she did not have as long a career as Cagney. She died of complications due to kidney failure at the young age of 26.

7/10