EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

bigverybadtom Jimmy Cagney is in his first starring role as Tom Powers, who starts out even as a child doing naughty things such as stealing roller skates and lying about the fact, despite having a policeman father who keeps spanking him as a result. He has a straitlaced older brother who keeps fighting with him over this bad behavior, and as everyone gets older, Tom and his childhood friend become young criminals and eventually mobsters, hitting the big time in dealing with booze when Prohibition is enacted. Tom becomes more brazen and harsh over time, and takes women easily and discards them with equal speed. He barely keeps contact with his family, his brother furious with him for his having chosen the life of crime. But the good times don't last...Of note is the fact that most of the violence is depicted off screen, and the sexuality implied but clear. But Tom Power's becoming a more and more unpleasant person is very clearly depicted. What make this different from the standard morality play is when Tom Powers is forced to become aware of what he has become when things turn sour. Recommended, and not merely as a period piece.

Leofwine_draca THE PUBLIC ENEMY was an early gangster movie from Hollywood, starring the then up-and-coming actor James Cagney who would become synonymous with the genre in time. It tells of violent and brutal events clearly based on then-contemporary stuff going on, with the obvious exception that the names have been changed in order to make this an entire work of fiction. Of course, enough time has now passed that these days the likes of BOARDWALK EMPIRE are able to present the gangsters and their lives exactly as they were, warts and all.Still, this is an often gripping little piece of character drama, a neat biopic of the rise and fall of a single man in much the same style as Scorsese's GOODFELLAS. We start off meeting Tom as a kid, recognising the same characteristics that would propel him into notoriety as an adult. Cagney gives an assured performance, even though his anti-hero character is difficult to like or empathise with.Although tame by modern standards, the direction of THE PUBLIC ENEMY makes certain scenes stand out like the notorious grapefruit moment. There's also a fair amount of brutality and bloodshed that takes place offscreen, but still: this is hard-hitting stuff and a neat precursor to the gangster flicks of the modern era.

Nobby Burden I'm going to guess talkies were still something of a novelty in 1931 because the dialogue seems to be pure radio, and stilted at that. Black and white still fascinates me, however, the shapes and patterns filling the screen, the way rich homes are bright and airy while poor folks live in dour and dingy walk-ups.Public Enemy remains a well of stolen scenes. For instance stealing a gun from a hock shop, dropping a corpse at mom's house, the girl calling the gunsel Powers' boyfriend. That's not too shabby for a budget movie. Cagney pretty much invented himself here, was better in White Heat, and best as a comedian in One Two Three.While on the Gordon Liddy show a few years back, he talked about growing up poor. He wanted to be a dancer and his brother a doctor. Both worked to achieve their goals. He then said, "that's what's bad about welfare, with one hand they give you a check and with the other they take your dream."We'll regrettably never see the likes of you again James. Memory eternal.

Ben Larson Tommy (James Cagney) was a sexually magnetic, cocky, completely amoral, emotionally brutal, ruthless, and terribly lethal individual. He was hardboiled, having grown up with a policemen father that used a wide leather razor strop to discipline his near-delinquent son.The film, itself, glamorized criminal activities such as bootlegging and emphasized their high style of life with various floozies (portrayed by Joan Blondell, Mae Clarke, and Jean Harlow). This resulted in a film code that prohibited showing crime in a positive light.Excellent pre-code gangster film.