X
- 1931
- Passed
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 23 m
- 1931
- Passed
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 23 m
Summary An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Directed By: William A. Wellman
Written By: Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Harvey F. Thew
- 1931
- Passed
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 23 m
- 1931
- Passed
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 23 m
The Public Enemy
80
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Directed By: William A. Wellman
Written By: Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Harvey F. Thew
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
80
89% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
11% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
80
89% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
11% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Fascinating and brutally realistic, THE PUBLIC ENEMY, along with LITTLE CAESAR, BAD COMPANY, and SCARFACE, set the pattern for the gangster films of the 1930s.
Still a classic of the gangster genre, showing neither glorifying the life nor pulling it's punches.
There’s little denying the power of Cagney’s presence, from the first moment he’s on screen, he radiates such a brash Fenian cockiness you can imagine kids at the time flocking out of the theater and cocking their caps just like him. It’s a performance so perfect in its intensity that any other quibbles about the film ultimately recede into insignificance.
Cagney's energy and Wellman's gutsy direction carry the day, counteracting the moralistic sentimentality of the script and indelibly etching the star on the memory as a definitive gangster hero.
If there are to be gangster pictures, let them be like The Public Enemy, hard-boiled and vindictive almost to the point of burlesque.
Unlike City Streets, this is not a Hugoesque fable of gangsters fighting among themselves, but a documentary drama of the bandit standing against society.
Without Cagney, this movie would still be memorable, but probably only as a minor footnote to the better gangster films to come. With Cagney's smart acting, this movie is a decent watch.
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Production Company
Warner Bros.
Release Date May 15, 1931
Duration 1 h 23 m
Rating Passed
Tagline All his life he took what he wanted...Why not women? (Print Ad- Sarasota Herald, ((Sarasota, Fla.)) 16 June 1931)
Website
http://wb.com/public-enemy
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
National Film Preservation Board, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination