Page

The Public Enemy

❚ We may earn commission from links on this page. Our editorial is always independent (learn more).

Watch trailer

00:48

The Public Enemy

Save

Summary

Classic gangster drama starring James Cagney. Two young boys growing up together in the slums of turn-of-the-20th-century Chicago become drawn into a life of petty crime. Years later, having become gangsters, they take part in a violent robbery and set out to make a fortune from bootlegging during the Prohibition era.

Ad

Powered By

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

David Parkinson

This is the film that transformed James Cagney from a sparky song-and-dance man into the world's favourite gangster. But it was not his brutal bootlegging methods, his machine-gun delivery of threats and wisecracks or his ruthless rubbing out of his enemies that secured his tough-guy image, but the shoving of a grapefruit into moll Mae Clarke's face. Cagney had originally been slated for the best-friend role (retiringly played by Edward Woods) and makes the most of his chance, giving a performance of raw power. Action expert William A Wellman keeps the story racing along at the speed of a getaway car, setting a style for Warner Bros (fast pace, crackling dialogue, unsentimental scripting and playing) that glamorised the gangster in the 1930s and inadvertently helped pave the way to the Hays Code and film censorship.

imdb-square

7.5/10

How to watch

Loading

Streaming

Credits

Cast

rolenameTom PowersJames CagneyGwen AllenJean HarlowMatt DoyleEdward WoodsMamieJoan BlondellMa PowersBeryl MercerMike PowersDonald CookKittyMae ClarkeJaneMia Marvin"Nails" NathanLeslie FentonPaddy RyanRobert Emmett O'Connor"Putty Nose"Murray KinnellBugs MoranBen Hendricks JrMolly DoyleRita FlynnDutchClark BurroughsHack MillerSnitz EdwardsMrs DoyleAdele WatsonTom as a boyFrank Coghlan JrMatt as a boyFrankie Darro

Show more

Crew

rolenameDirectorWilliam A Wellman

Details

Released on

1932-02-01

Languages

English

Guidance

Contains violence.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Black and white

News & features about The Public Enemy

Ad

Ad

Ad