The Public Enemy
Short description
The Public Enemy follows Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, two friends who grow up in a poor Chicago neighborhood and drift into crime. They start out working for a petty criminal and move on to robbery, then to bootlegging once Prohibition creates new opportunities. As the pair gain money and a reputation on the streets, they attract the attention of police and rival gangs alike. Tom, the more ruthless of the two, rises quickly through the criminal hierarchy, while trying to stay connected to his family. Gang warfare and the pull of revenge gradually drive him away from them.
William A. Wellman directed the film, the second of the sixteen features he made, arriving between Wings (1927) and Night Nurse (1931). Kubec Glasmon and John Bright wrote the screenplay, and Darryl F. Zanuck produced for Warner Bros. Pictures. James Cagney plays Tom Powers, with Edward Woods as Matt Doyle, Jean Harlow as Gwen Allen, Joan Blondell as Mamie, Donald Cook as Mike Powers and Leslie Fenton as Nails Nathan, among a credited cast of 35. The film runs 84 minutes.
On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 7.6 from around 25,000 votes, while on TMDB it has a 7.2 from roughly 400 votes. A critics' rating of 8.6 from 35 reviews places it noticeably higher than either audience score, suggesting strong critical standing alongside solid general approval.
What's left behind the scenes
- In one of the scenes featuring characters played by James Cagney (1899-1986) and Edward Woods (1903-1989), actual machine gun bullets were indeed used. A firearms specialist climbed onto a platform approximately five meters from the target, and when James Cagney disappeared behind a wall, he opened fire, creating a circle of bullet impacts with a tight grouping.
- The famous grapefruit scene was not originally in the script. James Cagney and Mae Clarke decided to play a similar prank on the crew. The director liked it and decided to include the scene in the film.
- The film accurately points out that Chicago bootleggers focused primarily on the underground supply and trade of beer – unlike New York, where hard liquor was the main focus of bootlegging. The reason for this difference lies in geography: when it comes to alcohol content, much more beer is required to achieve the same level of intoxication, so engaging in the illicit distribution of beer in the limited spaces of Manhattan would not be a very practical undertaking.
- James Cagney (1899-1986) incorporated traits of Dean O'Banion (1892-1924, a gangster, the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the bootleg wars in Chicago in the 1920s) and two bullies he knew as a child in New York into the image of his character.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
