Review of The Public Enemy (1931) by Gerardo R — 02 Mar 2012

A mistake many reviewers make is that they look at this movie based on standards from the present. In order to appreciate the movie you have to learn to suspend your knowledge of modern gangster movies. This is not a movie with classic gangster themes or predictable plots, because in its time it was the original gangster movie along with Little Caesar. A year later Scarface had to find a way to top these two picture shows.

The depth of character in the narrative of The Public Enemy is amazing. Here you have the story of a gangster henchman and not the gangster leader. The narrative follows how a boy grows up to be the muscle for an Irish gangster. If you pay close attention, Cagney's character is multidimensional with how he interacts with his family, friend, girlfriends and underground contacts. The notch of violence escalates with every scene, but so does the humanity and vulnerability of the main characters. If you make the fair comparison of this film with its 1930-31 contemporaries, you will find that it is indeed a worthy classic gangster film.