Review of The Public Enemy (1931) by Jack G — 02 Mar 2009

I almost feel bad naming flaws in a movie made in 1931, especially one that broke ground for one of my favorite genres, the gangster flick. Cagney is great like always and his performance makes this movie worth seeing alone.

But there is alot of under developed relationships with Tom and the other characters. Plus at the very end they run this heavy handed title card that tears into people like Tom Powers. What's the point of that? Near the end they try to create sympathy for the character then when it ends they pull the rug out from under you and basically say how dare you for liking him! I'm guessing that was some studio head who made that decision because any director with half a brain wouldn't have even entertained the idea of something so stupid!