[Sculpt]

The Public Enemy (1931)
8/10

I wish I had seen this before seeing Scarface (1983) and other films... cause there's been so many copies of so many of Public Enemy's scenes. It's a great looking and pulsing paced film. James Cagney (as Jim Powers) packs an emotional punch throughout the entire film. It's a morality play, as most films are, and although this was written just a bit more simplex, obvious and slightly preachy than I would have liked, it still doesn't shy away from some harsh grittiness, including the famous scene where Powers smashes a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face. The film still stays pretty lively, basically because of Cagney visceral inner tightness and energy, the quick story pace, and the shot direction.

Cagney was a fine actor who played the gangster parts so well that he got type-cast as a gangster for awhile. But he was also so good that he was able to battle the powerful studio system to adjust his contracts, do other roles, and also started his own studio for a spell. As an actor and performer, he was also a dancer, singer and comedian. Even though he did make a huge mark in his role in Yankee Doodle Dandy, in perpetuity his gangster persona still dominates public perception.