The Public Enemy (1931) on Netflix
Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, friends since childhood, grow up in Chicago stealing for a fence called Putty Nose. With Prohibition, Paddy Ryan hires them as enforcers for his bootlegging business.
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- IMDb7.5/1023,815 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
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Plot summary
Tom Powers and Matt Doyle grow up together in Chicago, where they steal goods and sell them to a fence called Putty Nose. Putty Nose takes them along on a fur warehouse robbery; the job goes wrong, and when the two turn to him for help, he has fled. Tom's older brother Mike, who works days and studies at night, tries to persuade him to give up crime, while Tom hides his activities from his mother. After the United States joins World War I, Mike enlists in the Marines, and their mother begs Tom to stay home, which he promises to do. With Prohibition, Paddy Ryan hires the two friends as enforcers in his bootlegging business.
Cast
- Clark Burroughsas Dutch (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
- George Dalyas Machine Gunner (uncredited)
- Dorothy Geeas Nails' Girl (uncredited)
- Dorothy Grayas Little Girl (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Public Enemy (1931)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Edward Woods was originally cast as Tom Powers and James Cagney as Matt Doyle, until director William A. Wellman switched them, deciding Cagney was more effective in the lead. The childhood scenes were never reshot, so the child playing Cagney's role looks like Woods and the one playing Woods' role looks like Cagney.
- Director William A. Wellman said he added the grapefruit to the face because his wife at the time would never speak or show expression when they fought; since she always had a grapefruit for breakfast, he had long wanted to shove one into her face just to get a reaction.
- Live ammunition was used for the scene in which James Cagney's Tom Powers ducks around a building corner to take cover from machine gun fire; the bullets hit the wall at the spot where Cagney's head had been a moment before, though live rounds were common practice at the time.
- Wellman asked Donald Cook to really hit James Cagney for authenticity in the scene where Mike Powers punches Tom; Cook struck him so hard he broke one of Cagney's teeth, but Cagney stayed in character and played out the rest of the scene.
- Louise Brooks was the first choice for Gwen Allen, but she refused the part, which went to a younger actress, Jean Harlow.
- When the film was re-released in 1941 under the Production Code, three scenes were cut: a tailor measuring Tom for a suit, Mamie serving Matt breakfast in bed, and Tom being raped by Paddy Ryan's girlfriend while hiding out in her apartment. All three were later restored.
- Mae Clarke said James Cagney told her before the take what he planned to do, and her only genuine surprise came later, when the grapefruit scene appeared in the final film; she had understood they were shooting it only as a joke to amuse the crew.
- In 1998, The Public Enemy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
