Public Enemy

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Warner Home Video has scored big with this DVD release of The Public Enemy. For starters, the 1931 movie has been newly transferred from an archival print that contains three scenes that were deleted from all showings subsequent to the year of release -- thus, just watching the disc will be a new experience for virtually any fan of the movie or of James Cagney's work. The 85-minute movie has been given a generous 23 chapters, and the full-screen (1.33:1) image puts even the late '80s laserdisc edition to shame. Additionally, it comes with a commentary track by Robert Sklar that's a thorough, enjoyable, and informative account of the movie's production and background, and its influence on Hollywood and popular culture. The documentary featurette "Beer and Blood: Enemies of the Public," which includes extensive commentary by Martin Scorsese, among others, makes a perfect companion to the commentary track. And the disc has been filled out with chronologically and thematically related short subjects, cartoons (the very Disney-like "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile"), and newsreels from the Warner Bros. library, all of which -- including the trailer for the Cagney vehicle Blonde Crazy -- are more entertaining than the usual filler of this sort. The disc opens automatically on an easy-to-use multi-layer menu, with the "play" option for the movie in the default position. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Subtitle: English, French, Spanish
• Features:
  • cc Leonard Maltin hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1931 with newsreel, comedy short "The Eyes Have It," cartoon "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile," and theatrical trailers
  • New featurette "Beer and Blood: Enemies of the Public"
  • Commentary by film historian Robert Sklar
  • 1954 rerelease forward

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Original Screenplay - 1930- (John Bright, Kubec Glasmon)

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1998

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       James Cagney - Tom Powers
       Edward Woods - Matt Doyle
       Donald Cook - Mike Powers
       Joan Blondell - Mamie
       Jean Harlow - Gwen Allen

• Director:

  William Wellman

• Producer:

  Darryl F. Zanuck

• Screen Story:

  Kubec Glasmon

• Screenwriter:

  John Bright, Kubec Glasmon, Harvey Thew

• Cinematographer:

  Devereaux Jennings

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  David Mendoza

• Songwriter:

  Harry Barris, Gordon Clifford, John W. Kellette, Jean Kenbrovin

• Editor:

  Ed McCormick, Edward McDermott

• Art Director:

  Max Parker

REVIEW:

• One of the great pre-Production Code gangster films, William Wellman's The Public Enemy made James Cagney a star, providing him with his defining role: Tom Powers, a bitter Chicago gangster driven to a tragic end. Like its contemporaries Little Caesar and Scarface, The Public Enemy was surprisingly ambitious in its examination of the social causes that drive young men into a life of crime, closely examining the allure of street gangs to working-class youths. Although the film goes to great lengths to claim that it does not glamorize criminal activity -- providing a moralistic introduction and conclusion designed to ward off censorship -- many powerful people felt otherwise, and the film's notoriety helped install the more draconian Production Code of 1934. The film's mixed message occurs largely because Cagney is so charismatic an antihero, especially compared to his straight-arrow brother, played woodenly by Donald Cook. Though the film is sometimes visually static, a common problem given the constraints of early sound cinema, it remains bracing and brutal, filled with an air of menace and hopelessness. It features talented newcomers Jean Harlow and Joan Blondell, but its most (in)famous scene -- a shocking episode in which Cagney smashes a grapefruit into his moll's face -- features the little-known Mae Clarke. ~ Mark Pittillo, All Movie Guide

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