In William Wellman's classic crime film THE PUBLIC ENEMY, James Cagney does a star turn as Tom Powers, a trouble-ridden individual who rises from the position of cheap thug to that of a powerful Prohibition gangster. When his best friend is murdered, Powers self-destructively seeks deadly retaliation. He picks fights. He slaps women around. He roughs up speakeasy owners and tells them whom they'll get their hooch from and how much they'll order. Fists, kisses, and guns are the only things Tom knows. He eventually gets promoted to become the muscleman of mobster Nails Nathan (Leslie Fenton). But Tom's violent acts are about to catch up with him. After Tom guns down a cop, he's on the run. Later, thugs dump him, beaten, on the doorstep of his estranged and horrified family. It's only then that Tom realizes his decision to live the gangster life has been an irrevocable and deadly choice. Known as the picture that launched Cagney into stardom, THE PUBLIC ENEMY doesn't hold back from exposing the violence and tedium underscoring this ostensibly sexy life of crime. The screenplay, based on a story entitled BEER AND BLOOD by John Bright and written by Harvey F. Thew, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Tom Powers enjoys proving to others why he is the Prohibition era's public enemy number one. But things are about to change.

PUBLIC ENEMY was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1998.

This is the famed gangster tale in which Cagney pushes a grapefruit into Mae Clark's face.

In the second show of THE SOPRANOS third season, Tony Soprano watched THE PUBLIC ENEMY, taken with the relationship between the gangster and his mother.

Excerpt: "I ain't so tough."--Tom Powers (James Cagney)

DVD Features:

Region (unknown)
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Mono 1.0 English

Distributor Notes: James Cagney gives a tour-de-force performance in his tough-guy portrayal of a petty hoodlum who rises to big-time gangster.

Source: Warner Home Video

James Cagney: Oscar winning actor, THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)
Jean Harlow: American actress, HELL'S ANGELS, PLATINUM BLONDE
Edward Woods: American actor, THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Beryl Mercer: Character Actress
Joan Blondell: American actress, THE BLUE VEIL, THREE ON A MATCH
Donald Cook: American Actor
Mae Clarke: American Actress
Leslie Fenton: Director/Actor/B-Films

William Wellman: American Director, THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943)

Darryl F. Zanuck: Studio Head, Producer, Source Writer, Director

David Mendoza: Composer

Ed McCormick: Editor

"...Cagney is magnificent, totally dominating the screen..." -- 4 out of 5 stars
"[S]eductively enthralling..."
"[Cagney] became a sensation with his searing performance as the streetwise gangster Tom Powers in this William Wellman classic."