File:The_Public_Enemy_1931_Poster.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American black-and-white film produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment and directed by William A. Wellman. The cast includes James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, and Joan Blondell, with Darryl F. Zanuck serving as producer and Kubec Glasmon as screenwriter. Set in Chicago, the drama and crime film focuses on organized crime and is associated with the Pre-Code Hollywood movement.
The movie has a runtime of 83 minutes and was released in English. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment and Netflix, with the latter offering it via video on demand. The film received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Story. Its production budget was $151,000, and it generated $557,000 in revenue.
Audience reception includes a 7.6 rating on IMDb based on 23,531 votes and a 7.25 average on TMDb from 388 votes. The film’s tagline reads, "All his life he took what he wanted...Why not women?"
Synthesized by Vinony from 43 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Internet Archive, IMDb, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
7.2Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.
Cast
- James Cagney as Tom Powers
- Jean Harlow as Gwen Allen
- Edward Woods as Matt Doyle
- Joan Blondell as Mamie
- Donald Cook as Mike Powers
- Leslie Fenton as Samuel 'Nails' Nathan
Themes
- gangster
- anti hero
- tragedy
- organized crime
- best friend
- juvenile delinquent
- pre-code
- grapefruit
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Key facts
- Directed by
- William A. Wellman
- Written by
- Kubec Glasmon John Bright
- Screenplay by
- Harvey F. Thew
- Based on
- Beer and Blood , by John Bright Kubec Glasmon
- Produced by
- Darryl F. Zanuck
- Starring
- James Cagney Jean Harlow Edward Woods Joan Blondell
- Cinematography
- Devereaux Jennings
- Edited by
- Edward Michael McDermott
- Distributed by
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Release date
- April 23, 1931 ( 1931-04-23 )
- Running time
- 83 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $151,000 or $230,000
- Box office
- $557,000
via Wikipedia infobox
Internet Archive
textsPublic enemy number one, the Barkers
Read online at Internet Archive →via archive.org
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Public Enemy (Enemies of the Public in the UK) is a 1931 American pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was directed by William A. Wellman, and starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook and Joan Blondell. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in Prohibition-era urban America.
Supporting actors include Beryl Mercer, Murray Kinnell, and Mae Clarke. The screenplay is based on an unpublished novel—Beer and Blood by two former newspapermen, John Bright and Kubec Glasmon—who had witnessed some of Al Capone's murderous gang rivalries in Chicago.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Public Enemy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.