THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)

James Cagney plays a young buck who makes it big as a muscleman for a powerful Prohibition-era gangster.  His brother doesn't approve and his mother is in denial, but Cagney doesn't give a fuck cause all he wants is power, money and broads.

THE PUBLIC ENEMY has not aged well.  When it first came out in 1931 it was quite a shocker and made a ton of dough for Warner Bros., but watching now it just comes across as extremely dated.  The biggest problem is the slow pacing and the way the story is told.  Something about it seems out of wack.  It probably has to do with THE PUBLIC ENEMY being a semi-early talkie and a lot of the actors were quite new to the business.  Jean Harlow, who I usually love, was especially horrible.  She's fantastic in stuff like LIBELED LADY and DINNER AT EIGHT, but here she's very stiff and her line delivery was laughable.

From a film history point of view THE PUBLIC ENEMY is very much worth studying, but from just a entertainment standpoint I think most modern audiences should stay away.  If you need me, I'll be in my room watching WHITE HEAT.

CITY FOR CONQUEST (1940)

Hum.  Despite the fact CITY FOR CONQUEST came in TCM's "Greatest Gangster Films" DVD collection and the title implies that there's a conquest of a city going on, CITY FOR CONQUEST isn't a gangster film.  There are a few gangster's involved around the edges of the story, but the main story is about a simple man (James Cagney) who is in love with his childhood sweetheart (Ann Sheridan) and she with him.  Unfortunately, she has stars in her eyes and dreams of being a famous dancer with her name in lights.  Cagney has a knack for boxing but he doesn't want anything to do with it, but once it becomes apparent that the only way to make his girl happy is to make some dough he agrees to do some professional boxing.  At the same time, Ann is being lured into the clutches of dance floor stud Anthony Quinn.

There were a few moments that I really enjoyed CFC (the big fight, all the early tough guy scenes with Cagney), but for me the story was just too sappy and predictable.  There was a hobo/guardian angel character who did an intro, outro and a few commentaries in between that could have been completely left out since all he did was treat the audience like we were fucking idiots.  The whole thing about Cagney's sensitive friend (Arthur Kennedy) was forced and slowed down the story.  Also, the results of the big fight were so telegraphed that when it finally happened I had zero emotional feelings towards it.  Actually I kinda felt negative about Cagney since not only is Quinn making him look like a pussy by openly womanizing Sheridan, but now he's allowing the other boxing team to openly cheat and cause him great bodily harm!  Fuck that shit!

Good cast and a nice story idea that's severely hampered by a poor script.  According to Cagney's autobiography what they filmed was much better than the severely edited finished product.  Also, he was so disappointed in CITY FOR CONQUEST that he write a personal apology letter to the source material's author, Aben Kandel.

Not really worth watching.  Skip it.

G MEN (1935)

Made 12 years before the excellent T-MEN (about undercover Treasury agents), G MEN is nothing but a propaganda piece for the FBI, made to counter all of the movies glorifying gangsters, but at least it's an entertaining propaganda piece.

Former "gutter rat" James Cagney is having a hard time as a lawyer.  The only clients who want his services are hoodlums, but he isn't interested.  Finally after one of his college buddies is shot in the back by the local mob, Cagney joins the Department of Justice.  His trainer is tough as nails, but he has a good heart and after some rough spots they finally become friends and even partners out in the field hunting down some bloodthirsty bank robbers...the very same thugs who shot his friend in the back.  Imagine that!

Nothing deep going on here, just a straightforward story about a young man with a strong sense of justice and the tenacity to get things done! Yeah, see!

 

 Lloyd Nolan's film debut.

 Ward Bond in a lineless role as "Gunman at Train Station".

 David Brian in the 1949 tacked on intro scene.