The Public Enemy (1931)

21 October 2019

I've owned The Public Enemy (1931) for a while now, and probably watched it at least once before. Although not as iconic as White Heat (1949) where he shouts "Top of the world, Ma!", or his misquoted "you dirty rat" quote in Taxi (1932), his acting defined that 1920s gangster genre in ways that I don't think our generation will ever understand.

Cagney eventually won an academy award for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), which I haven't seen in years but always thought was a solid film in its own right. I don't think he's recognized as an actor the same way others have been, since it's a very different era from today, but he's a pretty great one. He did get an honorary award in 1974 though, so there's that I suppose.

And for its time The Public Enemy and Little Caesar (1931) stands out as a sharp blade in the era of prohibition and stays fresh for a film almost 90 years old. 9/10