The Public Enemy is more than just a story about the rise and fall of a crimean lord in the 1920's. Hell, it even says that at the beginning and end of the picture. It states, "The Public Enemy is not a man, nor is it a character, it is problem that we, The Public, must solve." James Cagney gives a magnificent performance as Tom Powers, a man who started off as a petty thief with sidekick Matt Doyle (played excellently by Edward Woods) and rose to become a powerful beer smuggler during the era of Prohibition and Gang Rule. Yet this film is not all about Tom Powers and his rise to power; it is about the vast feeling of change that America was experiencing during the Roaring Twenties. America was attempting to adjust to the aftermath of World War I (which is explored brilliantly in this film in a sequence through which Tom's brother, Mike, refuses to drink from a keg of beer smuggled in by Tom for his dinner party) People like Mike were still trying to feel that sense of loyalty towards the government after World War I. Yet that loyalty somehow vanished with the development of Prohibition and the rise of gang rule in urban society. Director William A. Wellman explores deeply with this subject matter as we analyze Tom's family and how they have adjusted to the effects of change upon American society. In Tom's case, he yearns for power which became a craving for all Americans during the 1920's. Matt also is one of those who yearns for power. Mike, on the other hand, wants to remain conservative about American values. He wants to keep things the way they are with his family. He does not crave for power as much as his brother Tom which allows him to survive at the end of the picture. As a result, we, the American Public, learn at the end of the picture that power is bigger than any one man and that it will smite any man who tries to take full control of it. Tom attempts to do that and ends up losing everything dearest to him. He loses his friends, his girls, but most of all, he loses his soul. "The Public Enemy is not a man, nor is it a character, it is a problem that we, the Public, must solve." James Cagney should have received an Oscar nomination as Best Actor for this film and Edward Woods should have received a Best Supporting Actor nomination as well.
Lenny's Grade: A
Lenny's Grade: A