The public enemy
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The public enemy |
| Original title | The Public Enemy |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 83 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | William A. Wellman |
| script | Harvey F. Thew |
| production | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| camera | Devereaux Jennings |
| cut | Edward M. McDermott |
| occupation | |
| |
The Public Enemy is an American film by William A. Wellman from 1931. It is now one of the classics of gangster films. Leading actor James Cagney achieved his breakthrough through the very successful film and was one of Hollywood's greatest stars for many years. The film was based on the unpublished novel Beer and Blood by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon , who had experience with the gangster milieu themselves.
action
Chicago , in 1909: Tom Powers and Matt Doyle committed robberies and rip-offs for the greasy little crook Putty Nose as children. Tom's older brother Michael, on the other hand, is honest from the start, which the film repeatedly addresses. Michael makes heavy accusations that Tom earns his living with crime, including murder. Tom sarcastically replies to his brother that he also killed in the war against the Germans , but enjoyed it ("killed and liked") and received his medals "not for holding hands". The weak mother refuses to take a clear stand; the strict father - a police officer - regularly beat Tom during his childhood, but dies early.
Years later, Putty gives Tom and Matt the chance to take on bigger tasks by giving them a more difficult assignment. This goes wrong, however - a crook is shot by a police officer, who in turn is shot by Tom and Matt. Putty then abandons his two protégés and leaves town. Then the two friends go to the Irish-American gangster boss Paddy Ryan, who also gives them work immediately. During the prohibition period , the three of them started a lucrative business selling beer together with the gangster "Nails" Nathan. Tom and Matt threaten pub owners and force them to buy overpriced beer from them. This increases the prosperity of the two friends who visibly enjoy their life with women and money. While Matt finally marries his beloved Mamie, Tom soon gets tired of his girlfriend Kitty and presses a sliced grapefruit in her face. Tom later falls in love with the beautiful blonde Gwen, but even in his relationship with Gwen, crime has priority over love for Tom.
One day Tom and Matt lie in wait for their old employer, Putty, with whom they spent their childhood but who later abandoned them. When he realizes that they want to murder him, he begs for his life and sings a nursery rhyme for her. Tom doesn't care and he shoots Putty in cold blood.
"Nails" Nathan, who held the whole gang together, dies in a riding accident, whereupon a gang war breaks out with a rival gang (Schemmer). Paddy tries to prepare his people for this war and orders them to hide first until he has recruited new members to support the gang war. Miller, an old friend of Putty Nose, reveals the hiding place to Schemmer. When Tom - angry that Paddy's girlfriend made him drunk and seduced - steps out into the street despite the danger and Matt tries to get him back, Matt is shot in the street by the enemy gang. Tom takes bloody revenge by staging a massacre at the headquarters of the other gang. He is seriously wounded there himself and ends up in hospital. Here he reconciles with his brother, apologizes to him and decides to return home, but is kidnapped from the hospital by Schemmer's men.
A few days later, while their mother is preparing a room for Tom to the sound of I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles , the doorbell rings. When Mike opens the door, his brother falls towards him - bloody, wrapped in blankets and tied up - with an expression distorted by death.
background
When the film was made, 1931, the gangster gangs in American cities were still at the height of their power. The public enemy dealt with a problem that was topical at the time. Accordingly, the film contains a prologue and an epilogue with the note that the film does not want to glorify the gangster milieu, but rather shows a problem that will sooner or later have to be solved by society. The plot is based on the unpublished novel Beer and Blood by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon , who both had experiences with the gangster milieu. Glasmon ran a pharmacy in Chicago in the 1920s, where the city's most powerful gangsters like Al Capone met; the then youthful John Bright was Glasmon's assistant in the pharmacy. Many of the events in the film are based on real events. The book was adapted for the film by screenwriter Harvey F. Thew (1883-1946).
The public enemy was staged by the renowned director William A. Wellman , who had only a comparatively small budget at around 150,000 US dollars. Wellman wanted to make a film that was extremely violent by the standards of the day.
The film was James Cagney's first hit film that made him a star. At first, Cagney was only supposed to play the second leading role of Matt, while Edward Woods was supposed to play Tom. But then Cagney delivered a very convincing performance in a supporting role as an insurance man in the film The Millionaire (1931) on the side of George Arliss . Director Wellman was now convinced that Cagney was exactly the right person for the role of Tom. Therefore, the roles of Cagney and Woods were switched shortly before filming began. The film immediately gave him the image of the tough boy, which he retained throughout his career. Aspiring actress Jean Harlow was hired as Tom's lover, Gwen , after Louise Brooks turned down the role.
The scene in which Cagney pressed half a grapefruit in the face of his young friend Kitty was later quoted and satirized - including by Cagney himself in One, Two, Three . Originally, the idea of slapping actress Mae Clarke in the face with a grapefruit was just a joke on the set. But Wellman liked the idea so much that he eventually turned it. According to an anecdote by James Cagney, actor Lew Brice, the ex-husband of Mae Clarke, attended a movie screening of The Public Enemy every day - only to enjoy his ex- girlfriend getting a grapefruit pressed in the face.
The film was very successful. He was in New York at Times Square around shown in a movie theater for 24 hours around the clock. A new version of the film was released in 1941 because the Production Code had come into effect in the meantime . Three scenes from the film have been censored: a scene in which a homosexual-looking tailor appears, a scene in which Matt and Mamie toss around in bed, and a scene in which Tom is seduced by a woman. In 1954 the film appeared again in a new version. The film begins with a prologue that distances itself from gangsters like Tom Powers and Caesar "Rico" Bandello. Caesar "Rico" Bandello is the main character in the film Little Caesar (played by Edward G. Robinson ).
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created in 1979 by the Munich distribution company.
| role | actor | German Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Powers | James Cagney | Wolfgang Draeger |
| Gwen Allen | Jean Harlow | Emely Reuer |
| Matt Doyle | Edward Woods | Wolfgang Müller |
| Mamie, Matt's wife | Joan Blondell | Heidi Treutler |
| Mike Powers | Donald Cook | Sigmar Solbach |
| Samuel "Nails" Nathan | Leslie Fenton | Fred Maire |
| Mother Mrs. Powers | Beryl Mercer | Alice Franz |
| Paddy Ryan | Robert Emmett O'Connor | Wolfgang Hess |
| Putty nose | Murray Kinnell | Erich Ebert |
| Homosexual tailor | Unknown | Horst Raspe |
Reviews
The Public Enemy was considered a landmark film in 1931 and has maintained its status as a gangster classic over the years. On the US critic portal Rotten Tomatoes , all 28 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4 points, are positive.
The lexicon of international films writes: “The life story of a big city gangster […] An episodically structured, undramatically narrated film with James Cagney, who became famous in this role.” Together with Little Caesar and Scarface, the film is “today the beginning and first climax of the classic American gangster film ”.
Awards
- The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay
- In 1998, the film was in the National Film Registry added
- The American Film Institute picked the role of James Cagney as Tom Powers at number 42 on the list of the Top 50 Villains of All Time
- In 2008, the American Film Institute voted it 8th of the 10 best gangster films of all time.
References in culture
- In 1960 James Cagney starred in One, Two, Three . In one scene he threatens Otto (Horst Bucholz) to press half a grapefruit in his face.
- In the series The Sopranos , gangster boss Tony Soprano watches the film The Public Enemy (episode: Farewell, Little Livia ).
DVD release
- The public enemy . Warner Home Video 2005
Web links
- The Public Enemy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harvey F. Thew in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ DVD-Extra: "Blood and Beer", documentation on the making of the film
- ^ Trivia of the Internet Movie Database
- ^ John Gallagher: The Warner Brothers Gangster Collection . In: Between Action and Cut . National Board of Review . February 2005. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ The Public Enemy. Retrieved October 6, 2018 .
- ↑ The public enemy. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 10, 2017 .