Directed by:
William A. WellmanCinematography:
Devereaux JenningsCast:
James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell, Donald Cook, Beryl Mercer, Murray Kinnell, Mae Clarke, Frankie Darro, Sam McDaniel, Helen Parrish (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, two tough young kids growing up poor in Chicago, work for Putty Nose, a fence. He sets up a robbery deal for them, promising to get them out of trouble if anything goes wrong, but when they bungle the job he abandons them. During Prohibition, they find a new ally, Paddy Ryan, who sets them up in the illegal brewery business. When Mike, Tom's older brother returns from World War I, he berates Tom for his dealings with gangsters and Tom angrily leaves home. The gang's big boss, Nails Nathan, uses Tom and Matt to pressure the local speakeasies, which are caught between rival gangs, into using only the beer that they sell. Tom grows into a ruthless gangster. One day he takes out his frustrations on his girl Kitty, shoving a grapefruit in her face and dumping her in favor of glamorous Texan Gwen Allen. Later, celebrating in an expensive night club, Tom spots their old pal Putty Nose. Tom and Matt follow him to his apartment, where Tom kills him. When Nails dies after a fall from a horse, his death precipitates a gang war. Paddy sends the gang into hiding, but Tom refuses to stay. He and Matt are ambushed by the rival gang as they leave, and Matt is killed in the shootout. Tom vows revenge and single-handedly takes on his rivals. He kills several, but he is wounded himself and collapses outside in the pouring rain. He survives, but the gang kidnaps him from the hospital and delivers his bandage-wrapped dead body to the door of his mother's house. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
James Cagney
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
One, Two, Three (1961)
White Heat (1949)
Jean Harlow
USA
Best movies:
City Lights (1931)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
China Seas (1935)
Edward Woods
USA
Best movies:
Enemies of the Public (1931)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Hot Saturday (1932)
Joan Blondell
USA
Best movies:
Grease (1978)
Bullets or Ballots (1936)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
Donald Cook
USA
Best movies:
The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933)
Show Boat (1936)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
Beryl Mercer
Spain
Best movies:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
Murray Kinnell
UK
Best movies:
Captains Courageous (1937)
Freaks (1932)
Captain Blood (1935)
Mae Clarke
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
The Front Page (1931)
Frankie Darro
USA
Best movies:
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Westward the Women (1951)
Sam McDaniel
USA
Best movies:
Double Indemnity (1944)
Captains Courageous (1937)
Union Pacific (1939)
Helen Parrish
USA
Best movies:
It Started with Eve (1941)
The Big Trail (1930)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
Charles Sullivan
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Fury (1936)
Leslie Fenton
UK
Best movies:
Enemies of the Public (1931)
Boys Town (1938)
Night Flight (1933)
Robert Homans
USA
Best movies:
Fury (1936)
It Started with Eve (1941)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Frank Coghlan Jr.
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Purnell Pratt
USA
Best movies:
Scarface (1932)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
Russ Powell
USA
Best movies:
Modern Times (1936)
The Mysterious Lady (1928)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
William H. Strauss
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Enemies of the Public (1931)
The Texas Rangers (1936)
Eddie Kane
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Lee Phelps
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
After the Thin Man (1936)