Today’s movie is a crime drama with a scene that happens on January 16. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.
THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Young Tom Powers and his pal Matt Doyle fence what they steal to “Putty Nose”. Putty Nose convinces them to move up to breaking and entering, but when things go wrong, leaves the pair in the lurch. Tom’s older brother Mike tries and fails to keep Tom on the straight and narrow before he enlists in the Marines when the USA enters World War I. On January 16, 1920 [24:00 to 25:00], the day before prohibition takes effect, “Paddy” Ryan recruits the boys into his bootlegging gang. Matt and Tom acquire girlfriends, with Matt marrying Mamie. Tom later dumps Kitty and falls for Gwen. Tom later kills Putty Nose for betraying them. When Paddy’s partner Nails Nathan is killed in an accident, this precipitates a gang war. After Matt is killed by a rival gang, Tom single handedly goes to get revenge, but is wounded in the shoot-out. In the hospital, he promises Mike that he will reform, but Tom is kidnapped by his rivals and killed.
Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by John Kobler (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1973) at page 11 gives the date Prohibition began.
Producer - Darryl F. Zanuck
Director - William A. Wellman
Screenwriter - Harvey F. Thew
Runtime – 1 hour 23 minutes
Released – April 23, 1931
Cast –
James Cagney as Tom Powers
Jean Harlow as Gwen Allen
Edward Woods as Matt Doyle
Joan Blondell as Mamie
Donald Cook as Mike Powers
Leslie Fenton as Nails Nathan
Beryl Mercer as Ma Powers
Robert Emmett O'Connor as Paddy Ryan
Murray Kinnell as Putty Nose
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2016
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