THE PUBLIC ENEMY

James Cagney and Jean Harlow

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931). Director: William A. Wellman.

Tom Powers (James Cagney) and his pal, Matt (Edward Woods), grow up in a tough part of the city, and get in with a bad crowd. Tom becomes a gangster and killer during prohibition, earning the enmity of his brother, Mike (Donald Cook), who has little but contempt for him. Tom is such a creep that at one point he even shoots a horse! Tom and Matt work for Nails Nathan (Leslie Fenton) and Paddy Ryan (Robert Emmett O'Connor), and get involved with such "broads" as Gwen Allen (Jean Harlow), Mamie (Joan Blondell), Kitty (Mae Clarke), who gets a grapefruit in the face, and Nail's unnamed girlfriend (Dorothy Gee), who earns Tom's scorn by getting him drunk and going to bed with him. The Public Enemy is refreshingly frank and well-acted, with Cagney getting high marks, along with Fenton [The House of Secrets], O'Connor, and Beryl Mercer [Jane Eyre] as Ma Powers. Harlow was still considered a lousy actress this early in her career, but she's actually competent, if unexceptional, and her performance is satisfactory. Frankie Darro and "Junior" Coghlan (Frank Coghlan, Jr.) play Matt and Tom as boys and are both good. One of the best scenes is a dinner at the Powers house where ex-soldier Mike can no longer control his anger at his brother and bootleg beer goes flying, and the death of Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell of Charlie Chan in Paris) is also well-handled. That said, The Public Enemy has not really worn well with time -- especially when you take into account the many superior gangster films that came later --   but it still remains an interesting picture. The great final scene of the movie almost makes the whole movie! Handsome Edward Woods was supposed to play Tom Powers, the lead role, but it was given to Cagney instead,; he became a star and Wood's career eventually faded out after only 13 credits.

Verdict: Cagney holds the attention. *** out of 4.

JANE EYRE (1934)

JANE EYRE (1934). Director: Christy Cabanne.

This 1934 version of the famous story, while certainly not awful, can't compare to the later version with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. In this version Virginia Bruce is Jane and Colin Clive of Frankenstein fame is Rochester -- both of them are more than adequate although Clive doesn't summon up the haunted quality of Orson Welles in the remake. Beryl Mercer is fine as Mrs. Fairfax, but while young Edith Fellows is cute as little Adele, she's not an especially talented child performer (she was acting up until 1995, however!) and Adele comes off a bit as a cloying klutz. Aileen Pringle isn't given much to do as Blanche Ingram, who nearly marries Rochester. Claire Du Brey appears briefly as the mad Mrs. Rochester, and an unrecognizable Ethel Griffies has the small role of Grace Poole. Some lovely music plays over the opening credits, but otherwise this film has no score and needs one. Bernard Herrmann's score for the remake is another reason why it is vastly superior.

Verdict: A little on the dull side. **.