The Public Enemy 1931: a Movie-mirror of its time
By Daniel Blumensev
On July 22, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, America’s most notorious bank robber of the time: John Dillinger, was killed by federal agents while walking out of the Biograph Theater that screened Manhattan Melodrama (1934 W.S. Van Dyke), MGM’s crime film (Shadoian 2003: 69). This pulsating piece of history is crucial to the way in which Hollywood films of the 1930’s reinforced the dominant ideas and attitudes of the time. John Dillinger was an infamous gangster in America who was watching a Hollywood movie about a character who commits crimes and runs an illegal casino, thus going against the law, a reflection in Hollywood of Dillinger himself. Thus with this example, one comes to understand that in the case of 1930s Hollywood gangster films, the dominant ideas and attitudes of the 1930s in relation to crime and mobs in America were indeed, reinforced in the movies. However, what were the ideas that were reinforced and why? With reference to The Public Enemy (1931 William A. Wellman), Wellman, in his picture, strongly reinforces the actual gangster who existed in the post-Civil War big cities in America, the overwhelming and corrupt environment which created the gangster, as well as the Prohibition Act of 1919, and the mobs’ strife in order to control the cities drinking.
‘Unlike the westerner or the hard-boiled detective, the screen gangster was lifted directly from newspaper headlines’ (Ryall 1998: 83). America’s political turmoil in the early 20th century resulted in the rise of a number of notorious mob figures such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel who, although hazily, were in fact portrayed in American gangster pictures (Ryall 1998: 83). The real-life gangsters’ notoriety and social significance of their real-world counterparts was at the hands of Hollywood to exploit, and the picture-making business adjusted their character and environment to the particular demands of Hollywood’s narrativity. Professor Tom Ryall argues that ‘the romanticization of the gangster hero and the stylization of his ‘underworld’ milieu render the [gangster] genre’s connections with reality rather tenuous and complex’ (Ryall 1998: 83). Ryall’s argument states that: due to Hollywood having to alter the biography of the real-life gangsters to fit with the narrative of their own pictures, makes the gangster films’ relationship to reality vague. Disagreeing with Ryall’s statement, The Public Enemy, an iconic and crucial gangster picture, portrays the political, social and cultural situation of actual America in the 1930s through the protagonist Tom Powers, ultimately reinforcing the dominant attitudes towards gangsters in America in the 1930s.
The first piece of information the audience get from The Public Enemy, is a forward by Warner Bros. Studios: ‘It is the ambition of the authors of “The Public Enemy” to honestly depict the environment that exists today in a certain strada of American life…the story of “The Public Enemy” is essentially a true story’ (Grieveson, Sonnet and Stanfield, 2005: 42), one can clearly see that, the studio that produced the picture, undoubtedly states itself, that this gangster issue actually exists and that, the film’s story is true. Warner Bros. essentially attempted to provide ‘a picture of gangland as it really [was]… a sociological study of the entire situation as it [existed] in Chicago’ (Grieveson, Sonnet and Stanfield, 2005: 42). The film’s portrayal of the young hoodlums is remarkably lifelike, and The Public Enemy is ‘a hard and true picture of the unheroic gangster’, thus ultimately portraying realism of 1930s American crime and reinforcing the dominant ideas and attitudes of the time (Grieveson, Sonnet and Stanfield, 2005: 42). Supporting Colin McArthur: the presentation of crime in the gangster genre, did, in fact, come from actual American social history (McArthur 1972: 59). The political and social corruption in the city of Chicago during the rapid industrialization following the end of the Civil War, is clearly represented in The Public Enemy, thus the film reflects the actual turmoil of 1930s America. In economic terms, the circumstance that gave rise to the American gangster was laissez-faire capitalism, which was American commitment to individualism and success, and in political terms, it was through the attachment to States’ rights (McArthur 1972: 59). These two factors were what shaped the state of the vast cities that grew up after the Civil War. Thus The Public Enemy reinforces these facts, as in Wellman’s picture we see Tom Powers, the film’s gangster protagonist, already at a young age, influenced by capitalism and commitment to individualism and success, starts doing petty illegal work for Puddy Nose: a two-faced con-man and feeble criminal, in order to become rich in illegal paper. Furthermore, supporting the idea of American success, Tom later unites with Paddy Ryan: an elderly bar tender, in the illegal distribution of beer, all over Chicago. Thus influenced by Capitalism, which was an idea prevalent in post Civil War America, Tom Powers does exactly what the actual 1930s gangster did, thus The Public Enemy reinforces this turmoil and corruption in 1930s America, through its plot of exactly the same thing.
In The Public Enemy, as well as in all the Depression-era gangster films, the gangster’s locale was the modern city, generally seen at night, being one of precarious space, in which social order and anarchy were locked in one infinite struggle (Ryall 1998: 83). This modern city was not just invented by the studios’ screenwriters. It was in fact the real milieu of the American Gangster in 1930s America. The gangster, whether an immigrant coming to the city as in The Public Enemy, or one from a rural state, goes to the new American frontier, the big industrial complex, in order to make something of himself (Silver and Ursini, 2007: 51). ‘The furious growth associated with unfettered capitalism attracted most of the immigrants to large cities such as New York and Chicago’ (McArthur 1972: 60). Thus The Public Enemy, being set in Chicago, reflects the actual setting of the American gangster in the 1930s. The city setting of the gangster ‘…represents a complex, alienating and overwhelming community, that initially creates the gangster and then, ultimately destroys him’ (Ryall 1998: 84). This is evident in The Public Enemy as the film’s timeframe lasts from 1909 to 1920, the years of rapid industrialization. During these years, in Chicago, Tom Powers gets overwhelmed by this rapid growth of modernism, and tries his best to succeed in this evolving environment and to climb to the top, and fast. Thus, as seen in Wellman’s picture, Tom Powers starts from doing petty illegal work for Puddy Nose and then, after being betrayed by him, Tom gets adopted by Paddy Ryan into illegal prosperity, through forming a mob together, of illegal beer distribution. Even though the escalator of success moved fast for Tom, the city and the tensions between the two rival mobs ultimately pushed Tom off to his downfall, ending up dead at his own brother’s feet. Thus, as The Public Enemy, through its plot, reinforces the actual success and downfall of the gangster in relation to the modern city, one understands that the picture does in fact reflect the actual ideas and attitudes of crime unrest in 1930s America.
‘[The rapidly growing city was] where freedom from control by the central government led to an emergence of the boss system in city politics and to a tradition of civic corruption, faithfully reflected in the gangster film’ (McArthur 1972: 60). In The Public Enemy, the boss system and civic corruption of 1930s America, is reflected through the two mobs: the Paddy Ryan mob and the Schemer Burns mob. The mob goes against the rule of the central government, acquiring wealth through illegal and corrupt methods such as that of stealing fur and beer, in order to sell the two products illegally, in large quantities and at a higher price, for profit. (The Public Enemy, 1931). Thus, the film reinforces the dominant situation and the ideas of civic corruption and the boss system in 1930s America.
The strongest way in which The Public Enemy reflects the dominant ideas and attitudes of the 1930s in America, was through the representation of gang wars over the control of drinking. In 1919, the Volstead Act was passed in America, which constituted the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, except for medicinal purposes, illegal (McArthur 1972: 60). McArthur argues that ‘This, more than any other event, gave American crime its impulse to cartelization’ (McArthur 1972: 60). Prohibition lasted until 1933, and the earliest gangster films, those made in 1930-1932, reflected this period in their narratives (McArthur 1972: 60). This is clearly evident, first of all, by The Public Enemy actually acknowledging the year 1920, being the year after the Prohibition act and having a scene dedicated to the public buying as much boos as they can being the liquor store closes down for good. Furthermore, Wellman’s film’s entire plot is driven by Paddy Ryan having a beer cartel and Tom Powers and Matt Doyle acting as the mob’s collateral: making sure every bar in town buys their beer, and only their beer. The way in which The Public Enemy reflects the dominant ideas and attitudes of the 1930s is due to, the purchase and sale of alcohol being illegal, thus Warner Bros. portrays clearly in the picture that what Tom Powers and his mob are doing is wrong. This is reflected in the picture, firstly and most vividly through, having the plot of the film conclude with Tom Powers ultimately failing at the end of his odyssey into the underworld and depravity, by showing Powers dead at the end of the film and fall at the feet of his own brother.
Secondly, the dominant idea of gangsters being harmful to society, is shown through Tom Powers getting shot after killing the Schemer Burns gang, and pulling out the words: ‘I ain’t so tough’ (The Public enemy, 1931), thus showing that the gangster is ultimately doomed to fail and that Tom Powers, the gangster is not the hero, portraying the dominant attitudes towards gangsters of the 1930s. Also, Wellman makes the ‘American Gangster’ confess at the end of the picture, by whispering to his brother: ‘I’m sorry’ (The Public Enemy, 1931), demonstrating the failure of evil: Tom Powers, the gangster, and the victory of the honest working-class man: Mike Powers. Finally, as with the forward, The Public Enemy closes with a note to the viewers: ‘The end of Tom Powers is the end of every hoodlum. “The Public Enemy” is not a man, nor is it a character – it is a problem that we, the public, must solve’ (The Public Enemy, 1931). Thus, in order to make it crystal clear that Hollywood is against the mob, and supports the dominant negative ideas and attitudes of 1930s America towards gangsters, Warner Bros. tells the audiences of the picture, that ‘The Public Enemy’ is not even worthy of being called a man, and that this issue must be solved. By using the word ‘We’ The Public Enemy clearly shows that the gangster is a current issue of the 1930s, and that the audiences of the film as well as the rest of the American public, must bring an end to it. Thus William A. Wellman’s picture supports the ideas of the 1930s: of gangsters being serious threats to society in America at the time, as the film, as seen through its particular anti-gangster plot elements, as well as through its forward and closing note, is ultimately a propaganda picture against the US mob, thus supporting the dominant negative ideas and attitudes towards gangsters in 1930s America, who flourished in America’s corruption and brought themselves, as well as many innocent civilians to their death.
In conclusion, the gangster film was not just a fictional genre invented by Hollywood screenwriters. The genre was in fact a mirror image of what 1930s American crime was like. In the 1880s, Italian immigrants came to America, particularly to large industrial cities like New York and Chicago, in masses, almost twice the amount of Jewish immigrants, in hope of the American Dream, which turned out to be simply an illusion, as the rise of Capitalism in America after the Civil War led to all big industries and businesses being controlled by certain dominant individuals, preventing immigrants to prosper financially (Daniels, 2002: 189). In fact, ‘when the Italian immigrant arrived in America in the 1880s, much of the political control of the large northern urban centers was in the hands of the Irish, who had come increasingly since the great famine of the 1840s’ (McArthur 1972: 61). With this fact, as well as coerced by the Great Depression, a handful of Italians and other immigrants had no choice but to turn to crime in order to survive (McArthur 1972: 61). William A. Wellman’s 1931 Depression-era gangster film: The Public Enemy is a perfect example of a film that completely reflects and reinforces the dominant ideas and attitudes of 1930s America, through its plot. The film vividly portrays the actual gangster who existed in 1930s America through the protagonist Tom Powers, as well as the complex, corrupt and overwhelming environment of the big city, which created the gangster: through Chicago in The Public Enemy, as well as destroyed him. And finally, the strongest way in which the picture reinforces the ideas of 1930s America was through the immorality of the mob’s crime in relation to the Prohibition Act of 1919, as we see Tom Powers and Paddy Ryan distributing beer illegally to every bar in Chicago, but then, in order to support the dominant attitudes of the American public of 1930s against this crime, and against the mob in general, the film ends on Tom Powers getting killed, and failing, ultimately getting punished for his deprived actions (Silver and Ursini, 2007: 14).
‘Unlike the westerner or the hard-boiled detective, the screen gangster was lifted directly from newspaper headlines’ (Ryall 1998: 83). America’s political turmoil in the early 20th century resulted in the rise of a number of notorious mob figures such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel who, although hazily, were in fact portrayed in American gangster pictures (Ryall 1998: 83). The real-life gangsters’ notoriety and social significance of their real-world counterparts was at the hands of Hollywood to exploit, and the picture-making business adjusted their character and environment to the particular demands of Hollywood’s narrativity. Professor Tom Ryall argues that ‘the romanticization of the gangster hero and the stylization of his ‘underworld’ milieu render the [gangster] genre’s connections with reality rather tenuous and complex’ (Ryall 1998: 83). Ryall’s argument states that: due to Hollywood having to alter the biography of the real-life gangsters to fit with the narrative of their own pictures, makes the gangster films’ relationship to reality vague. Disagreeing with Ryall’s statement, The Public Enemy, an iconic and crucial gangster picture, portrays the political, social and cultural situation of actual America in the 1930s through the protagonist Tom Powers, ultimately reinforcing the dominant attitudes towards gangsters in America in the 1930s.
The first piece of information the audience get from The Public Enemy, is a forward by Warner Bros. Studios: ‘It is the ambition of the authors of “The Public Enemy” to honestly depict the environment that exists today in a certain strada of American life…the story of “The Public Enemy” is essentially a true story’ (Grieveson, Sonnet and Stanfield, 2005: 42), one can clearly see that, the studio that produced the picture, undoubtedly states itself, that this gangster issue actually exists and that, the film’s story is true. Warner Bros. essentially attempted to provide ‘a picture of gangland as it really [was]… a sociological study of the entire situation as it [existed] in Chicago’ (Grieveson, Sonnet and Stanfield, 2005: 42). The film’s portrayal of the young hoodlums is remarkably lifelike, and The Public Enemy is ‘a hard and true picture of the unheroic gangster’, thus ultimately portraying realism of 1930s American crime and reinforcing the dominant ideas and attitudes of the time (Grieveson, Sonnet and Stanfield, 2005: 42). Supporting Colin McArthur: the presentation of crime in the gangster genre, did, in fact, come from actual American social history (McArthur 1972: 59). The political and social corruption in the city of Chicago during the rapid industrialization following the end of the Civil War, is clearly represented in The Public Enemy, thus the film reflects the actual turmoil of 1930s America. In economic terms, the circumstance that gave rise to the American gangster was laissez-faire capitalism, which was American commitment to individualism and success, and in political terms, it was through the attachment to States’ rights (McArthur 1972: 59). These two factors were what shaped the state of the vast cities that grew up after the Civil War. Thus The Public Enemy reinforces these facts, as in Wellman’s picture we see Tom Powers, the film’s gangster protagonist, already at a young age, influenced by capitalism and commitment to individualism and success, starts doing petty illegal work for Puddy Nose: a two-faced con-man and feeble criminal, in order to become rich in illegal paper. Furthermore, supporting the idea of American success, Tom later unites with Paddy Ryan: an elderly bar tender, in the illegal distribution of beer, all over Chicago. Thus influenced by Capitalism, which was an idea prevalent in post Civil War America, Tom Powers does exactly what the actual 1930s gangster did, thus The Public Enemy reinforces this turmoil and corruption in 1930s America, through its plot of exactly the same thing.
In The Public Enemy, as well as in all the Depression-era gangster films, the gangster’s locale was the modern city, generally seen at night, being one of precarious space, in which social order and anarchy were locked in one infinite struggle (Ryall 1998: 83). This modern city was not just invented by the studios’ screenwriters. It was in fact the real milieu of the American Gangster in 1930s America. The gangster, whether an immigrant coming to the city as in The Public Enemy, or one from a rural state, goes to the new American frontier, the big industrial complex, in order to make something of himself (Silver and Ursini, 2007: 51). ‘The furious growth associated with unfettered capitalism attracted most of the immigrants to large cities such as New York and Chicago’ (McArthur 1972: 60). Thus The Public Enemy, being set in Chicago, reflects the actual setting of the American gangster in the 1930s. The city setting of the gangster ‘…represents a complex, alienating and overwhelming community, that initially creates the gangster and then, ultimately destroys him’ (Ryall 1998: 84). This is evident in The Public Enemy as the film’s timeframe lasts from 1909 to 1920, the years of rapid industrialization. During these years, in Chicago, Tom Powers gets overwhelmed by this rapid growth of modernism, and tries his best to succeed in this evolving environment and to climb to the top, and fast. Thus, as seen in Wellman’s picture, Tom Powers starts from doing petty illegal work for Puddy Nose and then, after being betrayed by him, Tom gets adopted by Paddy Ryan into illegal prosperity, through forming a mob together, of illegal beer distribution. Even though the escalator of success moved fast for Tom, the city and the tensions between the two rival mobs ultimately pushed Tom off to his downfall, ending up dead at his own brother’s feet. Thus, as The Public Enemy, through its plot, reinforces the actual success and downfall of the gangster in relation to the modern city, one understands that the picture does in fact reflect the actual ideas and attitudes of crime unrest in 1930s America.
‘[The rapidly growing city was] where freedom from control by the central government led to an emergence of the boss system in city politics and to a tradition of civic corruption, faithfully reflected in the gangster film’ (McArthur 1972: 60). In The Public Enemy, the boss system and civic corruption of 1930s America, is reflected through the two mobs: the Paddy Ryan mob and the Schemer Burns mob. The mob goes against the rule of the central government, acquiring wealth through illegal and corrupt methods such as that of stealing fur and beer, in order to sell the two products illegally, in large quantities and at a higher price, for profit. (The Public Enemy, 1931). Thus, the film reinforces the dominant situation and the ideas of civic corruption and the boss system in 1930s America.
The strongest way in which The Public Enemy reflects the dominant ideas and attitudes of the 1930s in America, was through the representation of gang wars over the control of drinking. In 1919, the Volstead Act was passed in America, which constituted the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, except for medicinal purposes, illegal (McArthur 1972: 60). McArthur argues that ‘This, more than any other event, gave American crime its impulse to cartelization’ (McArthur 1972: 60). Prohibition lasted until 1933, and the earliest gangster films, those made in 1930-1932, reflected this period in their narratives (McArthur 1972: 60). This is clearly evident, first of all, by The Public Enemy actually acknowledging the year 1920, being the year after the Prohibition act and having a scene dedicated to the public buying as much boos as they can being the liquor store closes down for good. Furthermore, Wellman’s film’s entire plot is driven by Paddy Ryan having a beer cartel and Tom Powers and Matt Doyle acting as the mob’s collateral: making sure every bar in town buys their beer, and only their beer. The way in which The Public Enemy reflects the dominant ideas and attitudes of the 1930s is due to, the purchase and sale of alcohol being illegal, thus Warner Bros. portrays clearly in the picture that what Tom Powers and his mob are doing is wrong. This is reflected in the picture, firstly and most vividly through, having the plot of the film conclude with Tom Powers ultimately failing at the end of his odyssey into the underworld and depravity, by showing Powers dead at the end of the film and fall at the feet of his own brother.
Secondly, the dominant idea of gangsters being harmful to society, is shown through Tom Powers getting shot after killing the Schemer Burns gang, and pulling out the words: ‘I ain’t so tough’ (The Public enemy, 1931), thus showing that the gangster is ultimately doomed to fail and that Tom Powers, the gangster is not the hero, portraying the dominant attitudes towards gangsters of the 1930s. Also, Wellman makes the ‘American Gangster’ confess at the end of the picture, by whispering to his brother: ‘I’m sorry’ (The Public Enemy, 1931), demonstrating the failure of evil: Tom Powers, the gangster, and the victory of the honest working-class man: Mike Powers. Finally, as with the forward, The Public Enemy closes with a note to the viewers: ‘The end of Tom Powers is the end of every hoodlum. “The Public Enemy” is not a man, nor is it a character – it is a problem that we, the public, must solve’ (The Public Enemy, 1931). Thus, in order to make it crystal clear that Hollywood is against the mob, and supports the dominant negative ideas and attitudes of 1930s America towards gangsters, Warner Bros. tells the audiences of the picture, that ‘The Public Enemy’ is not even worthy of being called a man, and that this issue must be solved. By using the word ‘We’ The Public Enemy clearly shows that the gangster is a current issue of the 1930s, and that the audiences of the film as well as the rest of the American public, must bring an end to it. Thus William A. Wellman’s picture supports the ideas of the 1930s: of gangsters being serious threats to society in America at the time, as the film, as seen through its particular anti-gangster plot elements, as well as through its forward and closing note, is ultimately a propaganda picture against the US mob, thus supporting the dominant negative ideas and attitudes towards gangsters in 1930s America, who flourished in America’s corruption and brought themselves, as well as many innocent civilians to their death.
In conclusion, the gangster film was not just a fictional genre invented by Hollywood screenwriters. The genre was in fact a mirror image of what 1930s American crime was like. In the 1880s, Italian immigrants came to America, particularly to large industrial cities like New York and Chicago, in masses, almost twice the amount of Jewish immigrants, in hope of the American Dream, which turned out to be simply an illusion, as the rise of Capitalism in America after the Civil War led to all big industries and businesses being controlled by certain dominant individuals, preventing immigrants to prosper financially (Daniels, 2002: 189). In fact, ‘when the Italian immigrant arrived in America in the 1880s, much of the political control of the large northern urban centers was in the hands of the Irish, who had come increasingly since the great famine of the 1840s’ (McArthur 1972: 61). With this fact, as well as coerced by the Great Depression, a handful of Italians and other immigrants had no choice but to turn to crime in order to survive (McArthur 1972: 61). William A. Wellman’s 1931 Depression-era gangster film: The Public Enemy is a perfect example of a film that completely reflects and reinforces the dominant ideas and attitudes of 1930s America, through its plot. The film vividly portrays the actual gangster who existed in 1930s America through the protagonist Tom Powers, as well as the complex, corrupt and overwhelming environment of the big city, which created the gangster: through Chicago in The Public Enemy, as well as destroyed him. And finally, the strongest way in which the picture reinforces the ideas of 1930s America was through the immorality of the mob’s crime in relation to the Prohibition Act of 1919, as we see Tom Powers and Paddy Ryan distributing beer illegally to every bar in Chicago, but then, in order to support the dominant attitudes of the American public of 1930s against this crime, and against the mob in general, the film ends on Tom Powers getting killed, and failing, ultimately getting punished for his deprived actions (Silver and Ursini, 2007: 14).
Bibliography
Daniels, R. (2002). Coming to America. New York: Perennial.
Grieveson, L., Sonnet, E. and Stanfield, P. (2005). Mob Culture. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
McArthur, C. (1972). Underworld U.S.A. London: Secker and Warburg [for] the British Film Institute.
Shadoian, J. (2003). Dreams & Dead Ends. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Silver, A. and Ursini, J. (2007). The Gangster Film Reader. Pompton Plains, N.J.: Limelight.
Tom Ryall (1998) ‘Genre and Hollywood’ in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson (eds.), The Oxford Guide to
Film Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 327-38.
Grieveson, L., Sonnet, E. and Stanfield, P. (2005). Mob Culture. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
McArthur, C. (1972). Underworld U.S.A. London: Secker and Warburg [for] the British Film Institute.
Shadoian, J. (2003). Dreams & Dead Ends. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Silver, A. and Ursini, J. (2007). The Gangster Film Reader. Pompton Plains, N.J.: Limelight.
Tom Ryall (1998) ‘Genre and Hollywood’ in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson (eds.), The Oxford Guide to
Film Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 327-38.
Filmography
Manhatten Melodrama (1934) Directed by W. S. Van Dyke [Film]. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
The Public Enemy (1931) Directed by William A. Wellman [Film]. USA: Warner Bros.
The Public Enemy (1931) Directed by William A. Wellman [Film]. USA: Warner Bros.