The Public Enemy - Starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods and Joan Blondell; with Mae Clarke, Donald Cook and Beryl Mercer. The Public Enemy (Enemies of the Public in the UK) is a 1931 American pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook and Joan Blondell. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in Prohibition-era urban America. The supporting players include Beryl Mercer, Murray Kinnell, and Mae Clarke. The screenplay is based on an unpublished novel—Beer and Blood by two former newspapermen, John Bright and Kubec Glasmon—who had witnessed some of Al Capone's murderous gang rivalries in Chicago. In 1998, The Public Enemy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers (James Cagney) and Matt Doyle (Eddie Woods), rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away. Classic Clips Website https://classicclips.ca Classic Clips Store https://classicclips.store Classic Clips X (formerly Twitter) https://twitter.com/ClassicClipss Classic Clips Facebook https://facebook.com/classicclipsstore Classic Clips Instagram https://instagram.com/classicclipsstore