Vintage: The Public Enemy (1931)

9 June 2016 0

The Public Enemy (released as Enemies of the Public in the United Kingdom) is a 1931 American all-talking pre-code crime film produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods and Joan Blondell. The film relates the story of a young man’s rise in the criminal underworld…

Vintage: Little Caesar (1931)

9 May 2016 0

Little Caesar released at the very beginning of 1931, was the first gangster “talkie” to truly capture that public’s fascination with a genre that has never really gone out of vogue since. The template for the classic gangster film is generally the rise and fall of the criminal and “Little Caesar” sticks to that script closely, telling the story of…

Behind the Scenes: Scarface (1932)

30 December 2015 0

With “Little Caesar” and “The Public Enemy” proving hits, plenty of imitators lined up and one of the first, and best, came from producer Howard Hughes, who lined up an impressive roster of talent for his cautionary crime tale “Scarface” (sometimes subtitled “The Shame Of A Nation”). Writer Ben Hecht was underway on the script when he received a visit…

Behind the Scenes: G-Men (1935)

9 December 2015 0

G Men is a 1935 Warner Bros. crime film starring James Cagney, Ann Dvorak, and Margaret Lindsay, and presenting Lloyd Nolan’s film debut. According to Variety Magazine, the movie was one of the top-grossing films of 1935. The supporting cast features Robert Armstrong and Barton MacLane. G Men was made as part of a deliberate attempt to counteract what many…