The time a film was made often has an interesting effect on its ability to last or not. The 1931 black and white film that launched James Cagney into superstardom, The Public Enemy, directed by William Wellman, is a good case study. While it's not, overall, an inarguably great film, it certainly is close. It's a near-great film that certainly ranks as a great genre film- in this case the gangster film. The reason for its missing greatness is essentially because it is an early talking picture, and for the first decade or so, after the silent film era ended, many actors struggled with trying to get a more naturalistic feel to their physical appearances and acting styles. And, it would still be a good two decades before Neo-Realism swept the world cinema, and brought with it the modern 'naturalism' of cinema. A decade later, still, and the New Wave would wash over the globe, and empower directors to abandon preconceptions about cinematic rules that had been born in the silent era, but had long since gone outdated. But, while the film suffers, overall, from some of these early talkie ills, Jimmy Cagney never did. He was a trained dancer and Broadway actor, and he oozed naturalism from the get go. It's amazing how, from his first scene in the film through his last moment, as a corpse, he utterly and totally dominates the screen every second he is on camera. His acting is not 'realistic,' per se, but feelistic- it's full body acting, from the little dance moves he slips into several moments, to his little chin jabs to the way he conveys the rage his character feels in the presence of his brother.
Review of The Public Enemy
