Hacker Cinema
The Public Enemy
1931 · Film · 84 min
Directed by William A. Wellman
Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, 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.
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1 comment on Hacker News
I think it's a good read. I question its historical perspective. Pre-code Hollywood had many of the elements that the author suggest didn't start appearing until the 1970s and 1980s. Compare this statement from the essay:
> It wasn't too long ago that killing was dirty work for grown-ups. Once the westerns died, and Vietnam reminded Americans that it's not always easy to spot the villains, movie and TV heroes who killed lots of sumbitches were grim grown-ups
with this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Code_Hollywood :
> Gangsters in films like The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface were seen by many as heroic rather than evil.