The Public Enemy
1931, NR, 84 min.
Directed by William Wellman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring James Cagney, Eddie Woods, Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, Joan Blondell.

This criminal tale excited audiences and landed the kinetic Cagney on the movie map. Now a classic, this is the movie in which Cagney famously crams a grapefruit into Mae Clarke’s face.

This article appears in June 29 • 2001.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.