The film is about the rise and fall of two young hoodlums in Chicago who become top-tier gangsters during the early days of Prohibition only to find themselves in a gang war with rival mobsters. It is a film with a simple premise that plays into two men who work as hoodlums since they were boys for a local boss only to grow up as men who would work for another boss as they would rise and make money through bootlegging alcohol. The film’s screenplay by Harvey F. Thew is based on an unpublished screenplay by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon is straightforward as it spans 15 years from 1905 to 1920 when Prohibition begins. The protagonists in Tom Powers (James Cagney) and Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) are two Irish-American men who would do small jobs and rise the ranks working for a local hood in Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell). After an incident that made Nose flee, the two would work for the more prominent Paddy Ryan a few years after World War I had ended.
Once Prohibition begins, Powers and Doyle get rich while remaining loyal to Ryan as they also get women and all the good things in life. The script also plays into conflict between Powers and his older brother Mike (Donald Cook) who is a strait-laced man that does everything expected in society including joining the marines in World War I as he would struggle to make ends meet for himself and the family despite Powers giving their mother (Beryl Mercer) money. It would play into tension where Powers knows he is not an honorable man but does not tell his mother what he really does yet he shoots back at his brother for what he has done while at war. Powers would eventually cope with the chaos of conflict following the death of a colleague as it plays into the intensity of violence that occurs during Prohibition.
William A. Wellman’s direction is engaging in the way he captures a period that are the early days of Prohibition just a few years before it ends. Shot on location at the Warner Brothers studio backlot at Burbank, California along with additional locations in Los Angeles, Wellman does create an atmosphere of a world that is finding itself in a new century though some struggle to get by with Powers and Doyle doing things for this local hood as they live in the poor side of Chicago with their families. Wellman’s direction does have some wide and medium shots to get a scope of the locations in in its 1:37:1 aspect ratio. Even as he would do unique camera movements in a medium shot during a conversation while also using close-ups in a few scenes to play into the drama and suspense. Wellman also play into the way bootleggers steal from breweries before they close and how they transport alcohol in secrecy as well as the lifestyle the gangsters have. There are also moments that are violent though Wellman chooses to shoot scenes involving the intense violence by having it be shown offscreen.
The usage of sound is a key element in the offscreen violence while the death of a friend of Powers and Doyle would also be shown offscreen as it would mark the fall for both men. The film’s third act is one filled with suspense and drama as it plays into Paddy Ryan becoming concerned for everyone around him as he also knows he is a target from rival gangs. Its climax would involve Powers with an aftermath in which his brother realizes the severity of what his brother had been trying to do as well as the danger. The final image is shocking as it plays into the world of gang violence as well as it is followed by a postscript that explains the futility of the gangster life and the failures of Prohibition. Overall, Wellman crafts a gripping and intoxicating film about two young men who rise into the gangster world during the early days of Prohibition.
Cinematographer Devereaux Jennings does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography in the way the exterior scenes at night are lit as well as the usage of shadows for some of the nighttime interior scenes. Editor Edward Michael McDermott does excellent work with the editing with its rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and suspense along with some lively cutting for some of the energetic scenes. Art director Max Parker does amazing work with the look of the nightclub Powers and Doyle go to as well as the family home of the former and the hotel suite the two men live in with their partners.
Costume designer Edward Stevenson does fantastic work with the costumes in the suits the men wear as well as additional wardrobe designed by Earl Luick in the dresses that the women wear. The sound work of Oliver S. Garretson is superb for the sound effects in how gunfire sounds as well as the way natural sound is presented on set. Title music by David Mendoza is wonderful in its orchestral piece to play into the air of suspense and drama while its music soundtrack features music from that period that is performed by the Vitaphone Orchestra.
The casting by Rufus Le Maire is remarkable as it feature some notable small roles from Mia Marvin as Paddy Ryan’s girlfriend Jane who would seduce Powers late in the film, Dorothy Gee as Nathan Nails’ girlfriend, Frank Coughlan Jr. as the young Powers, Frankie Darro as the young Doyle, Beryl Mercer as Powers’ mother, Mae Clarke as Powers’ first girlfriend Kitty, and Murray Kinnel as Powers and Doyle’s first boss in the hood Putty Nose. Robert O’Connor is superb as Paddy Ryan as a boss for Powers and Doyle who treats them like his children as well as be someone that is rational as he is aware of the intensity of the gang wars that is happening. Leslie Fenton is fantastic as Nathan Nails as a fellow gangster whom Powers and Doyle would befriend as he would get them some connections as well as some influence for them as well as for Paddy Ryan. Joan Blondell is excellent as Doyle’s girlfriend/future wife Mamie who would help and support Doyle at home while also being the one person to give Doyle stability despite his criminal activities.
Jean Harlow is brilliant in a small role as Powers’ second girlfriend Gwen Allen whom he would meet while driving with Doyle and later become someone that loves the lifestyle as well as giving him an idea of a future. Donald Cook is amazing as Powers’ older brother Mike who is a straitlaced man who is not fond of his brother’s criminal activities as well as lying to their mother where he is later forced to realize his own faults and the danger that his brother is in. Edward Woods is great as Powers’ friend Matt Doyle as a man who knows what he wants while is more low-key in his pursuits where he wants to make money to have a good life for himself and Mamie. Finally, there’s James Cagney in a tremendous performance as Tom Powers as this young gangster who likes to live the life of a criminal with all its rewards where Cagney displays charisma in every moment as he brings an energy that is insatiable to watch. Even as he knows he is a flawed man and does not apologize for it while is also someone that any crime boss or friend can count on as it is one of Cagney’s finest performances.
The Public Enemy is a phenomenal film by William A. Wellman that features an iconic performance from James Cagney. Along with its supporting cast, story of ambition and danger, its gripping presentation, and a fun music soundtrack. It is a pre-Code gangster film that is quite daring for its time in its presentation of violence as well as its approach in not glamorizing a world that is dark for its time. In the end, The Public Enemy is a spectacular film by William A. Wellman.
© thevoid99 2025
Produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, and screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell from a story by Wellman and Carson, A Star is Born is the story of a farm girl from North Dakota who goes to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a movie star where she meets an actor whose career is on his way down as he helps her become a star only to see her rise big while he continues to spiral. The film is a romantic drama that explores the different trajectories between two people who meet and fall for each other only for their fates in their professional lives to change drastically. Starring Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, and Owen Moore. A Star is Born is a majestic and rich film from producer David O. Selznick and director William A. Wellman.
The film is the simple story of the rise of a young farm girl who meets a movie star at a dinner party in Hollywood as she would become an actress of her own right while the movie star she meets and marries would endure a fall of his own just as hers is on the rise. It’s a film with a simple premise as it play into the different paths two people endure upon their initial meeting as one dreams of making while the other has made it but has become burned out by stardom. The film’s screenplay, which feature additional contributions from producer David O. Selznick, Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., John Lee Mahin, Budd Schulberg, and Adela Rogers St. Johns, opens with the young woman Esther Victoria Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) coming home from a movie theater in her small North Dakota home having seen a film starring Norman Maine (Fredric March) as she hopes to be an actress in the movies as she is encouraged by her grandmother Lettie (May Robson) to follow her dreams.
While Blodgett struggles to get work, she meets an unemployed assistant director in Danny McGuire (Andy Devine) as they both live in the same boarding house as he would get her a job working as a server at a Hollywood party where she meets Maine properly after she and McGuire saw him days earlier at the Hollywood Bowl drunk. At the party, she and Maine become friends as the latter is impressed by her charms as he believes she can be an actress as he would introduce her to producer Oliver Niles (Adolph Menjou) who sees her potential as he would put her and Maine into a film that would be successful while Blodgett would get a new name in Vicki Lester as she and Maine would later marry. The script has a unique structure with the first act being about Blodgett’s early struggles and her meeting with Maine while the second act is about her rise and her marriage to Maine that also interacts with Maine’s struggle to be sober. The third act is about his fall and attempts to revive his already troubled career as he’s known more as Lester’s husband with Blodgett trying to help him.
William A. Wellman’s direction is largely straightforward in terms of the compositions he creates while it also play into some of the romanticism about the one in hundred thousand chance of someone making it in Hollywood as the film is shot on location in studio lots in Hollywood and locations nearby. With additional yet un-credited direction from Jack Conway, Wellman does maintain this world that is enchanting of what Hollywood is where there are some wide and medium shots to capture the beauty of it but there’s also some realism into what Blodgett has to face. The medium shots also play into the way characters interact as well as the relationship between Blodgett and Maine as there is something special in their growing love for one another. Wellman also maintains that sense of grandeur of the world that is Hollywood but also infuse that realism into its third act as it relates to Maine’s downward spiral as he struggles to stay sober and get his act together only to deal with adversity and disdain with some calling him a has-been. Overall, Wellman crafts a mesmerizing and wondrous film about a woman’s rise to stardom as she also witness her husband’s fall from grace.
Cinematographer W. Howard Greene does brilliant work with the film’s Technicolor cinematography in one of its early usage of the format where it does capture the beauty in some of the colors including the dresses that Blodgett would wear but also the locations that she and Maine would go to as it’s a highlight of the film. Editors James E. Newcom and Anson Stevenson do some excellent work with the film’s editing as it has bits of style in a few transitions while also playing into the frenzy of Blodgett’s rise and the slow burn through some straightforward editing in Maine’s fall. Production designer Lansing C. Holden and art director Lyle R. Wheeler do amazing work with the look of the house where Maine and Blodgett meet as well as some of the places including the small camper they used for their honeymoon.
Costume designer Omar Kiam does fantastic work with the design of the many dresses that Blodgett would wear along with the stylish clothes that the other women would wear in the film. The film’s special effects by Jack Cosgrove is terrific to help play with some of the visuals including a scene involving the camper. Sound recordist Oscar Lagerstrom does superb work with the sound in the way certain objects sound on location including the scene involving the camper and at the Academy Award ceremony where Maine makes a spectacle of himself. The film’s music by Max Steiner is wonderful for its soaring orchestral score that has elements of bombast with its strings and percussions while it also feature themes that are serene and somber to play into the drama.
The casting by Charles Richards is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from J.C. Nugent as Blodgett’s father, Clara Blandick as Blodgett’s aunt, Guinn “Big Boy” Williams as a posture coach, Jonathan Hale as a night court judge, Elizabeth Jenns as a fellow actress/former girlfriend of Maine, Edgar Kennedy as the boarding house landlord Pop Randall, Peggy Wood as a Hollywood secretary in Miss Phillips, and Owen Moore as the film director Casey Burke. Andy Devine is superb as Danny McGuire as an unemployed assistant director who would get Blodgett the job as a server at a party as he would be part of Blodgett’s circle of friends as a way to ground her and to get himself some work. Lionel Stander is fantastic as the press agent Matt Libby as a man who does publicity for the studio while is also someone that isn’t fond of Maine due to his troubles as well as say things that are uncalled for. May Robson is excellent as Blodgett’s grandmother Lettie as a woman who encourages Blodgett to go after her dreams as well as arrive late in the film for a pep talk as well as be someone who is full of spunk and will.
Adolphe Menjou is brilliant as producer Oliver Niles as a man who is a friend of Maine who takes notice of Blodgett’s talents as he is also protective of both of them as well as wanting what is best for both of them. Finally, there’s the duo of Fredric March and Janet Gaynor in sensational performances in their respective roles as Norman Maine and Esther Victoria Blodgett/Vicki Lester. March’s performance as the tormented and troubled Maine showcases a man who had it all as well as a lot of problems as he helps Blodgett become a star but deals with the decline of his career as some of it is attributed to himself. Gaynor’s performance as Blodgett is one of grace and charm but also a woman who is grounded in her humble beginnings as she is happy to be noticed but also wants to protect her husband. March and Gaynor radiate with the chemistry as the capture the sense of joy and tragedy they would endure as well as the idea of stardom as they represent those two different trajectories.
A Star is Born is a remarkable film from William C. Wellman and producer David O. Selznick with great performances from Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Along with top-notch supporting performances from Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Lionel Stander, and Andy Devine as well as a sumptuous music score and gorgeous early usage of the Technicolor film format. The film is definitely a touching and riveting romantic drama that play into a lot of conventional ideas expected of the times but also with an intriguing study of fortunes between two people. In the end, A Star is Born is a marvelous film from William C. Wellman and producer David O. Selznick.
Related: A Star is Born (1954 film) – (A Star is Born (1976 film)) – A Star is Born (2018 film)
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