This Flash movie requires a newer version of the Flash plug-in. Please upgrade your Flash plug-in by visiting www.macromedia.com
Brief Synopsis
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
[+]
Read full synopsis
[x]
Close full synopsis
Synopsis
Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, two tough young kids growing up poor in Chicago, work for Putty Nose, a fence. He sets up a robbery deal for them, promising to get them out of trouble if anything goes wrong, but when they bungle the job he abandons them. During Prohibition, they find a new ally, Paddy Ryan, who sets them up in the illegal brewery business. When Mike, Tom's older brother returns from World War I, he berates Tom for his dealings with gangsters and Tom angrily leaves home. The gang's big boss, Nails Nathan, uses Tom and Matt to pressure the local speakeasies, which are caught between rival gangs, into using only the beer that they sell. Tom grows into a ruthless gangster. One day he takes out his frustrations on his girl Kitty, shoving a grapefruit in her face and dumping her in favor of glamorous Texan Gwen Allen. Later, celebrating in an expensive night club, Tom spots their old pal Putty Nose. Tom and Matt follow him to his apartment, where Tom kills him. When Nails dies after a fall from a horse, his death precipitates a gang war. Paddy sends the gang into hiding, but Tom refuses to stay. He and Matt are ambushed by the rival gang as they leave, and Matt is killed in the shootout. Tom vows revenge and single-handedly takes on his rivals. He kills several, but he is wounded himself and collapses outside in the pouring rain. He survives, but the gang kidnaps him from the hospital and delivers his bandage-wrapped dead body to the door of his mother's house.
Jay Higgins
The Public Enemy (1931)
This is the film that made James Cagney a star and also is the film with classic scene of him ...
More>>
Steve Paul
A Film For The Ages!
Cagney and Wild Bill Wellman give us an unforgettable movie because of it's unforgettable scenes; the grapefruit scene (kudo's to ...
More>>
TCM UK
| 
TCM Spain
| 
TCM France
| TCM Latin America
| TCM Asia
| TCM Germany
Tcm.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network.
