Preceded by short:King for a Day (Roy Mack, U.S., 1934). The first half of this short "race" film starring the legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson is filled with stereotypes of gambling-addicted African Americans. However, this film provides a display of Robinson's tap dancing recorded at the peak of his long career.-Patrick Loughney. Preserved from original negative. With Bill Robinson, Dusty Fletcher. (c. 20 mins, B&W, 35mm, Courtesy LC, permission Warner Bros.)In the film that made Cagney a star, William Wellman's genre classic chronicles "Public Enemy" Tom Powers's rise from slum kid to adolescent hood and finally to big-time bootlegger. The prologue deplored society's glorification of the gangster, but Powers's cocky arrogance and callous violence fascinated audiences. His ruthless pursuit of eminence, unrestrained by law and order, was after all another version (albeit corrupt) of the American success story. Socially irredeemable, Powers earned his title, just as viciously shooting a man as a horse, brutally smashing a grapefruit in a woman's face, strong-arming beer hall owners, and even disappointing his mother. Public Enemy was unusual among gangster films in its detailing of immigrant family life and urban environment, and its depiction of a life of crime as a reaction to Depression society with few opportunities for (lawful) success.-Kathy GeritzPreserved from original negative.