In the early 1930s, the gangster film enjoyed center stage in Hollywood. The fame of the genre reflected a real-life spike in crime, as America was in the midst of the Great Depression. A broken economy and collapsed financial system pushed market exchanges underground, engendering a thriving mob and gang culture. Many gangster films, replete with theatrical scenes of violence, dramatized America's latest criminal fad. However, other films attempted to analyze the gangster from a psychological or sociological standpoint, offering explanations and solutions. The Public Enemy falls into the latter category, representing a shift in the depiction of the gangster. Prior to the release of The Public Enemy, a majority of crime films painted gangsters as inexplicable sources of immorality and vice. However, The Public Enemy offers a unique presentation of crime life, emphasizing the economic and social environment of gangsters, and controversially allowing the audience to both identify and empathize with America's most dangerous criminals.

This article, published in Prohibition in the United States, focuses on multiple failures of the Prohibition movement. It offers historical background that contextualizes the time period of The Public Enemy, explaining the rationale behind Prohibition, in addition to its connection to organized crime.

 

The article mentions that in the months immediately following Prohibition, alcohol consumption in the United States decreased. Yet, demand for beer and liquor soon skyrocketed, and people began clamoring for illegal sources of alcohol. The article explains that new criminal networks were quickly erected to satisfy this increasing demand. For instance, Chicago gangster Al Capone was one of many mob leaders who capitalized on this particular black market, ‘bootlegging’ alcohol to sell to the masses. The widespread activities of Capone’s gang would not have been financially viable without the group’s involvement in illicit alcohol sales. In general, Prohibition is credited with bringing previously marginalized gangs in touch with life in main stream America. As a result of Prohibition, various gangs in urban areas, particularly in cities such as Chicago or New York, rose to prominence, and their names entered the everyday vernacular.

 

This piece is an important reference for my paper. It offers an objective historical explanation as to why Prohibition allowed gang life in America to thrive. The Public Enemy acts as a microcosm of this change. When Tom Powers and Matt Doyle were children in the pre-Prohibition era, their crimes were petty and seemingly random. However, after Prohibition was passed, gangs took on a more central role in the film. Powers and Doyle were granted important roles in organized crime. Procuring illegal alcohol endowed gangs – and the boys – with a sense of purpose.

 

Essentially, Prohibition was a drastic social change that thrust Americans into a life of crime. This document, by exhibiting a direct correlation between Prohibition and an increase in crime, reveals changes in America’s social environment that bear responsibility for the boys’ decision to join a gang.

Salisbury, Harrison E. "Youth Gang Members Tell of Lives, Hates and Fears; City's 'Shook-Up' Youth: Their Lives are Found Lacking in the Basic Securities." New York Times 25 March 1958: 1.

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This article, one of a seven-part series written in the midst of gang-related turmoil in New York and Los Angeles in the 1950's, examines the conditions that lead to street gang formation and the deterioration of the neighborhoods they control. First is the case of 17-year-old Vincent, the immigrant Puerto Rican leader of one of New York's street gangs. He explains that his primary motivation for involvement, like many others his age, is safety and security. The members of Vincent's gang are highly distrustful of those outside of the gang, relying instead on only those companions who have proven their loyalty. Vincent also claims that Puerto Ricans and other non-natives are subject to unfair treatment at the hands of their so-called protectors: the police. The local police are no more welcoming of the Puerto Rican presence than the local natives, and with even a minor smudge on one's record, a decent job and a fair living become almost entirely out of reach. Vincent himself was prevented from graduating high school by a false conviction from the police. The article also uses the case study of Tommy, another gang leader, who sees the Army as the only guaranteed way of escaping the dangerous neighborhoods where the gangs reign. He explains that gangs are places where his presence is not only valued but respected--in stark contrast to places like school, where he is struggling to succeed, and home, where instability and deprivation are ever-present.

The racism found even within the police force can be seen in West Side Story. Lieutenant Schrank's biased treatment of the gangs shows clear preference for the white Jets. He not only lets them get away with more trouble, but he agrees with them that the Sharks are encroaching on the Jets' territory. He is not entirely respectful or fair to either group, but he saves the majority of his abuse for the Puerto Ricans. In the article, Tommy mentions his dislike of school, although it is one of the few places in the neighborhood that has been declared "neutral territory." The situation is the same in the film--the high school (where the dance is held) is the exclusive turf of neither gang since they have no choice but to coexist on its grounds. The gang members need for security is understandable, as they are always at risk of attack at the hands of the rival gang. The opening scene of West Side Story illustrates this well--the power switches hands numerous times depending on which group's members outnumber the other's. The members almost always travel in groups of two, three, or more, as the most precarious situation one can be caught in is being alone and cornered by the rival gang, as happens to Baby John, who narrowly escapes.