this be the film that make jimmy cagney a star and and along with little caesar and scarface ( with paul muni and not the modern ultra violent version ) and make the gangster genre king at warner brother in the 1930s . and and while there be so many more similar film after it and very and very few come close to it in style and impact and story . in fact and it cagney best gangster film other than white heat ( his tour de force and film noir classic from 1949 ) . a lot of the reason it such a great film be that since it be a new style film and it doesn not seem clichéd or derivative . plus and it take a strong and unflinching tone that never would have be possible under the stricter guideline of the hay office only a few short year later . instead of just tell you that cagney be a heartless jerk or show him do some sanitized violence and he be a cruel man who be vile enough to slam a half a grapefruit in his girlfriend face just because he bore with their relationship . and and he become a top gangster by be an enforcer slugging and stealing and kill his way through organize crime . and and in the very end and the film end with the best final scene in gangster history ( except and once again for white heat and it amazing finale ) . you can see why this film make cagney a star a great film in every way .