Public Enemy influence on Sopranos Influence of The Public Enemy (1931) on The Sopranos

Essay: Public Enemy influence on Sopranos Influence of The Public Enemy (1931) on The Sopranos David Chase's influence by William Wellman's classic gangster film extends beyond specific details to the ambiguous overall intention of the work. Specific episodes pay explicit homage. In the most dramatic reference, when Livia dies Tony watches that film on TV. Obviously, Junior's pie in his mistress's face (I, 9) echoes Tom Powers' (James Cagney) grapefruit in his Kitty's (Mae Clark). But where …

…Bucco's characteristic anger and impotence. Of course, nothing in The Sopranos requires a detailed knowledge of Public Enemy. However, the pointed allusions to the film invite this fuller consideration both of Wellman's construction and of the myriad ways it deepens David Chase's work. Certainly the older film's general claim to present not an individual psychotic but a social problem that "society" needs to address equally applies to the charming but culpable Tony and his crew.