and played his first major acting role in 1925. Al Jolson was sufficiently impressed by his performance in 1929's Penny Arcade that he bought the rights to it, securing Cagney's part in the Warner Bros. adaptation of the play. This marked the beginning of a lengthy, albeit turbulent association with the studio.

Cagney's fifth film, The Public Enemy, became one of the most influential gangster movies of the period. He became one of Hollywood's leading stars and one