“Almost eighty years after the picture was made, that grapefruit half smashing into Mae Clarke’s face still makes most of us wince.”

A great post by The Siren about Mae Clarke and that grapefruit scene in The Public Enemy.

The still you always see of Cagney smushing the grapefruit into Clarke’s face – the one that is usually used to represent the scene – has a static quality to it (obviously – it’s a still) – it looks almost posed – and cannot convey the nastiness, contempt and sudden violence that his gesture has in it.

I’d rather someone slap me than do what he does with that grapefruit. Amazing moment – and fascinating backstory about it over at The Siren’s (follow the links.)