MovieChat Forums > The Public Enemy (1931) Discussion > Putty Noses' dirty song

Putty Noses' dirty song

posted 18 years ago by bgh48
9 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone supply the song -- complete with the, uh, ending that the unfortunate Putty couldn't sing anymore? Also, was Putty Nose supposed to be some kind of Fagin, leading young boys astray? Tom and Matt say to him he taught them to lie, cheat, steal and kill. But I thought Tom was sort of a bad seed to begin with (and Matt a lower level thug, not the sociopath Cagney is) I love the little touches that Wellman puts in -- a black cat crossing Putty Noses path...Great classic film!

[–] thefiend99 18 years ago

"Tell me how long do I have to wait--can I get you now, or must I hesitate? Lizzie Jones, big and fat, slipped on the ice and broke her hat...." At that point, Tom shot Putty Nose...

That's all there is to it.

"Listen to them, children of the night. What music they make!" -- Dracula (1931)

[–] bgh48 18 years ago

Thank you! I guess the director had to put in "hat", otherwise the Legion of Decency (did they operate in 1931?) would have condemned the song ending in "and broke her..." and then let their own minds (and the audience) fill in what the real word was!!

[–] thefiend99 18 years ago

LOL...very true.

"Listen to them, children of the night. What music they make!" -- Dracula (1931)

[–] mlraymond 18 years ago

I think the Thirties audience would have been expecting to hear the word "pratt", which was common then as a synonym for the rump. The word "prattfall", meaning a comic fall taken deliberately to get a laugh, derives from this.

How the word "pratt" came to be used this way is something I don't know. It's possible that there might have been a vaudeville comedian named Pratt, who specialized in those sorts of comical falls, and lent his name to that part of the anatomy as a result. Anyone know?

And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him

[–] bgh48 18 years ago

mlraymond, that's fascinating information; I never knew the origin of pratfall. But, er, I still maybe think the forbidden word wasn't "pratt"!

[–] Altho73 18 years ago

I though it started with a t.

[–] astromuse24 15 years ago

from dictionary.com:

Word Origin & History

pratfall
1939, from prat "buttocks" (1567), originally criminals' slang, of unknown origin. Prat in British slang sense of "dolt, fool" is recorded from 1968.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

also:

pratfall
–noun
1. a fall in which one lands on the buttocks, often regarded as comical or humiliating.
2. a humiliating blunder or defeat.
Origin:
1935–40; prat + fall
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

[–] exileonmainst85 18 years ago

The song he sings is called, "HESITATION BLUES" and it can be found on HOT TUNA's first album which is known as accoustic Hot Tuna. It's the first song on the album.

[–] DoctorStrangelove 18 years ago

Putty was described as a "Fagin" by Paddy Ryan at one point.

Last seen:
1776 - 9/10