Little Caesar

After its original theatrical run, WARNER's added to subsequent copies of LITTLE CAESAR a prefilm text scroll decrying the sorts of criminals seen here and in  THE PUBLIC ENEMY  (1931), with Jimmy Cagney.Although Eddie Robinson is great in it, I don't consider this early talkie to be better than the Cagney work. A main problem is co-stars Fairbank Jr. and Farrell. In comparison to Robbie, they come across as stiff amateurs. Really bad delivery of gosh awful dialogue makes one wish their characters were nonexistent. Yet, the picture's most powerful image relates to them.Rico (Robinson) hears that trusted friend Joe (Fairbanks), who quit the gang to dance professionally, will rat on him to the police along with girlfriend Olga (Farrell). He confronts them with pistol drawn and Joe clings to Olga as he urges Rico to pull the trigger. A full screen close-up of Robinson's sweaty face reveals a tortured soul who can't bring himself to murder a pal. This act of loyalty will ultimately cost Little Caesar his life.After a meteoric rise to the top of the crime ladder Rico falls just as quickly into poverty and obscurity. Months after his disappearance, a series of insulting newspaper comments from cop nemesis Sgt. Flaherty (Jackson) causes drunken Rico to threaten him from a flophouse pay phone. This call is traced, officers dispatched and Rico is quickly cornered behind a billboard. When he scorns Flaherty's demands for surrender, Rico is machine-gunned down. Before expiring, we hear his famous lament to no one: "Mother of Mercy! Is this the end of Rico?" The camera zooms back to reveal the billboard's ad is for a smash hit stage show starring Joe and Olga.Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating.(7.4) Little Caesar (1930) Edward G. Robinson/Douglas Fairbanks Jr./Glenda Farrell/Sidney Blackmer/Thomas E. Jackson/Stanley Fields/George E. Stone

Edward G. Robinson became an overnight star with this film as "Rico," better known as Little Caesar. This film also brought Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.to the attention of the American public. Both actors are very good in their roles and do confirm that "crime does not pay!" An early "talkie" fromWarner Brothers that was a major box-office success. Depicts the rise and fall of a notorious gangster. Along with Paul Muni in "Scarface," and James Cagney in "Public Enemy" this is one of the best-known and best-remembered crime films of the early sound-era in the1930's. Thesethree films made each actor an overnight major star. Surprisingly, the films hold up very well and do not only glorify the gangsters portrayed butalso show their cruelties and vicious behavioral natures. Cagney;s "Public Enemy" features the immortal Jean Harlow in an early role while HowardHughes "Scarface" features a young George Raft, a middle-aged Boris Karloff (before "Frankenstein") and a rather large co-starring performance by Osgood Perkins (Anthony Perkin's father). All highly watchable but "Little Caesar"s the most immortal of the lot. Eddie Robinson made "Rico" his very own and the rest as they say, is history!

This blu ray transfer (Warners, copyright 2013) is excellent! You can see the fine grain and a million details (except for crossfades and fade outs which are a bit fuzzy, since those always involved second-generation film back in the thirties). I sincerely doubt you'll ever see a better presentation of this classic. I got so much more out of it as compared to the other dozen or so times I've seen this film.Other reviewers can comment on the film itself. Suffice to say that Little Caesar, Public Enemy, and Scarface (1932) are the Frankenstein, Dracula, and Mummys of the gangster film. You NEED to see them. (The "Public Enemy" blu ray from 2013 is just as good as this.)

This is the FIRST gangster movie ever made and it isby far the best. I love Scarface (old and new), Roaring Twenties, G Men, Petrified Forest, Casablanca, and so on and this movie is easily the best. Made in the 30's, it has you rooting for the bad guy Little Caesar known as Rico, played by Edward G. Robinson in this pivotal movie on the century. Actors like James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, even all the way up to Al Pacino and even Johnny Depp in the newest Public Enemies movie would all fall under Edward G. Robinson's gargantuan shadow of acting talent.Love gangster movies? Love mobs? Love fighting and bad guys and hot gals? Watch this and you will forever be changed. New actors today are great because they know how to mimic actors from the 30's!!!!!!!

Little Caesar is one of the first of the gangster genre movies. The dialogue is tough, and star, Edward G Robinson gives a bravura performance as a small time hood who moves "East, where things break big!" He quickly rises as head of the mob and has it all, only to lose it just as quickly as he gained it. This performance of Edward G Robinson brought him star status, and can be watched and enjoyed again and again.Restoration and clarity of blu Ray is an added treat. If you're wondering, add it to your collection, and own an original classic!

Rico Bandello quickly rises thru the gangster ranks, earning himself the nick-name of Little Caesar. As he sets his sights on the top boss job held by Pete Montana, Rico knows the heat is closing in, fast.Tho not the first gangster picture to hit the big screen, Little Caesar is undeniably one of the genres landmark pictures. Adapted from W.R. Burnett's {High Sierra} Al Capone inspired novel, Little Caesar would go on to influence many of the genre highlights that followed this piece. While in the process typecasting its star and icon, Edward G. Robinson. What is perhaps the first striking thing about viewing the film now is actually just how un-violent it is in context to what would follow it, but it never needs to be because this is not just about a violent rising. With the advent of sound proving to be a winner with depression jaded cinema goers, director Mervyn LeRoy exploits this by utilising the fact that it's set outside of prison walls. The gangster genre by and large up to this point in 1931 consisted of mob characters behind bars, the sight of Rico about town amongst the noisy hustle and bustle surely would have opened the eyes and ears of the paying public.I wasn't around back then so have no on the spot frame of reference, but the professional critics point to many allegories that reside within Little Caesar's structure. Talk of paranoia's and conformity's during economic collapse, which are for sure points of reference for those so inclined to analyse and dissect Caesar as a whole. But to me it's a gangster picture first and foremost, outlaying the rise and fall of a very dubious man with big ideals above his relatively small social standing. Rico has ruthless violence constantly itching to burst out, and definite hints of sexual ambiguity make him a worrying, yet most intriguing character. That it works so well obviously is down to Edward G. Robinson's portrayal, big bulging eyes and snappy slang phrases {this themselves must have really hit a chord with the viewers}, Robinson gives the performance that so many have imitated over the years, probably defining the archetype in the process.It does look a little dated now, but that is surely only natural? But it's a powerful film that rises above merely being a hoodlum piece. Producer Darryl Zanuck wanted something different for this burgeoning genre, and with the might of Warners revelling in the power of the talkie movie, they all crafted one hell of a picture that enthrals as much as it has influenced, things most definitely changed with Little Caesar. 8/10

This really is a must for all fans of the Ganster film. Released in 1931, it launched the career of Edward G. Robinson and set the gold standard for any film in the genre that followed.Telling the story of Rico and his rise from lowly enforcer to crime lord, building a reputation for psychotic violence along the way, it is both a fascinating character study and a tense and exciting thriller. Edward G. Robinson is well cast as Rico, even though the character is about as far from his own personality as it was possible to get. Despite his diminutive stature he is menacing, managing to chill you to the marrow with just a scowl. He shows both the intelligent, cold calculating side and the unfettered violent side of the character with equal facility, and makes Rico a believable construct.As well as Robinson, there is a fine turn from Douglas Fairbanks Jr as his old friend who gets drawn into Rico's schemes and crimes, despite a desperate wish to go straight. It is a good performance that really shows the anguish of the character.This is a tightly directed thriller, fast paced and exciting (by the standards of the time). What really makes it is some well written, well delivered pacey and hardnosed dialogue. It is hard to believe that this was made in the earliest years of the talkies, when film makers were still working out how best to make use of the new medium.The DVD transfer is pretty good, especially for a film of this age. The sound is similarly in good condition. An all round excellent release for this excellent film. Recommended to all fans of hard boiled gangster films.

"Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" must rank as one of the most memorable last lines ever spoken in a movie, along with "I steal" and "Made it Ma, top of the world!". All three from Warner Bros. classics.Edward G Robinson's "Little Caesar" isn't a great film, as the commentary states, but Robinson commands the screen, and the viewer's attention throughout. Some of the gangsters' moves and mannerisms might seem a bit farcical to a modern audience, but the skill with which Warners' turned out these monochrome gems is undeniable.Good support from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Little Caesar is a great film, the violence is mild but it depicts the rise and fall of a wannabe gangster excellent performance by Edward G Robinson, highly recommended.

The story-line is simple. A small-time ganster, street-smart,ambitious and who by sheer guts becomes the top boss. A very simple story with universal appeal narrated in a very simple way.What makes this film very watchable is the role of little Caesar played by Edward G. Robinson. You will forget many mafia characters you have seen on the screen in the seventies and eighties. This one is the original. A quintessential gangster indeed!!Just enjoy his mannerisms and tough talks.