Little Caesar (1931)

Powerful

How sad is this?

best movie i've ever seen.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the earliest of the gangster films which launched a cottage industry: people pretending to be Cagney or Robinson. Edward G. Robinson made many great movies, but this is the genre he is most remembered for. Here he plays a guy who is bad from the beginning, who immediately got into the hierarchy of the criminal world. His friend Joe wants to be good but Robinson won't leave him alone and eventually drags him down. But he goes to his knees eventually. Unfortunately, he forgets that there is good in the world. He does have one moment of realization, but it's too late. He dies in the gutter which produced him in the first place. Robinson did a fine job and established great career.

Powerful portrait of the rise and fall of a nasty mobster extraordinarily performed by Edward G Robinson . A heinous and villain hoodlum named Rico (Edward G. Robinson) moves from the country to the big town and joins Sam Vettori's gang along with his fellow Joe Massara (Clark Gable was originally considered for the part but Jack L. Warner decided that Gable's ears were too big, and the role went to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. instead) to rise up through the ranks of the city underworld . Soon he becomes the boss of the mobsters and known as Little Caesar, and gets closer to the great gangster Pete Montana (Ralph Ince) and Big Boy (Sidney Blackmer) . The character of Cesare Enrico Bandello is not, as widely believed, based on Al Capone. Instead, he is based on Salvatore "Sam" Cardinella, a violent Chicago gangster who operated in the early years of Prohibition . And the role of Joe Massara was based on actor George Raft, who was associated with Owney Madden, the man who organized the taxi racket in New York City. The movie results to be one of the great mobsters pictures , and an expertly directed film that made Edward G Robinson a superstar . Despite the film's huge success, the book's author, W.R. Burnett, was furious that no actual Italians were cast in the film . Classic gangster movie contains top-notch performances , intense drama , thrills , fast-paced , action , and a shocking final . Magnificent Edward G Robinson in the title role as a snarling and ominous gangster . In one scene, Edward G. Robinson had to fire a pistol while facing the camera , try as he might, he was unable to keep his eyes open each time he pulled the trigger . Producer Hal B. Wallis originally auditioned Edward G. Robinson for the supporting role of Otero -played in the film by George Stone- before deciding he was perfect as Rico . Although The Doorway to Hell(1930), a gangster film released by Warner Bros. in 1930 was a big hit at the time, most sources consider Little Caesar to be the film which started a brief craze for the genre in the early 1930s. The "Forward" that now appears on the beginning of the film was added for the 1954 re-release of Little Caesar and The public enemy (1931) as a combination package.The character Diamond Pete Montana was modeled on Jim Colosimo, who was murdered by Al Capone; and "The Big Boy" was based on corrupt politician William 'Big Bill' Thompson, Mayor of Chicago. The underworld banquet sequence was also based on a real event - a notorious party in honor of two gangsters, Charles Dion O'Bannion and Samuel J. "Nails" Morton, which received unfavorable coverage in the Chicago press. This First National Vitaphone early talking picture was well directed by Mervyn LeRoy and ready for release in December 1930, but Warner's brass felt it was not a Christmas picture , it officially debuted at the Strand Theatre in New York City on 9 January 1931. It ranked #9 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Gangster" in June 2008.

I had seen many clips of this film, and I knew it was a classic gangster movie, it was great to know that it was the first ever to have spoken dialogue, and I was definitely going to see it because it was in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, from director Mervyn LeRoy (Mister Roberts). Basically Caesar Enrico 'Rico' Bandello (Edward G. Robinson) and his friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) are small-time criminals who are seeking their fortunes in Chicago, and while Rico, also nicknamed Little Caesar, joins Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields) and his gang Joe is more interested in becoming a professional dancer, and he gains a partner and girlfriend with Olga Stassoff (Glenda Farrell). Joe tries to get away from the gangster lifestyle and any involvement in their schemes, but he is made to participate in the robbery of the nightclub he works in, along with Rico who was given orders from underworld overlord 'Big Boy' (Sidney Blackmer) not to open fire and create bloodshed, but he kills Crime Commissioner Alvin McClure (Landers Stevens), his shocked friend witnessed it. Gang leader Sam is accused by Rico of being soft, and he is allowed to take control over the crime ring, and with this happening an assassination attempt on him is organised by rival boss 'Little Arnie' Storch (Maurice Black), but it fails and he is only grazed, so they visit him and his gunmen, after the men quickly leave for Detroit, and Rico gains control of Chicago's Northside as well. With Joe gaining a good reputation as a dancer and hardly seeing his former friend, and he is visited by the now gang lord who is concerned he knows a lot, he is told to forget about Olga and return to the life of crime, and he is threatened if he does not accept, he refuses anyway, and following this Olga calls Police Sergeant Flaherty (Thomas E. Jackson) so he can talk. Rico and his henchman Otero (George E. Stone) shortly after the call come round, Rico aims his gun to kill Joe before he can spill about the crime activities, but he cannot bring himself to pull the trigger, and when Otero tries to kill him Rico wrestles to take his gun, and in the scuffle Joe is wounded with a gunshot, this is heard by Flaherty who chases and kill Otero running out. Joe provides the information to the police and Flaherty is determined to bring down Little Caesar and his empire, and knowing that he is a wanted man Rico disappears to a life on the streets, and sometime later he sees the news that he is branded a coward, enraged he foolishly calls the cops to announce he is coming back, and the call is traced, Rico tries to escape but is gunned down and killed behind a billboard by Flaherty, and ironically it has an advertisement poster featuring Olga and Joe. Also starring William Collier Jr. as Tony Passa, Ralph Ince as Diamond Pete Montana and Armand Kaliz as De Voss. Robinson gives a fantastic leading performance, he may not look like the typical kind of character that will climb in the crime world to become the kingpin, but he proves a sly and ruthless criminal and steals every scene, the other cast members such as Fairbanks Jr. and Farrell are good as well. The story is pretty easy to follow, a lowlife crook slowly becomes the most wanted man in the city, based on the real life mobster Al Capone, there is a great script with witty dialogue, and many memorable moments with guns shooting and criminal schemes, and of course the final catchphrase, this is absolutely a must see classic crime drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation. Caesar Enrico Bandello was number 38 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains, and "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" was number 73 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes. Very good!

Little Caesar is an archetypal gangster film from the early 1930s, a early example and it offered a breakout performance for Edward G. Robinson whom distinctive voice has been copied for Chief Wiggam in The Simpsons.Rico (Robinson) and his friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) are two small town hoods who move to the big city to make a name for themselves in the criminal underworld. Rico quickly raises up the ranks, earning the nickname "Little Caesar" and shows a skill for planning heists. Rico overthrows his boss Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields) and becomes one of the leading gangsters in the city. But of course with notoriety he becomes a target of other gangsters and the police, led by Sergeant Flaherty (Thomas E. Jackson), as well as alienated his old friend. g The best aspect of Little Caesar was Robinson, a very talented actor who was able to give his role real menace, someone who is willing to be very ruthless, willing to use violence and has a Machiavellian personality who will do anything to gain power. He is smart but has an ego which is his downfall. Robinson embodied his character, a rags to riches to rags story out a small time thug making it big. It is very much like Scarface in story.Director Mervyn LeRoy was able to some nice camera movements, particularly for the time where the camera was often stasis. He also made a very quick film, it is only 76 minutes and the pacing lightening fast. If anything the film was a little too quick, we do not get to establish how some events happen, like Rico and Joe just going to he big city, easily meet a gangster and then overthrow himself in the first 30 minutes. I would have like to have seen a little more background, a little more detail, like what where these two people like in the small town, what was this small time like, wouldn't they need to prove themselves to a major gangster to show they were worthy and committed to the crew before joining it, what was the internal politics of the crew and that wouldn't there be more of a challenge to Rico becoming the leader seeing he was a nobody a few months ago. LeRoy also uses some text screens to skip over long periods of time instead of showing up. But Little Caesar does everything it wants to put across in its short running time very well and I expect that it was made as a part of a double feature.Whilst Robinson was very good in his role, it was the role that made his career, the rest of the acting is typical of the early 30s, over-the-top with the delivery, very melodramatic and speaking in that 1930s hard boiled way. Still it was the standard of the time and I have seen a lot worst acting in films.Little Caesar is a good film, but it is not a gangster film that we know now. This film is a more a character study and a story how someone could rise to top just so they could fall even further. It is a solid piece of film making for the time.