Little Caesar is one of the biggest landmarks in the history of the gangster film and helped usher in this genre as a force to be reckoned with. It also helped define what the style of Warner Brothers and what set it apart from many of the other movie studios of that time. The film also made Edward G, Robinson a major movie star. It is also simply a great movie.
The storyline follows small time hoods Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello (Edward G. Robinson) and Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) as they move to Chicago in hopes of finding great success. Rico aspires to become a big name criminal and a powerful man, while his friend Joe aspires to become a dancer. Yet Rico drags Joe into the gangster world.
As well as being a gangster movie, this film also serves as both a character study and a look at society. This is a film that takes a look at how such a monster as Rico is created. This picture was made during the great depression and though the depression is not mentioned a lot, it can be felt in nearly every scene. However it is especially seen during the opening scene. We see two men who are not very well off, dreaming of what they would do with money and power. This is something that everyone at the time could relate to and something that may have in many ways hit too close for home. This film shows how the more power Ricco gets the more power he craves. We also see how he becomes completely overcome by his own ego. In a time period when so many people simply dreamed to make good, Ricco takes this mentality to its unhealthy extreme. Despite the fact that it puts him in danger and makes him an easy target he wants to have his picture and name in the paper. He wants to show a world that has been indifferent or hostile to him that he has become somebody important. All this makes it so even though this character is a terrible person, he is still someone who we can relate to and understand.
Yet beyond just being a great character study, this is also a very entertaining movie. The shootout scenes are very exciting and well made (the wonderful use of lighting and staging helping out perfectly). These scenes truly do put you on the edge of your seat. In fact there is a good sense of suspense for much of the film. The dialogue is simply wonderful. This is another one of those films from the 1930's or 40's, that have the great dialogue that we don't get anywhere near as often today. Also at only 79 minutes, this movie speeds by and seems to end as soon as it begins. Yet it never feels rushed or like anything is missing.
Despite this film cementing Robinson's image as the ultimate movie gangster, his co-workers recalled him being anything but what he appeared like on screen. He was a complete gentleman, who treated everyone with respect and had a real love of the fine arts (especially painting (which he did as a hobby)). One of the differences between him and his screen character though caused a little bit of trouble. He was truly gun-shy and did not like the sound of gun's going off. Director, Mervyn LeRoy, recalled "Every time he squeezed the trigger, he would screw up his eyes. Take after take, he would do the same thing. In the end, we had to tape up his eyelids to make sure it wouldn't show." Watching this film it is very easy to understand why Robinson would soon become best known for playing these roles. All these years later there is still no one who played a gangster quite like Edward G. Robinson does. Rico is not in anyway a character who should garner any emotional connection from us. After all there is little about him that is in any way traditionally likable. Yet Robison commands our attention every time he is on screen (he may not have looked like your average movie star, but he certainly has the presence of one, even this early in his career). He also makes this character into a perfect combination of pure viciousness and human vulnerability. This vulnerability is not always seen but whenever it is shown, it is incredibly effective. The result is a character that is incredibly intimidating and would be very frightening to meet in real life, while also being a character that feels completely real and human. It is this combination that makes not only this character but other gangsters, Robinson would play, so intensely memorable and something that truly made him stand out as possibly the finest movie gangster. Despite how perfect Robinson is in the main role, producer Hal Wallis originally had him for the supporting character Otero (who ended up being played by George E. Stone). However Wallis soon became convinced that Robison would be perfect for the lead role instead.
Before Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was set to play Joe, Mervyn LeRoy wanted Clark Gable to play the role and a test was even shot. Production head Daryl F. Zanuck immediately turned down the actor. LeRoy would later recall Zanuck saying, " You've just thrown away five hundred bucks on a test. Didn't you see the size of that guy's ears?" As much as all of us known that Gable was a truly great actor, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. proved to be a fine choice to play the character and he had wonderful chemistry with Edward G. Robinson. Joe's love interest was played by Glenda Farrell. Though Farrell may not be as talked about as she should be, she had a wonderful movie career that included such films as Three on a Match (1932), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Lady for a Day (1933), Heat Lightning (1934), Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), Go into Your Dance (1935), Johnny Eager (1941), The Talk of the Town (1942), Kissin' Cousins (1964) and The Disorderly Orderly (1964). She also played the reporter character Torchy Blaine in a series of films. This character is said to have been a major inspiration for DC Comics' Lois Lane.
Mervyn LeRoy was never a director who had his own distinct style, but he truly turned out some incredible movies over his long career. These movies could range from gangster films to musicals to costume dramas to war movies to Joe E. Brown comedies. Just some of his wonderful films include Five Star Final (1931), Local Boy Makes Good (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Anthony Adverse (1936), Random Harvest (1942), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1945), The Bad Seed (1956), The FBI Story (1959) and Gypsy (1962).
This movie was a success at the box office and helped lead to many more gangster films both from Warner Brother and Edward G. Robinson. The film was even nominated for an Oscar for its screenplay (by Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee). It is also a film that still stands today as a great movie and a delight for all fans of old movies.
Resources Used
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider
https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81511/little-caesar#articles-reviews?articleId=23978
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