Little Caesar

You tell him the cops couldn't get me no other way, so they hired a couple of gunmen.

Rico Bandello quickly rises through 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.

Though 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, 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...

Edward G. Robinson is great in this early gangster talkie. He is "Rico", a clever and ambitious petty thief who decides it's time to move to the big city. Initially, he goes to work for "Sam Vettori" (Stanley Fields) but not long after, the local Crime Commissioner "McClure" is assassinated. Luckily, his buddy "Joe Massara" (Douglas Fairbanks Jr") is working at that self same club, and manages to warn "Rico" ahead of the subsequent police crackdown. It is now that he starts to smell an opportunity. First his boss, then the bigger boss "Pete Montana" (Ralph Ince) are toppled. Even his pal "Joe" and his gal "Olga" (Glenda Farrell) are not immune from his increasingly megalomanic tendencies. The thing I didn't especially like about this film i...