Little Caesar (1931)

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., William Collier Jr., Thomas E. Jackson, Ralph Ince, Glenda Farrell, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Black, George E. Stone, Stanley Fields.

First of the major pre-Code gangster pictures turned Robinson into an overnight star (after spending many years “paying his dues” in both film and theater) with a plum role that fit him perfectly: Caesar Enrico Bandello, who goes by “Rico” and is nicknamed “Little Caesar.” He’s a small-time hood knocking over gas stations and the like when he decides to aim for the big time, and gets there “like a sky rocket from the gutter”…though all rockets must plummet back to Earth eventually. Familiar genre staples and plot beats were done better in other 30s gangster pics, and not many in the supporting cast leave much of an impression, but it’s still a supremely entertaining show and Robinson couldn’t be better in it. Static presentation, as was common in the early years of talkies, but LeRoy manages a few moments of volcanic impression. Based on William R. Burnett’s same-named novel.

79/100