Little Caesar (1931)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.4/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Escritores:

W.R. Burnett (novel)
Robert N. Lee (continuity)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

28 agosto 1931 (France)

Género:

Crimen | Drama

Plot:

The ambitious criminal Rico (Edward G. Robinson) moves from the country to the big city in the east...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Robbery | Gangster | Mafia | Ruthlessness

Premios:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Comentarios de los usuarios:

The Rise and Fall of Cesar Enrico Bandello

Reparto

Edward G. Robinson	...	Little Caesar / 'Rico'
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Joe Massara
Glenda Farrell	...	Olga Stassoff
William Collier Jr.	...	Tony Passa
Sidney Blackmer	...	Big Boy
Ralph Ince	...	Pete Montana
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Sergeant Flaherty (as Thomas Jackson)
Stanley Fields	...	Sam Vettori
Maurice Black	...	Little Arnie Lorch
George E. Stone	...	Otero
Armand Kaliz	...	De Voss
Nicholas Bela	...	Ritz Colonna (as Nick Bela)

También conocida como:

Hampa dorada (Spain) [es]

Duración:

79 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Vitaphone (Western Electric Sound System)

Clasificación:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Sweden:15 (cut) (1976) | Australia:PG | Sweden:(Banned) | Germany:12

Compañía:

First National Pictures

Trivialidades:

There were two versions of Rico's final words filmed, "Mother of God, is this the end of Rico?" and "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" Although "Mother of God" was taken directly from W.R. Burnett's novel, it was decided the line was potentially blasphemous coming from a murderous gangster and "mother of mercy" was used instead.

Errores:

Continuidad: In the diner scene, Rico jumps from reading the newspaper to eating his spaghetti between shots.

Citas:

[last lines]
Caesar Enrico Bandello: Mother of Mercy! Is this the end of Rico?

Conexiones de Película:

Spoofed in "Archie's Fun House: Really Big Caesar/Acrobats (#1.16)" (????)

The Rise and Fall of Cesar Enrico Bandello

LITTLE CAESAR (First National Pictures, 1930, released early January 1931), directed by Mervyn LeRoy, from the novel by W.R. Burnett, is not a movie dealing with the history of the pizza franchise, but a pioneer gangster drama about the rise and fall of an underworld thug who rises from the gutter to the leadership of a powerful gang.

One of the few movies released during the early sound era to still hold interest today, the true success of LITTLE CAESAR is the casting of Edward G. Robinson in the title role, though referred to on many occasions in the story as Rico, or Cesar Enrico Bandello, rather than to the title character, though called Little Caesar only a few times, first by the crime boss, Sam Vetorri (by Stanley Fields); once by Rico's pal, Joe Masarra (as acted by the very young Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), and afterwards several times by a flop house resident while each is reading about Rico in a newspaper; and one final time by Little Caesar (Robinson) himself before the conclusion of the story. However, Robinson, a fine actor with the "bulldog" face, may seem to appear to be an unlikely leading man, but is an exceptional performer when it comes to playing gangsters. LITTLE CAESAR is not the first gangster movie ever made, nor the first of this type from Warner Brothers/First National Pictures. In fact, it's not actually Robinson's introduction to this genre. He had played gangsters on screen before. But it was LITTLE CAESAR that established the career of Robinson and the popularity of the gangster film that has, up to this time, surpassed all previous efforts, until THE PUBLIC ENEMY came around later in 1931, making an overnight sensation out of another resident actor waiting to get recognized, James Cagney. THE PUBLIC ENEMY relatively belongs to Cagney as LITTLE CAESAR belongs to Robinson, for that each film brought them the recognition they deserved. The popularity in both these films prompted the studio to reissued them on a double bill in later years, with an added forward listed in both of them which reads: "Perhaps the toughest of the gangster films, LITTLE CAESAR and THE PUBLIC ENEMY had a great effect on public opinion. They brought home violently the evils and associate with prohibition and suggested that necessity of the nationwide of house-cleaning. Tom Powers in THE PUBLIC ENEMY and Rico in LITTLE CAESAR are not two men or are they nearly characters. They are a problem that sooner or later, we, the public, must solve."

With a fine cast of supporting actors, ranging from gang members to crime bosses to police commissioners, include Stanley Fields as Sam Vetorri, gang boss who keeps his office at the Club Palermo; Armand Kaliz as DeVoss; George E. Stone as Otero; Sidney Blackmer as "Big Boy"; Ralph Ince as Diamond Pete Montana; Maurice Black as Little Arnie Lorch; and Noel Madison as Peppi. Look fast for character actress Lucille LaVerne, appearing without screen credit, acting in a small role as "Ma" Magdalena, an tough old hag of a woman (plus a minor touch of an Italian accent), who turns out to be the only character in the story to betray Rico, stand up to him, and get away with it. While virtually a cameo, LaVerne, who specialized in playing old hags in motion pictures from the silent days in ORPHANS OF THE STORM (1921) to literary classics in the sound era in A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935), and concluding her career in voicing the character of the wicked witch in Disney's animated fairy tale, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937), makes a memorable impression. And speaking of memorable impression, top acting honors also goes to Thomas E. Jackson as Inspector Tom Flaherty. His distinctive snarling or nasal-tone voice supplying funny one liners ("Why didn't you come to Sam's neck stretching party, Rico? It was a BIG success!") add to the greatness of LITTLE CAESAR. In spite of some unintentional amusements, it's virtually a straight drama about crooked thugs.

Aside from Robinson's memorable performance and his occasional repeated catch phrase, "You can dish it out, but you can't take it," LITTLE CAESAR is full of classic scenes: Rico's introduction to "the boys" with interesting use of camera angles; the New Year's Eve robbery of a Bronze Peacock Night Club where Rico's best pal, Joe Massara (Fairbanks) works as a dancer, and selected as a lookout for the gang by standing by the cigarette counter at the stroke of midnight; Rico's termination of a cowardly Tony Passa (William Collier Jr.) in front of the church steps after wanting to break from the gang and to seek help from his parish priest, Father McNeil; Rico's near machine-gun assassination attempt by a rival gang ordered by leader Little Arnie Lorch (Maurice Black) after purchasing a bundle of newspapers headlining his honorary banquet event; Rico's confrontation with Joe for betraying him for the sake of a woman, Olga (Farrell), only to find he is unable to gun them both; Rico's reaching bottom by sleeping in a flop house in the appearance of looking dirty, teary eyed and in need of a shave; Rico eluding his capture by Flaherty; and the climatic moment concluding with one the most famous lines in movie history, "Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?"

LITTLE CAESAR has all the elements of successful gangster story. Unlike its rival, THE PUBLIC ENEMY, Rico is ambitious and power hungry from the start, not a cold-blooded killer as Cagney's Tom Powers. Rico, or Little Caesar, kills only those who betray him or stand in his way, not for the pleasure of it. While portions of the movie might appear handicapped to contemporary viewers, particularly with the use by early sound technology, such as the echos of spoken dialogue between the two main characters (Robinson and Fairbanks) in a diner, and other characters in an office or police station; as well as some vintage orchestral underscoring (as conducted by Erno Rapee) commonly heard in early talkies; and the lack of the sight of blood following the shooting of intended victims; but the real topper happens to be Glenda Farrell's little girl sounding voice as she shouts, "Happy New Year" to Joe. In spite the fact that present day film historians claim Glenda Farrell to be miscast as Olga, LITTLE CAESAR was her initial starting point in motion pictures, and while unfamiliar to many at the time of this film's release, it would be hard to determine what best suited her on screen. Granted, had Farrell performed this particular role of Olga years after establishing herself as wise-cracking reporters (such as in 1933's THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM); or money-hungry gold digger vamping her "sugar daddy"; sharp-tongue secretaries, or as a newsgal named Torchy Blane who solves murders and getting her name in the byline, then she would have been ranked as playing against type. But as it stands, LITTLE CAESAR marked the beginning of Glenda Farrell's long association in motion pictures. Never a top rank star, she would become a familar face in years to follow. Her brief dancing segment opposite Joe Masarra to the underscoring of "If I'm Dreaming, Don't Wake Me Too Soon" (from the 1929 motion picture musical, SALLY, starring Marilyn Miller) is performed in long shot camera range. It's possible that doubles were used in place of Fairbanks and Farrell, considering that these actors weren't ever associated with dancing, in fact, appear unlikely to play professional dancers.

Edward G. Robinson probably thought of LITTLE CAESAR as being another movie assignment for him at the time, but what he or those behind the camera didn't realize is what they were to accomplished. The continued success to LITTLE CAESAR and Edward G. Robinson, which began playing on commercial television during the late night or mid-afternoon hours for several decades before reaching cable, such as Turner Classic Movies where it can be seen quite regularly, relies on its frequent revivals (often double featured with THE PUBLIC ENEMY) to become part of cinema history. Also available for viewing on video cassette and later DVD, LITTLE CAESAR has even aired on TCM as part of it's weekly showcase, "The Essentials," establishing this vintage gangster drama as an immortal classic that appears to have stood the test of time.