Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Logan Dodd There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

alexanderdavies-99382 "Little Caesar" marked the beginning of a new chapter for "Warner Bros." Released in 1931 but filmed in 1930, the film made a big star of theatre actor Edward G. Robinson and launched the studio onto a run of gangster films that dominated the decade. In addition, many a classic film from "Warner Bros." would be made from the early 30s until the late 40s and featuring some of the biggest stars and actors in Hollywood history. Edward G. Robinson plays a hoodlum who has plans to work his way up the ladder in organised crime and to become a crime lord. He succeeds in achieving just that but at a considerable price..... "Little Caesar" has many great scenes and some good dialogue and Robinson gets the best lines. His is the best performance in this film, he oozes menace in every scene. I was hoping that the film would have included more action and to carry more of a gritty edge in the screenplay. Also, the film is looking its age but in all fairness, films of this decade tend to. The film does a fine job of showing Little Caesar's eventual decline after his main weakness gets the better of him: Caesar's vanity. The final scene had to be slightly re-written after some influential religious groups voiced their displeasure of the Lord's name being taken in vain.

Hitchcoc 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.

vincentlynch-moonoi I think anyone who enjoys classic films has heard of this film. And, probably has seen the scene where Robinson says, "Is this the end of Rico?" But I had always avoided the film because I am no fan of gangster movies (or for that matter Hollywood's other obsession of the 1930s -- the lives of rich people). But, I also enjoy Edward G. Robinson, so I make occasional exceptions for his gangster films. My most basic conclusion is that while this is a very good gangster film, it's not a 4 star film, as TCM classes it.I always had the idea this was Edward G. Robinson's first film, which it's not. But it certainly was his breakthrough performance. I wouldn't quite class it as a truly great performance, but Robinson sure does strut his stuff.I won't praise any of the supporting actors because they seem very stereotypical, although the writers and director do develop some of the characters to a depth that was not typical in 1931 (particularly in regard to ethnicity).Warner Brothers obviously some money into this film. The sets are quite impressive.The question has come up many times regarding whether or not there are gay overtones to this film. It's subtle. Would I have noticed it without reading about it...perhaps not. But, once I was looking for it, it was obviously there.Better than the average gangster pic? Absolutely. Great acting by Robinson? Well, memorable, at least. It put Robinson on the map, so I'm grateful for that. Recommended for film history buffs and those who like gangster films.

Scott LeBrun Edward G. Robinson may not have been a real pretty boy or large in stature but he made up for that in a big way by having a memorable mug and a very large presence on screen. When he's talking, you want to listen. Here he takes a juicy part and runs with it, in this prime example of tough and gritty Warner Bros. crime melodramas. Robinson plays Caesar Enrico Bandello - otherwise known as "Rico" - a small time thug who lusts for the power that befits the crime kingpins of the city. He works his way into the mob by offering his services to mobster Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields). Soon, his influence is growing stronger and stronger until Vettoris' underlings are taking orders from him instead of their original boss. He rises to a high enough position that he becomes a popular figure in the media, and comes to enjoy all the trappings of his status. Naturally, after such a rise there must inevitably come a fall, as Rico finds things eventually unravelling; his main Achilles heel is his affection for childhood friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), even though he comes to consider Joe a personal liability. Joe has his own problem: he doesn't really want the thug life, and tries to leave it behind and follow his true passion of being a dancer. Director Mervyn LeRoy keeps the action moving right along; one key robbery / murder set piece is particularly well edited. The cinematography is moody and stylish, and the story, based on a novel by W.R. Burnett (and inspired by a real-life Chicago gangster named Salvatore "Sam" Cardinella), is overall familiar but fundamentally well told. The supporting cast also includes feisty Glenda Farrell as Olga, Joes' love interest, William Collier Jr. as regretful mob flunky Tony, who has a change of heart and tries to go straight, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Ince, and Maurice Black as various mafiosi, and the highly amusing Thomas E. Jackson as Ricos' police detective nemesis. Clocking in at a trim 79 minutes, "Little Caesar" is often credited, along with "The Public Enemy", as successfully kick starting the crime drama craze of the 1930s, and holds up well today as a very solid and believable little film that remains riveting throughout, all the way to its resolution with a stunned Rico wondering how things could have ended up the way they did. 10 out of 10.