Review of Little Caesar (1931) by Gerardo R — 03 Mar 2012

A film that needs to be seen and compared to its 1930 contemporaries. As such, this is the original classic gangster movie. Little Caesar was supposed to be released in 1930, but the producers decided to wait until after New Year's because the release would be too close to Christmas time (how times have changed). Thanks to Little Caesar you get the narrative of a muscle man in a gang climbing the ladder and thanks to The Public Enemy you get the charismatic and brutal gangster member.

Edward G. Robinson delivers some great lines. His supporting cast is not on the same level as him but when you watch it more than once, you can appreciate the deliveries of all the actors and the direction from the director. Little Caesar is not as engaging for some today because Caesar is a one dimensional character in a sense. He has only one motivation which you learn at the beginning and leads to the classic ending, but it is impressive to study how his one main characteristic of egocentric delusion develops throughout the film. Some have mentioned that there appears to be a gay subtext, but that is debatable. Even the original author of the novel felt that the subtext was present, but I think that the characters were simply trying to imitate the effeminate manners of high class society as Caesar moves up the ladder. Little Caesar and The Public Enemy provide the template that Scarface would surpass in 1932. Nevertheless, Little Caesar surpassed any movie made prior to its release and deserves to be the original classic gangster film.