Review of Little Caesar (1931) by Laura H — 15 Jul 2009

Little Caesar is one of the most classic gangster movies. I think this is probably the first real gangster movie Iâ??ve ever seen. Before I watched Little Caesar, I wanted to watch God Father, because I always heard somebody said how they love that movie. After watching Little Caesar, it makes me much eager to see God Father; I think I am going to be a fan of gangster movies.

This movie is quiet an old movie. It was released in 1931; of course itâ??s a black and white movie. At the very beginning, the first idea which came into my mind was that the scene was so dark. Then, the dialogue between Rico and Joe give me the second impression, â??what a cool accent!â?? While Rico was speaking, I sometimes had a little difficulty in understanding his English. Not only Rico had a strange accent, I found out that most of the characters in this film have special accents and special way of speaking. Such as the â??maâ??, I thought she had the Italian accent; and the sergeant also had a special tone.

To talk about the scenes which impressed me a lot, I have to say there were three scenes. The first one is the scene which Tony was freaking out. He was shocked by the shooting, he lost his nerve then. At that plot, Tony couldnâ??t help but shaking and his face looked really terrifying. The director took the close shot on Tony, which makes everybody focus on him. Tony crushed his car, and he got off his car. The director again use the close shot to focus on Tony. His emotion was quite obvious. I like the way that director had the close shot all the way along Tonyâ??s driving. Second one is the scene which Rico was going to shoot Joe. Honestly, the extreme close shot of Ricoâ??s face made me laugh. My mind keep thinking of the â??gay loveâ?? which professor had mentioned in the lecture. Ricoâ??s grieving face is really looks like he was casting in a romance. That was also funny because itâ??s kind of contrast to the tough image in the previous plot. In addition, Rico had a bulldog face, so whiling he was crying, it looked ugly. The last one was the last scene of the movie. After Rico saying the classic line, â??Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?â?? he died and the scene fade in to the advertising panel of Joe and Olga. This scene was very ironic and symbolic. It showed that the evil will not triumph over the virtuous.

In spite of the bad quality of the screen effect and lack of violence and blood, people still regarded Little Caesar as the mother of gangster movie. In my point of view, I think the reason is that this film had its own style, a very hard and tough style, further, those actors were so powerful and good, especially Edward G. Robinson. I would like to give him a big hand for his well acting as a bad guy.