Little Caesar (1931)
Edward G Robinson’s Rico wants a slice of the underworld big league, but his former partner in crime Joe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) doesn’t want a bar of it.
Rightly heralded as a classic and a game-changer, this is a tight, brisk crime film with a lot of quality that still has an impact today.
On the minus side, I did find the direction slightly stagey in dialogue scenes, and a real hangover from the silent era. Actors are slow to deliver their lines, and there’s long pauses between speaking and reaction, with facial expressions being too theatrical. Most of the acting is wooden. The cop is pure caricature.
Flipping to the good stuff, we have the exception: Robinson himself. Everything he does in this film is leagues above everything else. His line delivery is snappy, precise and dripping with menace, and you can see that he’s living this character. Everything is delivered with conviction. Even the aspects of this performance that have been mimicked and done to death over the years, that have become a stereotype, are still excellent because of the honesty of Robinson’s turn. He’s a top tier actor and shouldn’t be forgotten about by modern audiences. Every time he’s on screen, you can’t take your eyes off him. That’s screen magnetism, and it proves that you don’t have to be a suave ponce or a jacked up pretty boy to lead a film so comprehensively.
His character is also a complete winner. This isn’t about Robinson taking something unremarkable and making it remarkable. Rico is a genuinely interesting character. He’s remorseless, savage and has near-zero empathy with the people in his sphere. He’s ruthless and doesn’t care about norms and underworld etiquette - a truly unhinged loose cannon who has his goal and doesn’t let any nuance get in the way. I laughed out loud on several occasions at his callousness and carefree aggression. He doesn't give a shit, and makes for a fantastic, iconic turn.
Then we have the injection of empathy you feel at the end. When he realises that he can’t suppress all of his weaknesses, and we realise that he’s not entirely bad. I love his last line, delivered in third person. It’s like he’s disassociating himself from his weakness by reporting on his own failure - like he can’t face the fact that he didn’t have what it took to be truly number one. Magnificent.
As a film, by modern standards, it will be far too dated for many people. Too wooden, too basic, too much of a cliche. I get that. Which is why I watched it fully immersed in an understanding of its contemporary significance, looking for its impact and seeing stereotypes as products of this film, and not a reason to knock it.
In some respects, this film would be a 7/10. It has a lot of era-product faults. That’s like knocking an old novel for antiquated language, though.
EGR and his character raises its score significantly. He produces a modern performance that still works now. A blueprint for a psychopath. Not bettered, I think. Equalled, but not bettered for its sheer crazed single mindedness. I can overlook the 1930 new-to-sound acting of the others, and the stilted direction (although there is some very good camerawork and cinematography at various points that’s proto-noir). This is a great film, a classic, and Robinson deserves the utmost respect for changing cinema.
8.5/10
, tonight its the Warriors a solid 9/10, gonna shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle 
