Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

Little Caesar Overview:

Little Caesar (1931) was a Crime - Drama Film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Darryl F. Zanuck.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by W.R. Burnett published in 1924.

SYNOPSIS

This role made Robinson a star and set the standard for the innumerable Warner gangster pics that followed. The familiar story (based loosely on the career of Al Capone) follows the rise of Rico Bandello from street tough to emperor of gangland - and his equally rapid fall from power. Robinson's two-fisted performance and trademark delivery, see, erased memories of his 15-year career on Broadway and made it hard for Hollywood to see him as anything but a ruthless mobster for years.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Little Caesar was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2000.

Academy Awards 1930/31 --- Ceremony Number 4 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best WritingFrancis Faragoh, Robert N. LeeNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Little Caesar BlogHub Articles:

Little Caesar (1931)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 2, 2019 From 4 Star Films

When I was a kid we had an old VHS of Bugs Bunny shorts and one of the caricatures in a gangster-themed storyline — although I didn’t know it at the time — was undoubtedly Edward G. Robinson. That voice. That mug. That smug self-assuredness. They’re inimitable. Even then I kn... Read full article

Little Caesar (1931)

By Raquel Stecher on Feb 18, 2013 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog

image source Little Caesar (1931) is one of the original gangster films and influenced the movies in that genre that were to come. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and based on a novel by W. R. Burnett. Edward G. Robinson stars as Little Caesar aka Rico, a small time gangster looking to make it bi... Read full article

Little Caesar (1931)

By Raquel Stecher on Nov 30, -0001 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog

image source Little Caesar (1931) is one of the original gangster films and influenced the movies in that genre that were to come. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and based on a novel by W. R. Burnett. Edward G. Robinson stars as Little Caesar aka Rico, a small time gangster looking to make it bi... Read full article

See More Little Caesar Articles

Little Caesar Quotes:

Caesar Enrico Bandello: If you ain't out of town by tomorrow morning... you won't ever leave it except in a pine box.
Joe Massara:: We're in love with one another. Don't that mean nothing?
Caesar Enrico Bandello: Nothing. Less than nothing. Love. Soft stuff!
Caesar Enrico Bandello: This is Rico speaking. Rico! R-I-C-O! Rico! Little Caesar, that's who! Listen, you crummy, flat-footed copper, I'll show you whether I've lost my nerve and my brains!
Caesar Enrico Bandello: Mother of mercy. Is this the end of Rico?
Caesar Enrico Bandello: You can dish it out, but you got so you can't take it no more.
See More Quotes from Little Caesar
Little Caesar Facts
The film was reviewed in Photoplay Magazine in December 1930 (on the newstands in November), and ready for release in December 1930, but Warner's brass felt it was not a Christmas picture. It officially debuted at the Strand Theatre in New York City on 9 January 1931.
The character Diamond Pete Montana was modeled on Jim Colosimo, who was murdered by Al Capone; and "The Big Boy" was based on corrupt politician William 'Big Bill' Thompson, Mayor of Chicago. The underworld banquet sequence was also based on a real event - a notorious party in honor of two gangsters, Charles Dion O'Bannion and Samuel J. "Nails" Morton, which received unfavorable coverage in the Chicago press.
In a separately filmed trailer, Vitaphone production reel #4529, Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. discuss the picture.
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.
Although The Doorway to Hell, a gangster film released by Warner Bros. in 1930 was a big hit at the time, most sources consider Little Caesar to be the film which started a brief craze for the genre in the early 1930s.
See More Facts about Little Caesar >>