Little Caesar: A Review (Review #2015)

LITTLE CAESAR

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Glenda Farrell. 

If people today think "Little Caesar", they will probably think of the pizza. That is perfectly reasonable. However, I hope that people do not forget about another Little Caesar, a brilliant gangster film that was one of the films to set the standard for early gangland portrayals. With strong performances and a surprisingly short runtime, Little Caesar showcases the rise and fall of a truly villainous crime boss.

Caesar Bandello Enrico or "Rico" (Edward G. Robinson) and his friend Joe Massarra (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) are small-time crooks holding up gas stations. Rico wants to hit the big time and become a crime boss in Chicago. Joe wants to be a professional dancer. Loyalty ties them together when they go to Chicago. Rico joins the gang of local midlevel boss Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields). Joe is nominally a member, but his main line is working as a dancer with Olga Stassoff (Glenda Farrell) at the Peacock Club. Joe and Olga fall in love and Joe wants out of the gang. 

Rico, however, won't let his buddy go. In fact, he forces Joe to be part of a holdup at the Peacock on New Year's Eve. Reluctantly, and despite Olga's pleas, Joe goes along with it. He doesn't, however, go along with Rico killing Police Commissioner McClure (Landers Stevens), who was leaving the club. There were firm orders from the top that no one was to hit McClure. In fairness, Rico and his crew did not know that McClure was at the Peacock when they held it up. However, Rico, who got the nickname "Little Caesar" is a quick-trigger man, always itching for a fight and a way to dethrone those above him.

Little Caesar manages to do just that, using his bullying and belligerence to push anyone in his way. If it means ordering a hit on a former ally whose conscience gets the best of him, so be it. Rico eventually manages to push everyone out to take over the whole racket. He also insists that Joe be by his side. Joe flat-out refuses, putting his and Olga's life in danger. Will Rico actually kill his longtime friend? What will be the end of Rico?

It seems almost unbelievable that Edward G. Robinson could become one of the definite gangsters. He was short and not traditionally handsome. Moreover, in real life Robinson was an urbane art collector, among the first to discover such figures as Frida Kahlo. He also hated violence and guns, so much so that he had to have his eyes taped open to stop him from closing them in reflex whenever he fired the pistol. However, I think that is what makes him so effective as Caesar Enrico. This is a cold, ruthless individual, cocky, arrogant, one who delights in being deadly.

Robinson makes Rico someone with a permanent chip on his shoulder. He also makes him a raging egomaniac. When he manages to make a getaway, he survives in a flophouse. Once he hears a newspaper article mocking him, his ego becomes so enraged that he foolishly calls the police. Robinson's rapid-fire delivery and gruff manner work so well in Little Caesar.

Robinson also does something that I do not think people give him enough credit for. He makes him a sad and tragic figure. In the film's climax, he faces off against Joe, with Rico pointing his gun at his unarmed friend. Mervyn LeRoy uses a close-up of Robinson to show him crumbling, the thought of killing his lifelong friend creating his first emotional turmoil. The determination in Rico's face starts collapsing, the conflict within emerging into doubt and fear. It is as if we can see Rico asking himself, "Can I kill someone that I genuinely love?"

The film ends in a brilliant ironic note. As he is mowed down by his nemesis Sargeant Flaherty (Thomas Jackson), Rico looks genuinely stunned but still defiant. He first mocks Flaherty by pointing out that he kept to his pledge of never letting him put handcuffs on him. Rico soon, however, realizes that he is at the end. "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" he asks. Rico, damned to death, does not realize that he died behind a billboard advertising the show Tipsy Topsy Turvy, starring the duo of Olga Stassoff and Joe Massara.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., I think also plays against type. He does not come to mind when thinking of gangsters. Fairbanks, Jr. usually played suave, cheery men. Here, he does well as Joe, a man who would prefer dancing over killing but who still stays loyal to his friend. 

I do not think it would be accurate to call Glenda Farrell's Olga as Joe's moll. She technically has her career separate from being merely a mobster's floozy. I found her a bit overdramatic as Olga. However, her last scene where she urges Joe not to flee but to call the police and turn state's evidence is strong. She tells Joe that they cannot run from where Rico cannot find them. Moreover, she adds that they cannot run forever. There is a scene where Olga literally finds a gun in Joe's pocket. I could not help smile that in this case, he wasn't happy to see her. 

There were certain scenes that genuinely moved me. Robinson facing the prospect of killing Joe is one of them. The struggle of Tony Passa (William Collier, Jr.) with his conscience and how he hated hurting his Italian mama were quite moving. We end up wanting him to get a new life and confess to his childhood priest but know that such a thing is impossible. 

I get the sense that Little Caesar could have played as a silent film. We get title cards from time to time. We also see that some of the staging looks as if the actors were playing to the microphone.  

Little Caesar moves fast and has a defining performance from Edward G. Robinson as one of the best gangsters in film. In a sense, one can say that this is not the end of Rico, not by a long shot.

DECISION: A-