Popular reviews

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  Review by russman ★★★ 13

  Pizza Pizza

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  Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★ 13

  Edward G. Robinson as Rico the last man on Earth you want to fuck with in one of the first films that introduced the cinematic world to the gangsta. Big time dreamin'. Solitaire. The crew. Horny hottie. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., now that's what I call a distinguished name. Rico's temperament. Wild and crazy New Year's Eve party. Stick 'em up motherfuckers. I wish I talked like Rico. Hostile take over. Remorseful Tony. Dead Tony. Never quit on Rico. Pocket watch. Front page news. Old school payphone. Rico's hat. Rico's swag. Flesh wound. When Rico tells you to get the fuck out of town, your ass better listen. The way Rico lights a cigar. Gentlemen's agreement. Reunion. A sissy? Rico don't…

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  Review by Ethan Colburn ★★★★

  When I get in a tight spot, I shoot my way out of it.

  I do struggle with early talkies just from a production standpoint, as they lost some of the liveliness of the silent films, and hadn’t yet incorporated scores. Dialogue scenes can sometimes be quite stilted, with many of the interesting directorial choices being left in the silent era. All that being said, Edward G Robinson’s face is impossible to look away from. He’s so good at being evil here, and very charismatic on screen.

  All that being said about early talkies, the Hays code not being enforced allows for much darker and more gruesome murders in this, making it feel like a Scorsese movie at times.

  Solid gangster flick!

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½ 1

  Little Caesar predates the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines and has many aspects that would not have been tolerated under the Hays Code. It's one of the fundamental cornerstones of gangster films; featuring everything that is crucial to the genre, including its glamourisation, and Edward G. Robinson’s portrait of Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello (Little Caesar) instantly gave rise to him being a major film star.

  It's adapted from William R. Burnett’s 1929 debut novel, and director Mervyn LeRoy demonstrates courage and confidence in the indirect implications of homosexuality from the film's protagonist who eradicates any impediment until met face to face with the cost of his ambitiousness. It's a sharply edited movie, and LeRoy expunges all distractions and maintains the focus on the magnificent performance of Edward G. Robinson.

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  Review by CJ Probst ★★½ 8

  Warning. This is an obligatory FSDO write-up about a film I wasn’t all that interested in. Warning. I have nothing of interest to say about this one. Warning. You folks are tops, don’t bother yourselves with my intellectual floundering. It’s my own fault, there are plenty of gangster flicks to choose from and I chose one that I didn’t much remember or care about hoping I’d have a different opinion this time around. Not the case.

  I suppose I am supposed to talk about the Hay’s Code or something but I don’t really care about that either. Censorship is lame. This film is pretty lame too. Prohibition too. Blame the Church.

  Edward G. Robinson is cool though, I like that…

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★½

  67/100

  Plays almost as if everyone involved knew they were creating the template for a new genre, with a story skeletal enough to allow for endless future permutations. Robinson's snarling dynamism is the whole show here (see), and it must have been dazzling to watch him turn up from out of nowhere (his half-dozen previous roles don't seem to have made any impression) and so thoroughly dominate the screen. That's Ed, there's more widespread stylization here than I'd remembered—Sergeant Flaherty's vocal mannerisms, for example, are every bit as imitable as Rico's, and arguably even more eccentric. Great fun, moves speedily, but it's just kinda thin: He rises, he falls, mother of mercy, the end. Throw in early-sound staginess à la LeRoy and it's hard to make a case for this as a genuine classic, beyond its obvious historical importance.

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  Review by sakana1 ★★★ 6

  No doubt in part because the genre traditions it helped establish are now so familiar as to be cliches, Little Caesar often feels overly simplistic, in both its characterizations and its morality.

  What makes the film worth watching — apart from its obvious historical significance — is the performance of Edward G. Robinson in the role that would define his career. Though most of the time Rico is all straightforward, ego-driven ambition, the sequence that centers on the visit to Big Boy is completely different, allowing the character (and, of equal importance, the actor playing him) to reveal not only a charming vulnerability, but also the degree to which he relies upon Otero's support (George E. Stone) to keep him…

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  Review by Bre ★★★½ 1

  Every time they said Little Caesar in this my mind immediately finished it with “pizza pizza” and I hate myself

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  Review by josh lewis ★★★

  pretty uninspired directing even for the time but edward g. robinson brings much of it to life (a very small man with the cigar-chomping swagger of two large ones) and it must've really been something to see this when it came out and not know what a gangster movie was.

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  Review by Dwilder ★★★½

  Little Caesar is a very popular early entry in the gangster genre and made an unlikely star of the oft-imitated Edward G. Robinson.

  It’s a feature I like but never was able to love. I think a lot of that comes down to the direction of Mervyn LeRoy and his lack of tonal control here. A major issue with Little Caesar is that it veers into melodramatic territory far too much for me to really connect with it as a realistic crime thriller. I think LeRoy deserves credit for his direction of the key set-pieces of the film (the beginning and ending in particular are incredible) and he is certainly a good director. His work on I Am A Fugitive…

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  Review by Wesley Stenzel ★★★ 2

  A straightforward crime drama that rejects the ambitions of the American dream through its depiction of the titular gangster, but upholds a more straight-laced version of the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mythos via his best friend, a dancer. It feels like an essential movie for the establishment of the American crime genre, but the film’s themes, plotting, and character archetypes have been so greatly expanded and improved upon by later movies that it feels quaint and basic when compared to the films it inspired.

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  Review by Comicbookfan ★★★½ 3

  One of the first gangster films, charting the rise and fall pf Edward g Robinsons little ceaser, its very energetic. Has a lot of tropes and aspects that re familiar to these types of genre pics, the film os simple amd straightforward, doesnt go very deep into the story but Edward g Robinson is on fire here and it's a good showcase for his talents. The ending is very good.