Little Caesar (1931)
Little Caesar on the IMDb
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Warner Brothers: Warner Brothers Gangsters Collection
Update, July 2006: I watched this classic yet again, and as always had a lot of fun with it. The picture is the clearest I've seen for Little Caesar, but the audio is still pretty lousy. I have to revise anything said above, Fairbanks Jr. is terrible in this, I really thought it was some of the worst delivery of lines that I've ever heard. Since I like Fairbanks Jr. later on in his career I can only guess that this has to do with an adjustment to sound. I mean a lot of the actors here are charmingly over-the-top, Fairbanks just seems out of place, which he should to some degree, but he just really doesn't do his part any justice in my mind. Speaking of over the top, I forgot how much I enjoyed the cop Flaherty, played by Thomas E. Jackson. You could easily picture this guy slicing throats in an alleyway to put his case across better. Sinister would describe him best. My favorite scene, outside of the classic ending, is when Rico is introduced to the boys -- first, the scene reminds me of the scene in Goodfellas where Henry Hill gives us his rundown of the boys in that picture (Freddy No Nose, Pete the Killer, Jimmy Two Times, etc.); and secondly because of Scabby, played by... actually, I don't know who, he's not even listed on the imdb.com. Scabby, or perhaps it's Scabbie, is the last of the boys introduced by Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields), who does so in the following manner: "And this one here, Scabby. What a smart guy he is." Scabby turns and gives possibly the most menacing look of the entire film. He's the same fellow that later gives the toast at Rico's banquet: "Well folks, you all know what we're here fer, so what's the good of me telling you all about it. Rico here, is a great guy! Sure, and, uh, well. Aw, say Rico, I don't know how to talk fancy, but this here watch is for you, see -- from the boys!" Yep, he's certainly a smart one! Seriously though, I've probably seen this one a few times too many over the years, as I've come to have more fun picking on the dialogue nowadays than I do watching the movie itself. It's still an excellent movie, perhaps too good of a story for some of the supporting cast to carry. And as much as Edward G. Robinson's Rico has become a cartoon character over the years, it's still a fine performance which was good enough to lay its mark on the gangster to such a degree that Rico still stereotypes the part to some degree even today.
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