Little Caesar (1931)

Today's film is Little Caesar.  The dialog is so weird and the slang is hard to figure out, but turning on the closed captioning makes it a lot better.  I don't know if they really talked like that or if that is a gangster film thing,  but it was one of the first films with talking so I'm going to cut them a break.

The character Little Caesar, or Rico, or more precisely Caesar Enrico Bandello, was played by Edwin Robinson.  I'm not going to say he was ugly, he just wasn't very handsome, and that makes him more believable.  He makes money by robbing gas stations, then goes to the city and offers a mob boss his services.

You know how hard it was to find a picture of Little Caesar
that wasn't pizza? I'm serious.

Soon, he takes control and robs and shoots people with abandon.  He even shoots the crime commissioner.  His best friend leaves the mob world and becomes a dancer, and guess what? He shoots him too!  He even has his getaway driver killed on the steps of a church so he can't confess.

Soon, the police come after him and he almost gets away.  However they put some insulting things about him in the newspaper, knowing his ego would make him come out of hiding.  When he does, they finally kill him.  I guess the lesson here is don't be a gangster.  It's not as great as Scarface, but it's pretty good for what it is.  I'll give it a 5/10.