Edward G. Robinson plays the OTHER iconic gangster in that OTHER iconic gangster film from 1931, "Little Caesar." But Mervyn LeRoy's film, though released before "The Public Enemy" by about four months, feels like a less remarkable rip off. It has none of the visual audaciousness of William Wellman's film, and there are no images to remember. It's pretty static and by the numbers film making.
Robinson deserves credit, though, for creating a completely different kind of gangster from Cagney. His Rico is actually a bit of a born loser. He's an ugly little bulldog of a guy who wants the status of the criminal elite but isn't comfortable in that world once he gets it. Most critics seem to think that the film wouldn't be anything without Robinson's performance--that's true, though I don't think it's all that much even with it.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. plays Rico's best friend, providing the film with a much-discussed homosexual undertone. I have to agree with the professor who provided commentary on the DVD release--whether Rico's crisis extends from repressed homosexual feelings for his buddy, or whether it's a more general rejection of humanity, is pretty much irrelevant, because either interpretation brings the film to the same conclusion.
Glenda Farrell gets the thankless gangster moll honors here.
Grade: B-
Robinson deserves credit, though, for creating a completely different kind of gangster from Cagney. His Rico is actually a bit of a born loser. He's an ugly little bulldog of a guy who wants the status of the criminal elite but isn't comfortable in that world once he gets it. Most critics seem to think that the film wouldn't be anything without Robinson's performance--that's true, though I don't think it's all that much even with it.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. plays Rico's best friend, providing the film with a much-discussed homosexual undertone. I have to agree with the professor who provided commentary on the DVD release--whether Rico's crisis extends from repressed homosexual feelings for his buddy, or whether it's a more general rejection of humanity, is pretty much irrelevant, because either interpretation brings the film to the same conclusion.
Glenda Farrell gets the thankless gangster moll honors here.
Grade: B-