"You want me, you're going to have to come and get me!"
A prefilm text scroll on :LITTLE CAESAR decries the sorts of criminals seen here and in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931), with Jimmy Cagney.
Although Eddie Robinson is great in it, I don't consider this early talkie to be better than the Cagney work. A main problem is co-stars Fairbank Jr. and Farrell. In comparison to Robbie, they come across as stiff amateurs. Really bad delivery of gosh awful dialogue makes one wish their characters were nonexistent. Yet, the picture's most powerful image relates to them.
Rico (Robinson) hears that trusted friend Joe (Fairbanks), who quit the gang to dance professionally, will rat on him to the police along with girlfriend Olga (Farrell). He confronts them with pistol drawn and Joe clings to Olga as he urges Rico to pull the trigger. A full screen close-up of Robinson's sweaty face reveals a tortured soul who can't bring himself to murder a pal. This act of loyalty...
Classic film gets pristine restoration
The film made E. G. Robinson a superstar. His depiction of Caesar's meteoric rise and fall set the standard for gangster films.
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