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Little Caesar

7.1

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Original title

Little Caesar

Year

1931

Running time

80 min.

Country

United States

Director

Mervyn LeRoy

Screenwriter

Francis Edward Faragoh. Novel: W.R. Burnett

Cast

Music

David Mendoza

Cinematography

Tony Gaudio (B&W)

Producer

Warner Bros.

Genre

Film noir | Crime. Mafia

Movie Groups

W. R. Burnett Adaptations

Synopsis

The ambitious criminal Rico moves from the country to the big city in the east and joins Sam Vettori's gang with his friend Joe Massara. Sooner he becomes the leader of the gangsters and known as Little Caesar, and gets closer to the great mobster Pete Montana. In a robbery of a night-club, he kills the Crime Commissioner Alvin McClure and his pal Joe witnesses the murder. When Rico orders Joe to leave his mistress Olga Strassoff, she takes a serious decision.

Rankings Position

#130 Best Film Noir Movies

Awards: 1930: Nominated for Oscar: Best Screenplay

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Critics' reviews

"No director could ask for more than Edward G. Robinson's contribution. Here, no matter what he has to say, he's entirely convincing."

Variety Staff: Variety
"Feels stilted when stacked up against its tougher depression-era contemporaries."

Jeremiah Kipp: Slant
"LeRoy's coldly efficient direction imposes a static rigor on the action and lends the actor's diction and gestures a sculptural, granitic force.

Richard Brody: The New Yorker
"Edward G. Robinson in the performance of his career."

Don Druker: Chicago Reader
"Though it looks somewhat dated now, there's no denying the seminal importance of this classic adaptation of WR Burnett's novel."

Geoff Andrew: Time Out

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Ranking Lists Position

87 My Favorite Noir Movies (56)

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Little Caesar

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