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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Edward G. Robinson had a star-making vehicle in this 1930 film by Mervyn LeRoy (Random Harvest), about a small-time gangster who becomes a top boss in the underworld. As Rico Bandello, Robinson's portrayal is that of a certain kind of American success, when a successful rise to the top somehow throws open the doors on every neurotic element in one's personality and magnifies them. The film is creaky as early sound films were wont to be, but the actor's multidimensional role and ugly charisma keep everything interesting. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The First Gangster Film
The opening says that "Rico" was a product of Prohibition. Gangs existed before 1920 and merely added liquor distribution to their other lines of business. [No mention of the James or Younger gangs, or the Lincoln County war!] The film starts with a robbery. [We see Rico on a restaurant stool raised to make him taller.] Rico decides to move east for greater opportunities to climb his career ladder. Scenes show what a nightclub was like in those days. Peter Montana visits the Arnie Lorch gambling ... Read More
Rating:  - Little Story
This is a fairly decent performance by Edward G. Robinson and the rest the cast but the story is not that compelling and the sets, music, and direction don't stand out. I recommend "Key Largo" over this one. Both Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart put in great performances. Not only that you have a better story, music, and direction. Besides you can get "Key Largo" on DVD for less than this movie.
Even fans of this movie should consider the fact it is expensive for VHS. ... Read More
Rating:  - Sorry but i dont think this is a great gangster film
all the critics always rave as this is the all time gangster film, i disagree. I think it is slow moving without much to hold interest. Personally i love the oldies, i like other work by Edward G Robinson as well as the Bogart and Cagney gangster films but little ceaser is not worth all the hype. Maybe it inspired other films but the other films are better. Instead of this film i recomend Brother Orchard with Robinson & Bogart, Angels with dirty faces with Cagney , and Bullets and Ballots with ... Read More
Rating: - It has aged tremendously
This film was a direct ideological intervention in the debate about prohibition, or exactly for the repealing of the famous amendment that had introduced prohibition. The argument was that prohibition gave gangsters a tremendous field of development and thriving. As such it was an important film. But nowadays it does not work at all on this level. The acting is cold and very stiff. The plot is reduced to a caricature of anything it deals with. It is definitely neither thrilling, not exciting, nor even ... Read More
Rating:  - Little Caesar: Little in Height Only
It is too easy to view LITTLE CAESAR and to laugh at the often caricatured voice of Edward G. Robinson as the small time hood who clawed a rapid rise to the top of Chicago's underworld only to tumble equally fast. What the modern viewer may fail to grasp is that when LITTLE CAESAR was released in 1930 Robinson was no star and the gangster movie did not exist as a genre. With his menacing voice and tough guy attitude, Robinson changed all that. It is because of him that later cinema gangsters like Pacino ... Read More
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