
Rico is a small-time hood who knocks off gas stations for whatever he can take. He heads east and signs up with Sam Vettori's mob. A New Year's Eve robbery at Little Arnie Lorch's casino results in the death of the new crime commissioner Alvin McClure. Rico's good friend Joe Massara, who works at the club as a professional dancer, works as the gang's lookout man and wants out of the gang. Rico is ambitious and eventually takes over Vettori's gang; he then moves up to the next... (Full plot summary below)
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Rico is a small-time hood who knocks off gas stations for whatever he can take. He heads east and signs up with Sam Vettori's mob. A New Year's Eve robbery at Little Arnie Lorch's casino results in the death of the new crime commissioner Alvin McClure. Rico's good friend Joe Massara, who works at the club as a professional dancer, works as the gang's lookout man and wants out of the gang. Rico is ambitious and eventually takes over Vettori's gang; he then moves up to the next echelon pushing out Diamond Pete Montana. When he orders Joe to dump his girlfriend Olga and re-join the gang, Olga decides there's only one way out for them.
Leave your thoughts about Little Caesar.
| Tim Dirks' The Greatest FilmsTim DirksOne of the most well-known and best of the early classical gangster films is Warner Bros.' Little Caesar (1930) - often called the grandfather of the modern crime film |
| New York TimesMordaunt HallThe production is ordinary and would rank as just one more gangster film but for two things. One is the excellence of Mr. Burnett's credible and compact story. The other is Edward G. Robinson's wonderfully effective performance. |
| New YorkerRichard BrodyLeRoy's coldly efficient direction-due less to his own artistry than to the constraints of sound recording in its first years-imposes a static rigor on the action and lends the actor's diction and gestures a sculptural, granitic force. |
| Movie MetropolisJohn J. PuccioRobinson's riveting performance earned him a permanent place in the history of cinema. |
| CinePassionFernando F. CroceFaded bronze to The Public Enemy's silver and Scarface's gold, but an enduring bedrock formation all the same |
| VarietyVariety StaffNo director could ask for more than Edward G. Robinson's contribution. Here, no matter what he has to say, he's entirely convincing. |
| User ReviewPaul WEdward G Robinson is magnificent as Little Caesar a timeless classic |
| User ReviewPatrick MThe first gangster film ever made. Still one of the best to this very day. |
| User ReviewBrody MGREAT Movie.Shows Where U Might End Up If U Take The Wrong Path In Life |
| User Reviewjim tOne of those classic crime films that are more than worth watching. At first the cinematography, the dialogue and even the actors may seem a bit weird, but you quickly get into the rise and fall of Rico, with an ending that wrote film history. |