My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Little Caesar (1931)

This is the film that turned Edward G. Robinson into everyone’s favorite gangster.   Like a cinematic version of Al Capone, Caesar “Rico” Bandello starts off small time only to rise up and become a crime boss.   It’s a story that’s been done a million ways but in 1931 no one had done it like this.   Sure it’s an old film but audiences back then must have jumped to the sound of machine guns.   Mervyn LeRoy directed it and would go onto to enjoy a brilliant career making other such classics as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, They Won’t Forget, Madame Curie, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Mister Roberts, The Bad Seed and Gypsy.  If you like pre-code films and want to see how Edward G. Robinson became a star you need to watch this one.  Grade: B+
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