Little Caesar

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Movie
German title Little Caesar
Original title Little Caesar
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1931
length 79 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Mervyn LeRoy
script Francis Edward Faragoh ,
Robert N. Lee
production Hal B. Wallis ,
Darryl F. Zanuck et al. a.
music Ernö Rapée ,
David Mendoza
camera Tony Gaudio
cut Ray Curtiss
occupation
synchronization

The Little Caesar (alternatively The Little Caesar ) is an American gangster film directed by Mervyn LeRoy from 1931. The script was based on the novel of the same name by William Riley Burnett . The title role is played by Edward G. Robinson , who became known to a wider audience through this film. Little Caesar marked the beginning of the heyday of tough American gangster films in the early 1930s . For this subgenre he was a style defining element.

action

Friends Caesar Enrico Bandello and Joe Massara do not want to be satisfied with making their living as petty criminals outside of town. Massara strives for a career as a dancer and soon finds a job, while falling in love with his fellow dancer Olga. “Rico” Bandello, on the other hand, remains true to his milieu and develops into a ruthless member of Sam Vettori's gang. During a robbery in a nightclub, Rico shoots police superintendent McClure with his gun, which Joe - who works in Monsieur DeVoss' nightclub and knew about the robbery - watches with shock. Joe now wants to stay out of the gang business for good and focus on his career as a dancer, which slowly breaks his friendship with Rico.

Rico accuses his boss Sam Vittori of having become too soft and finally boots him out. Little by little, Rico can eliminate the rival gangsters Little Arnie Lorch and Pete Montana using brutal and skillful methods. A gangster named Tony, who wants to leave the gang because of remorse and confess to the pastor, is gunned down on the church stairs by Rico. "Big Boy", the mysterious boss of the Chicago underworld, finally gives Rico and his gang control of the entire north side of Chicago. As “Little Caesar” he finally reached the height of his gangster career. He can hold his own there until he makes the mistake of trying to get Joe Massara back into his gang. The friend from bygone days decided to have a solid life at the side of friend Olga and declined the offer. Rico then wants to kill the couple. Olga eventually persuades Joe to appear as a key witness for Bandello's murder of the police superintendent.

The investigating Sergeant Flaherty lets go of Rico's gang, whereby his most loyal assistant Otero dies in the hail of bullets. The gang boss manages to escape, but is cheated out of almost all of his money by his landlady Magdalena. For a few months he can hide in a homeless shelter without being recognized. The meanwhile run-down Rico reads in the newspaper that Sergeant Flaherty called him a coward. The injured in his pride Rico angrily calls the police to threaten Sergeant Flaherty - but that is exactly what Flaherty intended to call, because that way he can locate Rico. The once almighty underworld boss finally finds his end in the hail of bullets from the police - in front of a poster of Joe and Olga, who have since become famous dancers.

background

  • For Edward G. Robinson , who had previously worked mainly as a stage actor and mostly only played supporting roles in films, The Little Caesar meant the breakthrough. At first Robinson only auditioned for the supporting role of Otero, but producer Hal B. Wallis was so enthusiastic that he immediately gave him the lead role. In the following years Robinson became the most famous gangster actor in Hollywood alongside James Cagney and George Raft .
  • William Riley Burnett , author of the book, later complained with a letter to Warner Brothers that the character of Enrico he intended to be heterosexual in the film had been transformed into an uptight homosexual. The close relationship between Rico and Otero, Ricos big weakness for Joe, as well as nonexistent love affairs from Rico - instead he expresses himself derogatory about women - are today often interpreted as an indication of a homosexuality of Rico.
  • Gang boss Al Capone acted as a rough model for the character of Rico. Jim Colosimo was the model for the character of "Diamond Pete" Montana, while the corrupt politician William Hale Thompson was the godfather for the boss "Big Boy".
  • Little Caesar was very successful at the box office, helping to spark a boom in gangster films in the early 1930s. In addition, the way the film was made shaped the style of the following works in this genre.

German version

The German dubbing was not created until 1970 on behalf of ZDF .

role actor Voice actor
Caesar Enrico Bandello Edward G. Robinson Günter Strack
Joe Massara Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Manfred Schott
Tony Passa William Collier Junior Klaus Kindler
Sam Vettori Stanley Fields Erik Jelde
Pete Montana Ralph Ince Wolf Ackva
Otero George E. Stone Wolfgang Draeger
Sergeant Flaherty Thomas E. Jackson Manfred Andrae
De Voss, hotel manager Armand Kaliz Thomas Reiner

Reviews

  • "The film, which marks the beginning of Hollywood's great gangster films, provides a study based on realism and stylization of a big-city gangster scene in which Robinson's tough, authentic game stands out." (Rating: 3 out of 4 possible stars = very good) - Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz : Lexicon "Films on TV", 1990
  • The television magazine Prisma found: “In 1931 Mervyn LeRoy (' Quo Vadis ') staged 'Little Caesar', a style-defining masterpiece of the gangster genre, which resulted in countless other works and heralded the triumph of gangster films. Straightforward dramaturgy, psychological depth and fast-paced staging ensure the best entertainment. Outstanding: Edward G. Robinson in the role of the gangster Caesar Enrico Bandello. "
  • "With 'The Little Caesar', Mervyn LeRoy shot a sober and distant crook portrait that developed into a groundbreaking contribution in the genre of gangster films." - The great TV feature film
  • 39 years after the premiere, the Protestant film observer came to the conclusion that “Little Caesar” is a precisely staged gangster film, which, however, is still extremely conventional in his view. Overall, however, it is "acceptable entertainment".

Awards

DVD release

  • Little Caesar . Warner Home Video 2005

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ LaSalle, Mick. Dangerous Men: Pre-code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002. ISBN 0-312-28311-3
  2. ^ "The little Caesar" at IMDb Trivia
  3. ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Lexicon of film and television synchronization. More than 2000 films and series with their German voice actors etc. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-289-X , p. 213
  4. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on Television" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 452
  5. ↑ “Little Caesar” at Prisma
  6. ↑ -jg- in: The great TV feature film film lexicon . Digital library special volume (CD-ROM edition). Directmedia, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89853-036-1 , p. 7071
  7. ↑ Evangelical Press Association, Munich, Review No. 344/1970.

literature

Web links