Little Caesar (1931)
Little Caesar (1931)
This Mervyn LeRoy film starring Edward G. Robinson in the title role received an Oscar nomination for Adapted Writing and was added to the National Film Registry in 2000. It features the "100 Years at the Movies" scene (shown frequently on TCM) in which gangster Robinson asks "Mother of mercy is this the end of Rico?" (#73 on AFI’s 100 Greatest Movie Quotes list). Robinson’s Caesar Enrico Bandello is AFI’s #38 villain. Robinson is a small time hood with ambition who muscles his way into the leadership position of an existing gang by pushing out its boss. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays his friend (who’s not mixed up in his racket?). Then Robinson pursues even higher goals and more power becoming #1 on the police’s list (which feeds his ego even more). But the police are unable to pin anything on him until Robinson’s ego gets the best of him.
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