LITTLE CAESAR, 1931, Warner Bros., 79 min. Dir. Mervyn Le Roy. Edward G. Robinson made movie history with his definitive portrait of sociopathic gangster Rico Bandello. W.R. Burnett’s novel was ripped from the front pages during the Great Depression to satiate a public already fascinated by the decadence of Al Capone’s Chicago. Bandello’s rise and fall is assisted by his pal, played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr., the ubiquitous Glenda Farrell, Buster Collier and a lethal Sidney Blackmer.
MAYOR OF HELL, 1933, Warner Bros., 90 min. Dir. Archie Mayo. Who else would Warner Bros. put in charge of eternal punishment but James Cagney? Actually Cagney is a reformed gangster who is improbably put in charge of a reformatory staffed by a coterie of Dead End Kid forerunners led by Frankie Darro. When Cagney applies his street smarts to run the place, he runs afoul of a crooked administrator (Dudley Digges) while romancing a supportive nurse (Madge Evans).