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Little Caesar, The Public Enemy or Scarface?

posted 16 years ago by micaofboca-1
7 replies | jump to latest

The years 1931 and 1932 saw three very comparable Hollywood gangster movies that generated a new genre of film noir that dealt with Capone-like Capos, unafraid to take on Italian names and point fingers at ethnic minorities and their involvement in a new organized crime in America. Little Caesar (1930-1), The Public enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932). You've got Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, and the great Paul Muni, 2 Jews and an Irishman, playing Capone-like wanna-be dons, all three with virtual perfection. I think Cagney was the toughest, Robinson the most scheming and intimidating, and Muni the meanest and cruelest when you line them up in comparison. As to the most credible performance and the best screenplay, it's hard to find favorites when all three deliver the goods to perfection. You could watch all 3 in a row and find a continuity yet a difference that boggles the imagination. 3 great masterpieces, all delivered by different sources, yet remarkably very similar and ultimately satisfying. I can't put one above another so I rate them an all-out tie although I though Little Caesar had the best screenplay escpecially in the way it was an obvious biography of Al Capone. So I guess I dug Little Caesar above the rest for its Capone exposé.

[–] ElMaruecan82 16 years ago

Having watched the 3 classics, i think it's quite difficult to pick up which one is the best, but i'd say my favourite is 'Scarface' followed by 'Public Enemy' and then 'Little Caesar'

The 3 movies had great leading characters : Cagney, Muni & Robinson played their role perfectly ... and very well written script.

But 'Scarface' was fast-paced, had more action, was rich of supporting characters (the sister was perfect, the partner, Lovo, Lovo's wife, the cop)... and let's face it, the acting in Scarface was far better than in the 2 other films , especially 'Little Caesar'.

Which is why i put 'Little Caesar' in the last position, some characters were too charicatural, and the acting too dramatical to be believed (even by 30's standards).
Anyway, the 3 movies are still great classics, and it was fun to watch the original Scarface and noticing all through the movie the similarities with the DePalma's remake (one of my all-time favourites).

Purple in the morning, blue in the afternoon, and orange in the evening. Just like that, 1-2-3-4 !

[–] micaofboca-1 16 years ago

Very well said.

[–] jtyroler 11 years ago

Scarface and The Public Enemy were able to build on what Little Caesar did. Muni was probably the best all around actor (2 best actor wins) and was much more difficult to get pigeonholed into gangster roles. Scarface also had real life wanna be gangster George Raft who had several connections with several gangsters, particularly Bugsy Siegel.

I don’t know if Mervyn LeRoy was the best director for a gangster film - WIld Bill Wellman directed The Public Enemy and Howard Hawks directed Scarface.

[–] ScotchRox 10 years ago

All 3 of these movies were aired tonight on TCM..

You can't go wrong drowning politicians Henry. The Black Swan (1942)

[–] Vega_Lyra 8 years ago

There's no way I could pick a favorite. All 3 of these are some of my favorite films. Acting wise I like Muni the best, but Cagney is a close second.

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

[–] MayoGalway 7 years ago

IMO, Cagney coming home was one of greatest movie endings. His poor sweet mum, her anticipation.

[–] nufsaid16 (629) 2 years ago

I would say that out of the three, Scarface and Public Enemy were the much tougher, darker films, while Little Caesar established the gangster movies rules for both, and for generations of gangster films to come.