This writer has always felt that Edward G.Robinson's role of Little Caesar(1931) was based in part or parts on Al Capone.Does anyone know if his character was based in anyway on Al Capone?
To Better Days,
BRAD
I don't think Robinson's character was actually based on Capone, but they may have modeled Rico after Capone, since he was quite well-known by then.
What we got here is... failure to communicate.
Luciano was more popular at the time. it was before the st. valentine's day massacre.
shareWhat was before the St Valentine's day massacre? This film? You'll have to check your dates, Valentines day massacre was 1929.
Luciano may have (and it's debatable) being smarter than Capone, but Capone was and always will be more famous.
Try reading Capone by John Kobler or Mr Capone by Robert J Schoenberg it may give you some insight into Capones life, both are damn fine reads aswell.
I think some of Scarface (Tony Montana) is based on Little Caesar.
shareIn a foreword written by W.R. Burnett, published in a 1960's paperback edition of the original 1929 novel, Burnett describes his experiences as a Chicago newspaperman, and how the inspiration to write a realistic gangster story came to him. There were gang killings and shootouts virtually every few days, this being the height of the Prohibition booze wars. Burnett tells how he met a small time racketeer, whose attitudes toward the gangster life became the basis of Burnett's fictional character.
Burnett describes how at one point, he feared that the character was gaining a life of his own, and threatening to become a larger than life monster, who would end up glamorizing gangsters. Then it occurred to him that the vain, delusional Rico was actually nothing more than a little Napoleon, a little Caesar. Burnett decided it would make the perfect title for his book, and the movie version came out a year or two later.
And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him
From what I've seen in the trivia section and on Wikipedia Little Caesar is based on a gangster named Sam Cardinelli, not Al Capone
shareEdward G. Robinson had a darkly menacing (and quite ugly) "gangster face." So whoever he was based on, all I know is that he totally looked like a real gangster from the '20s and '30s.
Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!
Little Caesar is based on a gangster named Sam Cardinelli as another poster said and Big Boy was based off Big Bill Thompson.
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