• In the same year as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy Warner Brothers also made Smart Money which pairs Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. This is the only time these two massive stars would work together. They make of two of the three heads of the early 1930s gangster genre movement (the third being Paul Muni in 1932’s Scarface).
  • The chronology of these films is important. Little Caesar came out, then this movie was shot (Edward G. was a big star). Cagney was not yet- but he would be by the time the movie was released so though the movie is mostly Edward G’s—the marketing (posters) makes this look like a two-hander putting Cagney right alongside Edward G. Cagney is barely in the first forty minutes of the film and this is clearly not his vehicle.
  • It is just a bit of trivia, but Boris Karloff is here too for two minutes- and 1931 is the year of Frankenstein so with sound film in its infancy, this movie stars three of the biggest stars of early 1930s cinema.
  • Edward G. plays Nick “The Barber” Venizelos from a small town (Irontown). This is more of a gambling film (The Hustler, Rounders, or Edward G.’s own The Cincinnati Kid from 1965 with Steve McQueen).
  • A great mise-en-scene arrangement when Edward G. has dinner with Noel Francis’ Marie character in front of an aquarium.
  • Edward G. and Cagney both have such presence on screen despite their diminutive size (both 5’4). Edward G. is great here (and Cagney in his few scenes, too). He chomps cigars, a distinct voice, has a “weakness for blondes” and is cocky to the bitter end with his great “I bet you 2 to 1 I’m out in five” as his last line to the press as he goes to prison.
  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 1931