From the current point of view
1931 [Little Caesar]
For the genre "Gangster"
Got off to a good start
▲ Rick and Joe in the film are good friends, but the former wants to mix gangs, and the latter is bent on finding a girlfriend to continue dancing, with different ambitions (pictured is the [Little Caesar] poster)
Rick is long and long
Misogynistic face
Played by Edward Robinson
This gangster character
Make him an actor from the stage
Overnight turned red star
Time magazine at the time said of him: "In the hands of Mr. Robinson, the little Caesar became a tragic figure in ancient Greek drama. ”
For a time, Edward Robinson became the representative of the "villain"
Robinson's original name was Marie Goldenberg, and the name didn't sound like a star at all.
Once, when he was working as a seater outside the box, he heard a conversation inside the box, "What is your nephew's name?" "Edward." "Not Edward, I'm asking you another nephew?" "Oh, Robinson."
This simply unobtrusive dialogue took root in Little Marley's ears. Little Marley, who had been unhappy with his name, finally had the opportunity to be "reborn" when he was 19 years old, and Edward Robinson was born.
However, Robinson did not forget Ben, in order to retain the patrilineal surname in the new name, he added an initial g symbolizing "Goldenberg" between "Edward" and "Robinson"
Robinson, who changed his name, also has a new look, and he played Caesar and Qualler in the school stage "Julius Caesar", winning praise for his fledgling age and quite mature acting skills.
After graduation, Robinson took the opportunity to go to Broadway to develop, and with excellent talents, he soon gained a foothold on the highly competitive Broadway.
At this time, many colleagues urged Robinson to go to Hollywood, and Robinson himself wanted to try film performance.
In this way, at the age of 29, Robinson was electrocuted for the first time. However, at that time, Hollywood was still silent films, and Robinson, who was accustomed to speaking in front of the audience, had to install a dumb face in front of the camera.
This made Robinson very uncomfortable, so after a brief intimate contact with the movie, Robinson resolutely returned to Broadway (pictured is a still of [hole in the wall])
The opportunity didn't make Robinson wait too long, and the era of sound films quietly arrived. Suddenly, a large group of stars who shone brightly during the silent film period all smashed on the ground, and Hollywood urgently needed a large number of "back waves" to fill the vacancy.
Robinson, who had seen the timing, finally took a big step forward and entered Hollywood. In 1929, he played a robber in [a hole in the wall].
Robinson flashed around and brought the true colors of a bandit to life, which was well received by the audience and critics alike.
▲ Warner at that time can be said to be a "gangster lair", which not only produced the best gangster films of the early thirties that are now highly regarded, such as the early [Little Caesar], [National Enemy], [The Escapee] (pictured is [Little Caesar] stills)
Hollywood producers are also discerning and see Robinson's talent for playing bandits.
So, in 1931, a Robinson career node and a crime movie genre node came at the same time, that is, the "Little Caesar" who was regarded as a gangster classic.
Robinson's role in the film not only changed the future direction of the entire crime movie, but also laid the standard interpretation of gangster characters.
▲ Since [Little Caesar], the party members on the big screen are wearing dark suits or leather coats, the color is solemn and heavy, whether it is a thug or a boss, the face is clean and neat (pictured is [Little Caesar] stills)
Since then, Robinson has become angry, and the crime movies starring him have been one after another, and the gangster characters played by him have also emerged in an endless stream.
But one thing to explain is that the success of robinson's gangster bosses is that he has to give at least half of the military medals to sound movies.
If it were not for the popularity of sound films, the roar and cries of "Little Caesar" would not have been able to convey at all, and it would have been impossible to establish the status of Robinson and film noir.