The ambitious criminal Rico (Edward G. Robinson) moves from the country to the big city in the east and joins Sam Vettori's (Stanley Fields) gang with his friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fainbanks Jr.). Sooner he becomes the leader of the gangsters and known as Little Caesar, and gets closer to the great mobster Pete Montana (Ralph Ince). In a robbery of a night-club, he kills the Crime Commissioner Alvin McClure (Landers Stevens) and his pal Joe witnesses the murder. When Rico orders Joe to leave his mistress Olga Strassoff (Glenda Farrell), she takes a serious decision. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rico joins Sam Vettori's gang. He replaces Sam as leader, pushes rival gang leader Arnie Lorch out of town, then goes after the job of next-higher-up Pete Montana. He accepts when "Big Boy" offers him that prize but his sights are set higher still. They are also cast on his best friend Joe's girl Olga. Written by Ed Stephan
夸张的演绎标志着年代的久远。不过Rico的晋升之路plot设计很好看，有些镜头也很美。原来那个时候就可以追踪电话了（啊哈）。Rico和Joe之间的矛盾冲突没得到展开，有点可惜。Joe和女友故事线其实并不好看。
剧本不错，拍得中规中矩。tough， hard-hitting gritty realism
爱德华·罗宾逊的早期黑帮片，这位我从弗里茨·朗的电影中认识的演技派明星的成名作当然不能放过。这部有声片初期的片子现在看起来还是比较粗糙的，片子主要以对话为主，枪战镜头不多，也不够精彩。感觉当时犯罪也太简单了，居然还没证据抓人。不像现在的犯罪片里都是精心策划的阴谋，也不免落入法网
乔和瑞克真是最萌身高差。当乔决定背叛瑞克的时候，居然还给瑞克一个大特写表现他伤心欲绝却又不忍开枪的表情，这就是所谓的帝王受吧？我也不懂为什么后世的黑帮片都喜欢表现这种古怪的三角关系（兄弟情被男女爱情拆散了）
