Little Caesar is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Glenda Farrell. The film tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons.
The storyline was adapted from the novel of the same name by William R. Burnett. Little Caesar was Robinson’s breakthrough role and immediately made him a major film star. The film is often listed as one of the first fully-fledged gangster films and continues to be well received by critics. The Library of Congress maintains a print. Due to the film being registered for copyright late in 1930, it entered the public domain on January 1, 2026.
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