Little Caesar (film)

Little Caesar is a 1931 Warner Bros. crime film that tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the story was adapted by Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert N. Lee, Robert Lord and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited) 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.

Often listed as one of the first full-fledged gangster films, Little Caesar continues to be well-received by critics.

Plot

Small-time criminals Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello (Edward G. Robinson) and his friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) move to Chicago to seek their fortunes. Rico joins the gang of Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields), while Joe wants to be a dancer. Olga (Glenda Farrell) becomes his dance partner and girlfriend.

Joe tries to drift away from the gang and its activities, but Rico makes him participate in the robbery of the nightclub where he works. Despite orders from underworld overlord "Big Boy" (Sidney Blackmer) to all his men to avoid bloodshed, Rico guns down crusading crime commissioner Alvin McClure during the robbery, with Joe as an aghast witness.

Little Caesar

Little Caesar may refer to:

Little Caesar (Kiss song)

"Little Caesar" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, featured on their 1989 album Hot in the Shade. It is the lone original song that drummer Eric Carr sang lead on during his tenure with Kiss (although he did sing lead on a remake of "Beth" on Kiss's Smashes, Thrashes & Hits album the year before). The song was written by Carr, Gene Simmons and Adam Mitchell.

Background

Carr submitted three songs to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons for selection for the then upcoming album, and according to Carr in 1990:

Simmons actually loved the last song and suggested that Carr should make a complete demo of it. Carr and Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick went to the studio and completed a full recording. The track was originally titled "Ain't That Peculiar" (a version that is featured on 2001s The Box Set) and featured lyrics from the Marvin Gaye song of the same name until Carr and Simmons wrote a new set of lyrics together using the title "Little Caesar", which is what Simmons called Carr when he was acting like a tough guy.

Little Caesar (band)

Little Caesar is an American hard rock band.

History

The band was founded late in the 1980s by Ron Young, who had previously worked as a nightclub bouncer. The group independently released an EP and were featured on the 1989 Metal Blade compilation Street Survivors with one song "Down to the Wire", which led to their signing with DGC Records, a subsidiary of Geffen Records, in 1989. John Kalodner did A&R work for the group, and Bob Rock produced their debut self-titled album, which was released in 1990 to positive reviews. On the strength of the singles "Chain of Fools" and "In Your Arms", Little Caesar hit number 139 on the US Billboard 200 in 1990. Lead vocalist Ron Young made a brief cameo in James Cameron's 'TERMINATOR 2' as the biker thrown through the window of the bar by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Despite the group's chart success, they had problems maintaining a popular image, due in part to their heavily tattooed membership. They remained with DGC/Geffen for a sophomore release, Influence in 1992, but neither Rock nor Kalodner continued working with them. By this time, guitarist Apache had left and was replaced with Earl Slick. After Influence failed to sell well (which was not surprising as many metal albums did not sell well in this period due to the rise of alternative rock, which DGC - initially a metal/progressive rock label - began to embrace) the group disbanded. Ron Young later went on to sing in The Four Horsemen, Manic Eden, and Dirt.