Little Caesar (1931)

 

 LITTLE CAESAR (1931)

By Ralph Santini - ***½

“YEAH THIS IS RICO SPEAKING. R, I, C, O, RICO, LITTLE CAESAR THAT’ WHO!” yelled Rico (Edward G. Robinson) reacting to what he read in the papers as quoted by Sergeant Flaherty (Thomas Jackson) that he was “Yellow” in the 1930 produced film “Little Caesar” which according to many historians was the first of Warner Bros.-First National’s ongoing ‘social conscience’ gangster dramas of the 1930s. It also helped define the true gangster film by allegorizing the beginning of prohibition era since the film was actually produced 11 years after the still ongoing incident and during the Great Depression.

After nearly more than 75 years after production I side with those who praised this film as still being a monumental masterpiece. Because I think the film contains brilliant exercise in extensive paranoia about self-ambition during America’s fragile economy. During production of this film however, based on a novel by W.R. Burnett, financial consciences forced WB-FN to shoot it on a shoestring budget; nevertheless it succeeded in making valuable dignity that led studio boss Jack Warner realize that quantity and quality are not the same. Therefore I agree with many others that the Mervyn LeRoy directed gem is a lot more than what it seems to be.

This film, inspired not only by Burnett’s novel but also by real-life gangster Al Capone’s chronicles, invented the ‘Italian Mobster’ stereotype where the character has his own rise and fall and although Edward G. Robinson was not potentially typecast in the role, it’s somewhat still what people might prefer identifying Mr. Robinson with. Anyway, Robinson who was already 37 at the time and not carrying matinee-idol looks, became a full-fledged movie star nonetheless.

Caesar Enrico Bandello is small time crook that goes on sticking up gas stations in the company of a reluctant partner Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. only 20 years old at the time). Joe eventually goes to Chicago to go back to his dancing career where he meets Olga (Glenda Farrell) while Rico goes on in the organized crime business and loving it. The truth is that Rico is really more psychotic than any other mob boss and that leads him to many successful criminal incidents that however eventually leads to his decline by the syndicate-raiding police. During the cops’ last crusade with Rico he hides behind an advertisement that features Joe and Olga for a dinner event where the falling gangster is shot and later mutters whiningly “Mother of mercy! Is this the end of Rico?” not wanting to end his crime career that way after enjoying it.

Audiences reacted to Rico being executed by the force as a closing towards the tensions of the great depression. And because of the limitations with the film’s struggling development which was not dumbed down, however, by the Hays Code before being enforced, “Little Caesar” had a derogatory portrayal of crime syndicates to the extreme. With all of its allegorical nature, it’s considered by many as a conclusion for Wall Street’s collapse caused by everything that happens in this movie, and rightfully so. That’s what makes this film one of the finest films of the early sound era because unlike most inferior talking preceding films this one is more pessimistically realistic with everything Rico does in the film from slaughtering innocent people to crushing the society that he wants to take over ruthlessly until his deserving fall in the end of the movie.

Le Samourai (1967)

LE SAMOURAI (1967)
By Ralph Santini - ****

One the finest crime dramas of the 1960s (if not of all time), Jean Pierre Melville’s visually exciting gem “Le Samourai” is an absolute must see. It is deservedly quiet unlike otherwise no-brainer crime dramas that make far less impact than this. This is a different kind of crime drama where we stay focus on the film’s gripping anti-hero, Jef Costello (a winning performance by Alain Delon). He is a quiet young assassin for hire who at the beginning goes to do a job for a group of mobsters to kill a nightclub owner telling him “I just want to kill you”. Costello does so and he does his best by finding an Alibi in case he gets arrested for murder, by changing cars, license plates, hiding out his gloves and weapons, even by visiting briefly the building with the apartment his fiancée lives in.

But that’s not all what this magical character can do, every time he gets out of his renting room, as stated by Roger Ebert in his 1997 review when the film was rereleased in his Chicago hometown, he simply  “puts on his fedora, adjusting the brim with delicate precision, and goes out into the street” (1997 par. 1). Another statement by Roger Ebert towards this film is that “like a painter or a musician, a filmmaker can suggest complete mastery with just a few strokes. Jean-Pierre Melville involves us in the spell of "Le Samourai" (1967) before a word is spoken. He does it with light: a cold light, like dawn on an ugly day. And color: grays and blues. And actions that speak in place of words” (1997 par. 2). 

Sometimes we do need motion pictures to start the first 15 minutes without any dialogue, because excellent films like this makes them passionate. We have been through thousands of inferior films that start with sometimes too much dialogue and sometimes that can be boring. Do you know what happens in this film before any dialogue in this film is spoken? Well, in the same quiet beginning, Costello, steals a car, drives it down a dirty little street directly to an obscure hideout of a garage and then the door opens. After that he hides the car where its mechanic changes the front license plates while Costello is waiting patiently by smoking. The mechanic finishes the job, and he hands him not a friendly handshake but a six gun and Costello puts it in his pocket. Then Costello gives the mechanic the cash and then he just drives away. There is not one use of dialogue in this absolutely remarkable sequence.

Delon was barely in his early 30s when he made this film and he was still a good looking young man. In fact he was so good looking that the appeal in his face had to be dubbed “Poker” because his character of Jef Costello is not an angel whatsoever. Like I mentioned earlier, Costello has killed a businessman in cold blood, which can mean his freedom since this serious murder degree is against the law which in those days meant execution. In fact film critic David Thomson said that Delon was a "beautiful destructive angel of the dark street".

More details in the incredible story of Jef Costello is that he would be arrested to be taken to a routine checkup. However there are certains speculations by the witnesses some of them lying, others wanting to denounce him to justice. This would eventually lead the police to reluctantly free Costello but eventually after the crime boss finds out about his arrest he decides to betray him with murder. Not only he has to face those traitors but also the police force who chase him all the way through the Paris Metro. However he is aided by two women, first his young and beautiful fiancée (played by Delon’s then wife Nathalie) who would do anything to hide him out even if it means a perjury charge that might give her only a certain prison sentence.

The other woman is black pianist named Valerie (wonderfully portrayed by Caty Rosier) who previously lied to the police during the lineup and then find themselves with each other in a car conversation but she feels regrets by asking him “why did you kill my boss, what kind of a gentleman are you?”. This might lead us to a mystery without explanations on why she did all that in the whole story. Maybe it’s because she wanted to help him or simply because she knows the gang that ordered the businessman’s murder so nothing can happen to her if there is a screw-up during the job. Anyway this description can tell us how great the story of this film is told. It is perfectly flawless and devoid of routine elements.

“Le Samourai” is an extraordinarily compelling motion picture. It is by far one of director Jean-Pierre Melville’s finest masterpieces and marks one of Delon’s seminal performances throughout his entire career. It also explains why the filmmaker is among one of the finest filmmaker’s of French Cinema because he knows how to take things seriously with his stories. The minimal use of dialogue in this film is also fascinating because it can hold you captive making you not want to forget this refreshing use of art.

Kangaroo Jack (2003)

 

KANGAROO JACK (2003)

By Ralph Santini – ½

The movie opens in the wild outback of Australia with a nice looking environment, a fact I’m reporting because I happen to love looking at the continent’s landscape and that’s the only thing I liked in this movie. It looks absolutely wonderful. It also tries to behave like a small traveling TV advert, which we make us wish to go on a cool journey down under. The concept of going on a cool journey down under would a lot more fun than everything this movie. 

“Kangaroo Jack” is awful. It hurts above common awfulness as the monitor lizard successfully preys upon the frill-necked lizard. It is absolutely devoid of laughs. No laughs whatsoever. I felt no humor at all. I don’t know whether this contained any laughs at all. I believe this work was merely an awful idea from the start, and no screenplay, no filmmaker, no acting talent could have rescued it.

The story involves a young Italian-American hairdresser (Jerry O’Connell) from Brooklyn and his African-American sidekick (Anthony Anderson), whom he befriended after he saved the hero’s life when they were children they eventually become 20 years both being victims of a chase over a stolen truck he uses to bring stolen TV sets to mobsters. Eventually caught in the same truck by the cops, they begin a wild-goose chase which is extended in the steel mill where the mobsters were waiting for the TV sets they were stealing. It all leads to obviously disastrous results where the hero’s stepfather (a hopelessly one performance by Christopher Walken) is annoyingly upset over this botched chase.  So what happens?

Walken gives his stepson and sidekick only one chance to redeem themselves by sending him to Australia and pay some hit men $50,000. There is only one problem. It starts when they accidentally hit a kangaroo on the road down under and they decide to cradle it with the idiotic sidekick giving his red jacket and with the hero’s sunglasses they seem to think he resembles one of Christopher Walken’s thugs. And guess what? When the Kangaroo regains consciousness he hops away it is revealed that the money is in that jacket. That’s right. They lose the money to the kangaroo and they must chase it before everything is too late.

There is not one single witty moment in this film. Not one. Even the CGI special effects of The Kangaroo aren’t funny, and I don’t think I enjoyed any part of it at all, unless it was meant to show CGI-assisting acting hilariously almost being hurt. The only good thing about this kangaroo is that screenplay doesn’t focus much on that marsupial. The biggest disadvantage in that is that kids might be ripped off when they’ll notice that in this film.