Little Caesar. 1931. USA. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Screenplay by Francis Faragoh, based on the novel by W. R. Burnett. With Edward G. Robinson, Glenda Farrell, Douglas Fairbanks
. Jay Leyda writes, “The conscious moralizing of Little Caesar should not be overlooked. The film contains a motivating introduction and a reformist conclusion that are not indicated in Burnett’s more objective original, modelled on the undecorated and understated story-telling of Hemingway’s The Killers. This reformist approach, perhaps for the purpose of quieting censorship, is even more prominent in The Public Enemy, where Cagney’s rise from slum-boy to gang-leader tells a more closely knit story and moral.”