Little Caesar (1931), along with Public Enemy (1931) and Scarface (1931), helped to establish the gangster film genre of the Depression-era. Its star Edward G. Robinson, as well as Public Enemy star James Cagney, would become famous for portraying these iconic, charismatic film gangsters.
These films, however, drew frequent protest for their perceived glorification of these immoral, violent men. The decision was made in 1934 to toughen up the Hays Production Code with Joe Breen and change the emphasis in gangster films from bad guy to good guy. Stars like Cagney and Robinson would be playing the cops instead of the robber. Criminals would receive on screen justice. The first picture of this type was G-Men (1935) in which James Cagney played a F.B.I. agent battling gangsters. After the success of the film, Warner Brothers went about doing the same for Edward G. Robinson’s on-screen persona. The result is Bullets or Ballots (1936.)
Al Kruger (Barton MacLane) and his right-hand man Nick “Bugs” Fenner (Humphrey Bogart) are the top mobsters in town. They control the rackets and make sure that their superiors, who are only known by Kruger, have a constant cash flow. What they can’t control is the mouth and words of anti-racketeer crusader Ward Bryant (Henry O’Neill). When he gets too vocal in his attack on crime, Bugs kills him against Kruger’s wishes.
This only adds fuel to the fire and a police crackdown on the mob is initiated. Captain Dan McLaren (Joseph King) is put in charge of the operation. One of his first acts on the job is to weed out the cops who don’t fit in his plans. This includes his friend Johnny Blake (Edward G. Robinson), an aging detective who takes pride in making the gangsters tip their hats to him. Shocked and hurt by this betrayal, Blake accepts a long-standing offer to work for Kruger and the rackets.
This upsets not only Bugs, who has always loathed Blake, but Blake’s friend Lee (Joan Blondell), a cabaret owner and numbers runner. Of course, it is revealed early on that Blake has really gone undercover and is trying to ferret out the mysterious leaders that Kruger works for. This sets into motion a slew of double crosses and manipulations.
Given that this is a code picture, much of what happens can be seen from a mile away. Despite that, the film works well, mostly due to its remarkable cast and even manages to sneak in some progressive themes. Robinson brings his vocal and physical swagger to a conventional part and makes Blake an original. Much like his Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity (1944), Blake is a stubborn fighter for law and order. Bogie, in one of his many early Warner hood roles, brings a cool menace to Bugs.
He is meant to represent the gangster of a fading past; one that reacts with violence with little thought about consequence or the big picture. The scenes where he and Robinson face off are legendary. Barton MacLane, who also had made a career of playing heavies, plays one of his more sympathetic ones in the world-weary Kruger who is representative of the new, slick, big business, corporate gangster. He knows that he has a great job; but he also knows that it’s the last job he’ll ever have. When he receives his justice, one almost feels sorry for him.
Blondell, unfortunately, is wasted in a role that basically amounts to a naïve, easily manipulated woman on the outside looking in. She reportedly had several fights with Warner Brothers’ brass over the limitations of her role. She is given the subplot of being a numbers runner but due to her pliability, it seems far-fetched. The most interesting aspect of her character is the numbers operation that she runs along with Louise Beavers.
This was truly progressive, having an African-American actress (Beavers) in the role of a numbers runner. In typical racist fashion of the time, unfortunately, she is Blondell’s former hairdresser and is given dialogue where she says that she’d rather go back to fixing Blondell’s hair.
In true code fashion, Robinson is still allowed to knock people on their asses (fitting with his tough-guy persona) but since he is a cop, it is alright to root for him. Little Caesar is now a cop but he can still play a gangster literally and figuratively. You know from the beginning that the bad guys will all be punished by the end. There is even the sense that the code and its religious zealots lead by Joe Breen factors into Blake’s ultimate fate just for pretending to be a gangster. Ironically, it does give the film a tragic feel to it but it’s doubtful that Joe Breen cared about that.
There is, however, a wonderfully subversive theme that runs throughout the film involving gangsters and crime becoming more corporate in strategy and style. Capitalism is shown as having a criminal element, especially when the identities of the crime kingpins are revealed. Of course, this being the depression-era, maybe their day jobs shouldn’t come as a big shock to anyone.
Director William Keighley and writer Seton I. Miller, both of whom held their respective job titles on G-Men, seem to have figured out how to get away with inserting a little more personality in this film under the noses of Breen and the production code. As was expected of a code film like G-Men, Bullets or Ballots is typical, swift (82 minutes) and by-the-numbers in its dispersal of justice.
However, Bullets or Ballots can also be seen as a biting critique on the intermingling of class structure, capitalism, and crime. This underlying theme along with Robinson and Bogie facing off make the film memorable and a notch above the code–driven “crime fighter” film of its day.
The wonderful package of extras includes Warner Night at the Movies 1936 which contains a trailer for 1936’s The Charge of the Light Brigade with Errol Flynn, a vintage newsreel, a live-action musical short George Hall and His Orchestra, and the cartoon I’m A Big Shot Now.
These are the types of pre-film attractions one would’ve seen at the time. Including them here gives it a wonderfully nostalgic feel. There is also the 10- minute vintage featurette How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No.10: Trouble Shots in which the legendary golfer shows Edward G. Robinson, Joe E. Brown, and Douglas Fairbanks some golf tricks, There is the humorous Breakdowns of 1936 where you can see Bogie, Robinson, Bette Davis, Peter Lorre, and Leslie Howard screw up their lines.
Also included is a trailer for Bullets or Ballots and an audio-only treat of a 4/16/1939 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast of the film. It is amazing to listen to and runs a few minutes short of an hour. Both Robinson and Bogart reprise their roles with Mary Astor (Bogie’s femme fatale in The Maltese Falcon - 1941) reading Joan Blondell’s part.
A new 20-minute featurette, Gangsters: The Immigrant’s Hero features interviews by several film scholars, directors Martin Scorsese and Larry Cohen, writer Nicholas Pileggi, and actors Michael Madsen and Talia Shire discussing the American gangster in the depression era 30s and their appeal to immigrants. They also go into minor profiles on James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson, the two film actors most associated with the gangster film genre.
Rounding out the extras is an informative and fascinating commentary by film historian Dana Polan in which he details everything having to do with the film including its origins, development, major differences between the script and the final cut, as well as its different thematic interpretations.
Bullets or Ballots is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information. The film is also part of the Warner Bros. Tough Guys Collection which is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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