This is an important talkie, I think. Edward G. Robinson (was there another Edward Robinson that made G. become the Daniel J. Travanti of his day?) rises from Rico the street hood to the top of the crime food chain, and then back down he goes. It anticipates by a few years Paul Muni’s Scarface and all those Cagney movies like The Public Enemy and White Heat. I couldn’t really get into it, however. I did notice some pre-Hays Code insinuations about Rico’s non-hetero leanings, but other than that I feel like I’ve seen this movie a few times in a few better ways, even if this one came first.

Jessica noticed that what appeared to be ceilings in low-angled shots were actually just extensions of the backdrop painted trompe l’oeil. It was an interesting effect, apparently abandoned soon after this film, because you don’t see much in the way of movie set ceilings again, or even low-angle shots (due to the pesky intrusion of overhead lights and booms and the like), until Citizen Kane ten years later.

It’s a short movie at 80 minutes. There was barely time for any “pizza pizza” jokes from the peanut gallery.