Precioso Ridículo

Although the early sound era presented some problems - such as stationary camera shots with the actors nailed to their marks, and minimal use of background music resulting in long stretches of torpor - by 1931 most of these bugs had been corrected; thus the pre-censorship period of '31-'34 is chockfull of some of the most vigorous, creative and satisfying movies of Hollywood's Golden Age, however little-known many of them may be. LITTLE GIANT is one such hidden gem. A lightning-paced gangster comedy from the Warner-First National studio (where speed and economy were stylistic hallmarks), it's fast, funny and flippant in a manner that the decayed virgins of the Hays Office would render, if not impossible, at least awfully difficult after '34. Edward G Robinson plays Bugs Ahearn, a Chicago bootlegger put out of business by Prohibition's repeal, who decides to relocate to California and buy his way into society. Once there, he's immediately preyed upon by the type of 'respectable' vipers & parasites his background has left him ill-equipped to recognize, let alone fend off. This 'fish-out-of-water' comedy benefits greatly from a cheerfully amoral tone and a slew of zesty performances, not least of them Mary Astor's as a busted heiress who is the only non-hood here who's on the level. The mix of slapstick and rat-a-tat verbal comedy, coming at you at fast as it does, works very well, and nobody was better at this kind of hectic farce than the woefully-underrated Roy del Ruth, who was one of a number of sure & steady craftsmen who hit their peaks only under the Warners' aegis. In Del Ruth's case, the coming of the Code (and his subsequent move to MGM) proved to be disastrous: though he continued to direct till the late 50s, his post-Warners work was so drained of zest and inspiration that he is hardly remembered at all today. Even the auteurist crowd dismisses him as a competent hack. But do yourself a favor and seek out everything he did prior to 1935, and you'll be rewarded with a body of work that will surprise you with its cynical bite and confident staging. They play as well today as they did the day they opened. (Highly recommended, besides GIANT, are BLESSED EVENT, LADY KILLER, EMPLOYEES ENTRANCE & TAXI.)

Little Giant, The (1933)

*** (out of 4)

When F.D.R. gets elected President, Chicago bootlegger Bugs Ahearn (Edward G. Robinson) decides to get out of the business. He heads off to California where he plans on crashing into society and he thinks he's doing a good job but he doesn't realize that his love (Helen Vinson) is actually from a corrupt family that is just using him. THE LITTLE GIANT isn't a perfect movie and it's not really that funny either but it's impossible not to fall for its charm and especially the charm of Robinson. Most people will always remember Robinson for his tough guy roles but if you dig deeper into his filmmography you will see that he was actually able to play just about any type of character. This film is without question a spoof of his tough image but it works so well because you can believe Robinson in the part of the gangster but also believe him in the sillier stuff where he's trying to be a gentleman. There are some very good moments scattered throughout the film but I think the real highlight is in the final ten-minutes once Robinson realizes what has happened and he decides to bring a little Chicago out West. Vinson is also very good in her supporting role as she has no problem playing this brat and we get nice work from Russell Hopton and Kenneth Thomson. Mary Astor is also extremely charming as the woman who falls for Robinson, although he doesn't know it at first. Both actors are so good together that the film actually drags a bit when they're not together. Fans of Robinson or the Warner gangster pictures are certainly going to want to check this out just to see the studio and star spoofing themselves.

And yet it is in one of the Warner Gangster DVD packs. This is one of those bizarre results from the whipsaw of events - age of DVD, great recession and resulting death of DVD, economic recovery and age of Blu and streaming -that put this relatively obscure film on DVD but leaves the three Show Boat films unrestored and in the Warner Archive. But I digress.

It may be obscure, but it is definitely worth your time. This is a comedy about a gangster, not a gangster film, as I said in my title. Robinson plays Bugs Ahearne, a Chicago gangster at the time of Roosevelt's 1932 election and, by extension, the death of prohibition. Ahearne is wise in that he sees the age of the mob and easy money from bootleg liquor is over, and divides his profits among his gang. Ahearne himself winds up with 1.25 million dollars. Multiply that by about 20 to get today's amount.

Ahearne has been planning for this day, and he has been reading the classics and improving himself. He plans to retire to California and become part of polite society. The problem is, outside of reading, Bugs has never talked to or known any society people in his life. Just like you can't learn to drive a car by just reading books, Bugs doesn't realize he sticks out like a sore thumb.

He also makes the mistaken calculation that people of "breeding" - whatever that is supposed to mean - and culture can be depended upon to be on the level, whether their motives are good or maybe not. Yet he is fooling the society people by pretending to be somebody else, wanting to leave his gangster roots behind. The result is an absolutely hilarious comedy of manners with tons of precode one liners, many of which I cannot repeat even in 2019.

And if you never thought Edward G. Robinson and Mary Astor could have great chemistry, maybe even be considered a comedy team, guess again. With great supporting performances. With a great understated performance by Russell Hopton as Robinson's best friend, who can't imagine life without the mob and tags along with "Bugs" for the ride. I guarantee you will never see polo as the same game again. Highly recommended.

The Little Giant (1933)

By 1933 the gangster genre was in full blown maturity, and Warner Bros. Along with Edward G. Robinson were key to that. This is a lesser known movie but still a good one, two years after his phenomenal "Little Caesar." This time, they thought the genre had room for comedy, and it doesn't always take off. Robinson is good, and Mary Astor is also good in a very different way, though not always on the same page as Robinson.

Mostly this is part of the larger picture-there are better Warner Bros gangster films, but this one holds its own.

My main reason for seeing 'The Little Giant' was to see fine actor Edward G. Robinson, who was in many great films and always a bright spot, in an early role. A role that was also a relatively different one, with him in comedy it was very different from his tough guy image, so it was interesting to see how he would fare in this regard. Another interest point was the film being one of the first gangster comedies.

'The Little Giant' turned out to be something of a little gem, nothing little about it. Found myself really entertained and relaxed watching it, with the odd shock/surprise thrown into the mix, and it is a shame that 'The Little Giant' is not known more than it is. It won't be one of my favourite films any time soon and won't consider it one of the greats, but it is not very well known at all these days, when there are films that are not particularly good yet make a lot of money and in some cases are popular, and obscurity is where it should be nowhere near close to being near or in. There is so much right with 'The Little Giant' and the not so good things are both barely any and not big at all.

Would have liked 'The Little Giant' to have been longer, an hour and a quarter seemed rather too on the brief side.

Helen Vinson is ever so slightly on the bland side but only in comparison with everybody else.

Robinson however is terrific, he is immensely gifted when it comes to the comic timing and he also gives the right amount of intensity when necessary. He has great chemistry with the cast, namely the very charming and zesty Mary Astor and with Russell Hopton, also very good. The characters are both interesting in personality and worth investing with. Roy DelRuth directs briskly, never allowing the energy or tension of the storytelling to slip (the film being full of both).

Just as good was the tightly structured and sharply witty script, that also had some remarkably ahead of its time content that one is shocked is in the film, the amoral tone likewise. The production values are slick and don't look as though they were made without enthusiasm or care. The film is always engaging and with never a dull spot.

Overall, a little gem. 8/10 Bethany Cox