On this day in movie history - Little Caesar (1931 movie & books):

Little Caesar

directed by Mervyn LeRoy,

written by Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert N. Lee, Robert Lord and Darryl F. Zanuck,

based on the novel by W. R. Burnett,

was released in the United States on January 25, 1931.
Music by Erno Rapee, Leo F. Forbstein and David Mendoza.

Cast:

Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, William Collier Jr., Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Ince, Stanley Fields, Maurice Black, George E. Stone, Armand Kaliz, Nicholas Bela, Ernie Adams, Elmer Ballard, Ferike Boros, Kernan Cripps, George Daly, Adolph Faylauer, Ben Hendricks Jr., Al Hill, Lucille La Verne, Gladys Lloyd, Noel Madison, Tom McGuire, Louis Natheaux, Henry Sedley, Larry Steers, Landers Stevens, Mike Tellegen.

Recommended reading:

Little Caesar

By W.R. Burnett.

ASIN: B0012363AA

Published by Dial.

Published 1929.

Hardcover.

First edition.

Description:

Rico is a small, pale man, but he has guts, endurance and a steely single-mindedness. When Vettori sends the gang out to rob a local nightclub, Rico shoots a cop who pulls a gun on him. They get away, but Vettori is shocked. He had told Rico, no gunplay. That’s when Rico realizes that Vettori has gone soft. He’s too old to control the gang anymore. So Rico takes over. With the faithful Otero at his side, the rest of them quickly shift their allegiances. Now the world is Rico’s. It’s his gang, and he’s calling all the shots. But there is always a weak link, someone who’s ready to spill when the bulls get tough. And sooner or later the nightclub killing is bound to catch up with him.

Little Caesar

By Gerald Peary.

Edited by Tino Balio.

Published by University of Wisconsin Press.

Wisconsin / Warner Bros. Screenplays.

Published 1981.

First edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 029908454X

ISBN-13: 978-0299084547

Description:

Little Caesar, a 1931 Hollywood gangster classic, is viewed in revivals today with nearly as much audience enthusiasm as it enjoyed a half-century ago, in the depths of the Great Depression.

In general, the Hollywood film industry responded to the dark economic conditions of the 1930s with escapist and non-topical films. The fascinating exception was the gangster film, through which the studios joined in the debate over the spiritual and economic health of the nation. Little Caesar, considered by many to be an architype of the genre, is one of the most memorable dramatizations of the discontent and alienation, the deep anxiety and hostility shared by millions of Americans during those dark years.

Born on this day – Edward G. Robinson:

Edward G. Robinson

Actor

December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973

Credits:

100 Years at the Movies (1994); 1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year (2009); A Boy Ten Feet Tall (1963); A Bullet for Joey (1955); A Day at Santa Anita (1937); A Dispatch from Reuters (1940); A Hole in the Head (1959); A Lady to Love (1930); A Look at the World of SOYLENT GREEN (1973); A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! (2011); A Slight Case of Murder (1938); A Star Is Born World Premiere (1954); Actors and Sin / Segment: Actor’s Blood (1952); All About People (1967); All My Sons (1948); America After Dark (1957); America at the Movies (1976); American Masters (2008); An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee (1930); And the Oscar Goes to... (2014); Angels of Mercy (1940); Arms and the Woman (1916); At This Very Moment (1962); Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire (1991); Barbary Coast (1935); Barbra: The Concert (1994); Batman (1967); Batmania from Comics to Screen (1989); Beatles Diary (1996); Beatles Stories (2011); Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998); Behind the Tunes: Looney Tunes Go Hollywood (2004); Big Breakdowns: Hollywood Bloopers of the 1930s (1991); Big Leaguer (1953); Biography (1996–2002); Black Tuesday (1954); Blackmail (1939); Bloopermania (1987); Bloopers Galore (1989); Blow Ups of 1947 (1947); Blushing Bloopers (1990); Bracken’s World (1969–1970); Breakdowns of 1936 (1936); Breakdowns of 1939 (1940); Breakdowns of 1941 (1941); Breakdowns of 1942 (1942); Brother Can You Spare a Dime (1975); Brother Orchid (1940); Bullets or Ballots (1936); Bullets Over Hollywood (2005); Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid (2024); Celebrity Playhouse (1955); Century of Cinema (1995); Checking Out: Grand Hotel (2004); Cheyenne Autumn (1964); Classic Star Bloopers (1987); Climax! (1954); Compression (2023); Concept (1964); Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939); Curtains for Roy Earle: The Story of ‘High Sierra’ (2003); Dark Hazard (1934); Dealers in Death: Murder and Mayhem in America (1989); Destroyer (1943); Die Sehnsucht jeder Frau (1930); Dieter & Andreas (1989); Discovering Film (2015); Dome Project (2010); Double Indemnity (1944); Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (1940); East Is West (1930); Empire State Building Murders (2008); Erskine Johnson’s Hollywood Reel (1949–1952); Étoiles au soleil (1953); Eye on Art (1967); Filmmakers vs. Tycoons (2005); Five Star Final (1931); Flesh and Fantasy (1943); For the Defense (1954); Frank Capra’s American Dream (1997); Frankenpimp’s Revenge: The Romeo and Juliet Massacre (2020); Freedom Spectacular (1964); From the Ends of the Earth (1939); Frontier Justice (1961); General Electric Theater (1961); George Jessel’s Here Come the Stars (1968); Good Neighbor Sam (1964); Goodyear Theatre (1959); Grand Slam (1967); Happy Days (1970); Haunted Theaters of Hollywood (2016); Hell on Frisco Bay (1955); Here’s Hollywood (1961); Hollywood and the Stars (1963–1964); Hollywood and World War II (2019); Hollywood Greats (1979); Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983); Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972); Hollywood: The Great Stars (1963); Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998); House of Strangers (1949); How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 10: ‘Trouble Shots’ (1931); I Am the Law (1938); I Loved a Woman (1933); Illegal (1955); It’s a Great Feeling (1949); It’s Your Move (1968); Journey Together (1945); Key Largo (1948); Kid Galahad (1937); Larceny, Inc (1942); Lionpower from MGM (1967); Little Caesar (1931); Lust for Life (1956); Lux Video Theatre (1953); Mackenna’s Gold (1969); Magic Bullets (1943); Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014); Manpower (1941); Mansfield 66/67 (2017); Many Happy Returns (1964); McLean and Company (1970); Medical Center (1969); Million Dollar American Princesses (2016); Milton Berle, the Second Time Around: The Funny Fifties (1988); Mondo Hollywood: Hollywood Laid Bare! (1967); Mooch (1974); Movie Tough Guys (1991); Moviestar Cartoons (1983); Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944); Muppet Babies (1988); My Geisha (1962); Neither by Day Nor by Night (1972); Never a Dull Moment (1968); Night Gallery / Segment: The Messiah on Mott Street (1971); Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948); Nightmare (1956); Ninja the Mission Force (2012); Off to See the Wizard (1967); Okay for Sound (1946); Olympic Fund Telethon (1952); Operation X (1950); Operazione San Pietro (1967); Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945); Outside the Law (1930); Pepe (1960); Planet of the Apes Test Reel (1966); Playhouse 90 (1958); Polo with the Stars (1941); Presidential Blooper Reel (1981); Pulp Cinema (2001); Reflets de Cannes (1959); Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964); Round About Hollywood (1931); Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1971); Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in: 25th Anniversary Reunion (1993); Save Our History (1999); Scarlet Street (1945); Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 6 (1939); Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Memories (1951); Seven Thieves (1960); Silver Dollar (1932); Sing Your Song (2011); Smart Money (1931); Social Security in Action (1958–1968); Soleil vert et alerte rouge, quand Hollywood sonnait l’alarme (2022); Song of Norway (1970); Soylent Green (1973); Special Gala to Support Kennedy Campaign (1960); Star Bloopers (1979); Sunday Showcase (1960); Tales of Manhattan (1942); Tampico (1944); The $64,000 Challenge (1956); The 17th Golden Globe Awards (1960); The 1950’s: Music, Memories & Milestones (1988); The 27th Annual Academy Awards (1955); The 35th Annual Academy Awards (1963); The 36th Annual Academy Awards (1964); The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938); The American Creed (1946); The Best of Gleason 3 (1989); The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968); The Blonde from Peking (1967); The Bright Shawl (1923); The Cincinnati Kid (1965); The Detectives (1961); The DuPont Show of the Week (1961 / 1962); The Eamonn Andrews Show (1966); The Ed Sullivan Show (1956–1965); The First Gangster and the Last Gangster (1937); The Ford Television Theatre (1955); The Glass Web (1953); The Hatchet Man (1932); The Heart of Show Business (1957); The Hole in the Wall (1929); The Hollywood Palace (1965–1966); The Joey Bishop Show (1967–1969); The Kibitzer (1930); The Last Gangster (1937); The Little Giant (1933); The Lucy Show (1966); The Magical World of Disney (1979); The Man with Two Faces (1934); The Martha Raye Show (1954); The Milton Berle Show (1953); The Movie Crazy Years (1971); The Naked Archaeologist (2010); The Night Ride (1930); The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970); The Our Gang Story (1994); The Outrage (1964); The Prize (1963); The Red House (1947); The Return of Video Yesterbloop (1986); The Right Man (1960); The Rosey Grier Show (1969); The Sea Wolf (1941); The Silent Force (1970); The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1957–1960); The Stolen Jools (1931); The Stranger (1946); The Ten Commandments (1956); The Ten Commandments: Making Miracles (2011); The Tonight Show (1956); The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1963); The Twentieth Century (1959); The Violent Men (1955); The Whole Town’s Talking (1935); The Widow from Chicago (1930); The Woman in the Window (1944); The World’s Greatest Showman: The Legend of Cecil B. DeMille (1963); This Is Tom Jones (1970); This Is Your Life (1959–1960); Thunder in the City (1937); Tiger Shark (1932); Tight Spot (1955); Tonight’s Moving Picture... Cold Cash (2021); Two Seconds (1932); Two Weeks in Another Town (1962); U.S.A. (1971); Unholy Partners (1941); Vice Squad (1953); Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary: No Guts, No Glory (1998); Welcome to the Basement (2014–2018); What’s My Line? (1953–1965); What’s My Line? At 25 (1975); When the Talkies Were Young (1955); Who Has Seen the Wind? (1965); Zane Grey Theatre (1959).

On this day in movie history - The Woman in the Window (1944 movie & novel):

The Woman in the Window

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Nunnally Johnson,

based on the novel Once Off Guard, by J. H. Wallis,

was released in the United States on November 3, 1944.
Music by Arthur Lange.

Cast:

Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon, Dan Duryea, Thomas E. Jackson, Dorothy Peterson, Arthur Loft, Iris Adrian.

Recommended reading:

Once Off Guard

By J. H. Wallis.

Filmed as The Woman in the Window (1944), directed by Fritz Lang.

ASIN: B01AMRYE9S
Published by E.P. Dutton.
First Edition.
Published 1942.

On this day in movie history - Five Star Final (movie & play):

Five Star Final

directed by Mervyn LeRoy,

written by Byron Morgan, Robert Lord,

based on the play Five Star Final by Louis Weitzenkorn,

released in the United States on September 10, 1931.
Music by Leo F. Forbstein, Vitaphone Orchestra.

Cast:

Edward G. Robinson, Marian Marsh, H.B. Warner, Anthony Bushell, George E. Stone, Frances Starr, Ona Munson, Boris Karloff, Aline MacMahon, Oscar Apfel, Purnell Pratt, Robert Elliott, James P. Burtis, Richard Carlyle, Frank Darien, James Donlan, Evelyn Hall, Gladys Lloyd, Arnold Lucy, Franklin Parker, William H. Strauss, David Torrence, Harold Waldridge, Polly Walters, Jack Wise.

Recommended reading:

Five Star Final

A Melodrama in Three Acts

Play by Louis Weitzenkorn.

Filmed as Five Star Final (1931), directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

ASIN: B000GDF9TI
Published by Samuel French.
First Edition.
Published 1931.
Hardcover.

Description:

Tabloid newspaper editor publishes a 20-year-old murder case to boost newspaper sales. A decision that leads to tragedy.

On this day in movie history - Key Largo (1948):

Key Largo

directed by John Huston,

written by Richard Brooks and John Huston,

based on the play by Maxwell Anderson,

was released in the United States on July 16, 1948.
Music by Max Steiner.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez, Harry Lewis, John Rodney, Marc Lawrence, Dan Seymour, Monte Blue, William Haade, Jay Silverheels, Rodd Redwing.

On this day in movie history - Double Indemnity (1944 movie & books):

Double Indemnity

directed by Billy Wilder,

written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler,

based on the novel by James M. Cain,

was released in the United States on July 3, 1944.
Music by Miklós Rózsa.

Cast:

Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber, Raymond Chandler, Bess Flowers, Betty Farrington, Teala Loring, Sam McDaniel, Miriam Nelson, Douglas Spencer.

Recommended reading:

Double Indemnity

By James M. Cain.

Filmed as:

Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder.

Double Indemnity (1973), directed by Jack Smight.

Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.

Published 1943.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 9780679723226

ISBN-13: 9780679723226

Description:

“An American masterpiece.” – Ross Macdonald.

“No one has ever stopped reading in the middle of one of Jim Cain’s books.” – Saturday Review of Literature.

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.

Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.

Double Indemnity: The Complete Screenplay

By Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Jeffrey Meyers.

Published by University of California Press.

Published 2000.

ISBN-10: 0520218485

ISBN-13: 9780520218482

Description:

On every level -- writing, direction, acting -- Double Indemnity (1944) is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in Billy Wilder's career. Adapted from the James M. Cain novel by director Wilder and novelist Raymond Chandler, it tells the story of an insurance salesman, played by Fred MacMurray, who is lured into a murder-for-insurance plot by Barbara Stanwyck, in an archetypal femme fatale role. From its grim story to its dark, atmospheric lighting, Double Indemnity is a definitive example of World War II-era film noir. Wilder's approach is everywhere evident: in the brutal cynicism the film displays, the moral complexity, and in the empathy we feel for the killers. The film received almost unanimous critical success, garnering seven Academy Award nominations. More than fifty years later, most critics agree that this classic is one of the best films of all time. The collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler produced a masterful script and some of the most memorable dialogue ever spoken in a movie.

This facsimile edition of Double Indemnity contains Wilder and Chandler's original -- and quite different -- ending, published here for the first time. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction contextualizes the screenplay, providing hilarious anecdotes about the turbulent collaboration, as well as background information about Wilder and the film's casting and production.