Member-only story
Edward G. Robinson, the Gentleman Gangster
Edward G. Robinson’s 1930 portrayal of gangster Caesar “Rico” Bandello in the film Little Caesar created the prototype for the modern movie gangster. Though he lacked physical stature and leading man good looks, Robinson acted with an authority and passion that dominated the screen. His portrayal of Rico was so ruthless and realistic that many actual gangsters adopted his mannerisms of chomping down on a cigar and snarling orders out of the side of their mouth. When Rico is machine-gunned down in the final scene, he utters his famous dying line, “Mother of mercy! Is this the end of Rico?” This moment triggers the age of the movie gangster.
Robinson was born Emanuel Goldenberg in 1893 Romania. These were the days of anti-Jewish pogroms and Robinson’s older brother was struck in the head by a rock during an anti-Semitic “schoolyard game.” Years later, his brother died from the effects of the blow. To escape persecution, Robinson’s family scraped together funds for passage to America. “At Ellis Island I was born again,” Robinson said. “Life for me began at age 10.”
As a teenager, Robinson hoped to become a rabbi or a criminal lawyer “to defend human beings who were abused or exploited.” He entered City College in New York and discovered acting. At age 19, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Art and changed his last name to Robinson. He acted in the Yiddish Theater and moved to Broadway.
After Little Caesar, Robinson became typecast in Warner Brothers gangster films. He acted beside James Cagney in Smart Money and with Humphrey Bogart in A Slight Case of Murder. His favorite performance came in Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet where he played a scientist who discoveres the cure for syphilis. He hated watching himself on screen thinking he resembled “a miniature gargoyle.”
Off screen, Robinson was a distinguished man of kindness and courtesy. In the lead-up to World War II, he donated more than $250,000 to anti-Fascist charity groups. He was one of the first actors to become an outspoken critic of Nazism. In 1938, he hosted the Committee of 56, a group of renowned filmmakers calling for a boycott of German-made…
