Mervyn LeRoy

 Mervyn LeRoy




Little Caesar (1931)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)




RANKED:


3. Little Caesar (1931)


Despite Josef von Sternberg making the very first 'gangster' movie in 1928 with the silent "Underworld," it was Mervyn LeRoy's 1931 pre-code sound picture "Little Caesar" that fully initiated the genre in its aesthetically pure form. Starring Edward G. Robinson as a small-time crook who makes his way up the latter of the criminal world, "Little Caesar" was a huge commercial success and skyrocketed the gangster genre into a premium business model for studios. 




2. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)


Of all the Depression-era musicals, "Gold Diggers of 1933" is perhaps the pinnacle. Carrying the same musical structure of the 1919 Broadway play, the film finds four aspiring actresses manipulating two rich men into funding their new stage show. Despite early 1930s musicals being an escape from the Great Depression, "Gold Diggers of 1933" uses this landscape within its framework. On top of this, the Busby Berkeley musical numbers are some of the most vibrant visuals of a musical number you've ever seen.




1. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)


It is a little surprising that Warner Brothers Studios produced "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" in 1932, given its bleak subject matter as well as its criticism of real-world prison systems. Even if the studio got sued for its nasty, albeit correct, depiction of the harsh and cruel treatment of prisoners, they still managed to produce a film both critically and commercially successful. Based on an autobiographical account by Robert E. Burns, the film follows a protagonist who is wrongfully convicted of a crime and sentenced to 10 years on a Georgia chain gang. Despite escaping, he is continued to be hunted down, even after years of being a stand-up citizen. The film was so influential, American audiences began to question the legitimacy of the U.S. legal system. As I said earlier, it's a miracle how this film got made.


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