Edward G. Robinson was one of the kings of early gangster cinema (along with Jimmy Cagney, George Raft, and their second banana, Humphrey Bogart).Things changed in a decade, with old-style crime movies fading, replaced by war movies and Film Noir, and elevating Bogart over the other three. But most of Robinson’s best films came after his biggest fame. His gangster roles quickly became clichés and many of his early performances barely varied from the impersonator’s over-the-top imitations. By the end of the ’30s Robinson was using his persona in comedies or to give a meta meaning to his parts, and that worked. Of his top 8 films, only 1 is a straight ’30s gangster film.
I expect big fans of Robinson (and I wonder how many of those are reading this) will be displeased with my top 8 as it doesn’t include either of the Fritz Lang Noirs, The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street. Both have great casts, good dialog, interesting characters, meaningful themes, and generally good plots. But both are unsatisfying due to poor (and in the case of the first, horrible) endings. The production code-sanctified ending for Scarlet Street saps the strength from the film. And the ending for The Woman in the Window… It takes effort to so efficiently destroy a film in only a few minutes.
An honorable mention for his cameo in Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)—good enough to make the list, but I require more than a few seconds of screen time.
8 – The Sea Wolf (1941) – As 8th favorite I’d go with Brother Orchid, but The Sea Wolf is a more weighty film, that takes Jack London’s philosophical work and uses it as metaphor for the fascism taking over Europe.
7 – Little Caesar (1931) – A good film, but it is so over the top, so over-acted, that it is impossible for me to take seriously. Still, it is a must-see as one of THE gangster movies of the 1930s.
6 – The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) – Robinson stars with Bogart with a script by John Huston in a light comedy that has Robinson playing a scientist who wants to study crime, so becomes a crime lord.
5 – Larceny, Inc. (1942) – The second crime comedy on this list, but this one is less crime, more comedy. Robinson and his gang take over a luggage store in order to tunnel into the bank next door and turn out way more successful than planned at selling luggage.
4 – Key Largo (1948) – A movie given extra power from its casting. Robinson plays a washed up gangster, trying to return. Bogart is a man broken by life and Lauren Bacall is the young, clever beauty who could give him a reason to live. It’s incredibly meta. The best performance goes to Claire Tevor as the aging, alcoholic moll. [Also on the Humphrey Bogart List]
3 – The Ten Commandments (1956) – It is all loud and colorful, and for that you need actors who are louder and more colorful than life. Robinson fits that. He’s 5th or 6th banana in a cast of loud, colorful stars and it’s all good. Sometimes you want subtlety. Sometimes you don’t. This is bluster as art. [Also on both the Vincent Price List and the Charlton Heston list]
2 – Double Indemnity (1944) – A masterpiece. One of the top Film Noirs and a strangely comedic bit of pure cynicism. Fred MacMurry and Barbara Stanwyck are the stars, but Robinson is superb as the closest thing the world of Double Indemnity has to a good man. (Full review) [Also on the Barbara Stanwyck list]
1 – Soylent Green (1973) – A film where the ending has eclipsed the fame of the movie in general, and that’s sad as there’s so much good in Soylent Green. The relationship between Charlton Heston’s Thorn and Robinson’s Sol is the heart of the film, and gives us both actors’ finest performances. This is one of the great science fiction films that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. [Also on the Charlton Heston list]