Edward G. Robinson made 14 films between 1930 and 1932. Robinson went to Universal for "Night Ride" (1930) and MGM for "A Lady to Love" (1930) directed by Victor Sjöström. At Universal he was in "Outside the Law" and "East Is West" (both 1930), then he did "The Widow from Chicago" (1931) at First National. Robinson was established as a film actor. What made him a star was an acclaimed performance as the gangster Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello in "Little Caesar" (1931) at Warner Bros. Robinson signed a long term contract with Warners. They put him in another gangster film, "Smart Money" (1931),
Outside the Law (1920 film) Outside the Law (1920 film) Outside the Law is a 1920 American crime film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney. Browning would remake the film in 1930 with a pre-"Little Caesar" Edward G. Robinson in Chaney's role as a gang leader. "Outside the Law" is considered to be one of the first psychologically driven films in the gangster genre. The picture was the second film on which Browning worked with Lon Chaney. The contrasting dual roles Browning wrote for Chaney as a heroic Chinese servant and an evil gangster are considered to have solidified the long-lasting collaboration between