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When They Were Making It

When They Were Making It

Edward G. Robinson: Hollywood's Literal OG — Little Caesar, the Blacklist Era, and the Man Behind the Movie Gangster

Sep 29, 2026 · 1h 26m

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About this episode

Edward G. Robinson helped invent the modern movie gangster. As Rico Bandello in Little Caesar , he made the short, sharp-eyed criminal not only the centre of a Hollywood picture, but a defining figure in American pop culture. And in doing so, he became a star almost overnight. This episode follows Robinson from his early years as Emanuel Goldenberg, a Romanian Jewish immigrant and serious Broadway actor, through Little Caesar , the Warner Bros. gangster cycle, and his long fight to prove he could be more than Rico. Along the way came The Whole Town's Talking , Confessions of a Nazi Spy , Double Indemnity , The Woman in the Window , Scarlet Street , and Key Largo . Also along the way came…