Backdrop fallback

The Little Giant

The Little Giant

Share

The Little Giant

""Little Caesar" Swaps Dames for Debs...Beer Trucks for Tea Cups!"

1933

1h 16m

7.0(21 votes)

Crime

Comedy

Overview

Prohibition is ending so bootlegger Bugs Ahearn decides to crack California society. He leases a house from down-on-her-luck Ruth and hires her as social secretary. He rescues Polly Cass from a horsefall and goes home to meet her dad who sells him some phony stock certificates. When he learns about this he sends to Chicago for mob help.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

First National Pictures

The Vitaphone Corporation

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Edward G. Robinson

Edward G. Robinson

James Francis 'Bugs' / 'Jim' Ahearn

Mary Astor

Mary Astor

Ruth Wayburn

Helen Vinson

Helen Vinson

Polly Cass

Russell Hopton

Russell Hopton

Albert J. 'Al' Daniels

Kenneth Thomson

Kenneth Thomson

John Stanley

Shirley Grey

Shirley Grey

Edith Merriam

Berton Churchill

Berton Churchill

Donald Hadley Cass

Don Dillaway

Don Dillaway

Gordon Cass

Louise Mackintosh

Louise Mackintosh

Mrs. Donald Hadley Cass

Lester Dorr

Lester Dorr

Investment Clerk (uncredited)

Creative team

Directed by: Roy Del Ruth
Written by: Robert Lord
Wilson Mizner

Similar Movies

Prizzi's Honor

Prizzi's Honor

Charley Partanna is a hitman who works for the Prizzis, one of the richest crime families in the US. When he sees Irene Walker, it's love at first sight. But he soon finds that she, too, is a killer for hire. Charley can overlook his suspicions, but he can't turn off his heart. And the couple must remember that even if they love each other, the Prizzis love only money.

Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard

Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard

In the third and final episode of the trilogy, Fantômas imposes a head tax on the rich, threatening to kill those who do not comply.

American Madness

American Madness

Socially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused of robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair... all in the same day.

A Few Days with Me

A Few Days with Me

After being discharged from a mental institution, a man is tasked by his mother to revive a struggling supermarket in Limoges. He must navigate unexpected responsibilities and the challenges of managing the store's staff.

I Love You, Baby

The crook couple Peter and Gwen have run away from Germany and are dreaming of a sweet life on Mallorca. During a break-in at the villa of multimillionaire Walter Ekland, Peter discovers by chance that the old man is using a detective agency to find his son, who was given up for adoption years ago. Ekland has never seen his supposed last family member and heir and therefore does not know that he has long since died. Peter sees the great opportunity of a lifetime. He assumes the identity of the lost son in order to get his hands on the big money. But the unscrupulous Decker, a private detective who was tasked with finding Ekland's real son, discovers the fraud and blackmails Gwen and Peter...

Kiss of the Dragon

Kiss of the Dragon

Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must go into hiding and find new allies.

Raw Deal

Raw Deal

Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.

Children of Pleasure

Children of Pleasure

A successful songwriter, dazzled by high society, falls for a society girl who is just playing around.

Blue Story

Blue Story

Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.

The Whole Nine Yards

The Whole Nine Yards

After a mobster agrees to cooperate with an FBI investigation in order to stay out of prison, he's relocated by the authorities to a life of suburban anonymity as part of a witness protection program. It's not long before a couple of his new neighbours figure out his true identity and come knocking to see if he'd be up for one more hit—suburban style.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds

Dead or Alive 2: Birds

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good... much to the upset of the crime syndicates.

Monkey Business

Monkey Business

Four stowaways get mixed up with gangsters while running riot on an ocean liner.

Horse Feathers

Horse Feathers

Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley U, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against rival Darwin U.

Death Wish

Death Wish

After his wife is murdered by street punks, a pacifistic New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad, prowling the streets for would-be muggers after dark.

Through My Window

Through My Window

Raquel's longtime crush on her next-door neighbor turns into something more when he starts developing feelings for her, despite his family's objections.

Black Friday

Black Friday

University professor George Kingsley is struck by gangsters while crossing the street, leaving him with brain damage and one of the gangsters, Cannon, paralyzed. Kingsley's friend Dr. Sovac attends to both men, and when Cannon offers him a reward for aiding his recovery, Kovac transplants part of Cannon's brain into the dying Kingsley's skull, creating a dual personality.

RocknRolla

RocknRolla

When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London's criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune. Various shady characters, including Mr One-Two, Stella the accountant, and Johnny Quid, a druggie rock-star, try to claim their slice.

Death Wish II

Death Wish II

Paul Kersey is again a vigilante trying to find five punks who murdered his housekeeper and daughter in Los Angeles.

Alibi

Alibi

Chick Williams, a prohibition gangster, rejoins his mob soon after being released from prison. When a policeman is murdered during a robbery, he falls under suspicion. The gangster took Joan, a policeman's daughter, to the theater, sneaked out during the intermission to commit the crime, then used her to support his alibi. The detective squad employs its most sophisticated and barbaric techniques, including planting an undercover agent in the gang, to bring him to justice.

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers

The well-known explorer and hunter Captain Spaulding has just returned from Africa, and is being welcomed home with a lavish party at the estate of influential society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse when a valuable painting goes missing. The intrepid Captain Spaulding attempts to solve the crime with the help of his silly secretary Horatio Jamison, while sparring with the anarchic Signor Emanuel Ravelli and his nutty sidekick The Professor.

Recommended Movies

Family Plot

Family Plot

Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.

Welcome to Collinwood

Welcome to Collinwood

Five hapless inner-city low-lifes attempt to burgle a pawnbroker's safe, but end up being plagued by bad luck.

Ocean's Eight

Ocean's Eight

Debbie Ocean, a criminal mastermind, gathers a crew of female thieves to pull off the heist of the century at New York's annual Met Gala.

Robin and the 7 Hoods

Robin and the 7 Hoods

Set in Prohibition era Chicago, bootlegger Robbo and his cronies refuse to pay the greedy Guy Gisborne a cut of their profits after Guy shoots mob boss Big Jim and takes over. When Big Jim's daughter, Marian, gives Robbo a large sum, believing he has avenged her father's death, the gangster donates to an orphanage, cementing his reputation as a softhearted hood.

The Ladykillers

The Ladykillers

Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

My Blue Heaven

My Blue Heaven

FBI agent Barney Coopersmith is assigned to protect former Mafia figure turned informant Vincent Antonelli. In the witness protection program one is supposed to keep a low profile, but that is something that Antonelli has trouble doing. Coopersmith certainly has his hands full keeping Antonelli away from the Mafia hitmen who want to stop him testifying, not to mention the nightclubs...

Take the Money and Run

Take the Money and Run

Virgil Starkwell is intent on becoming a notorious bank robber. Unfortunately for Virgil and his not-so-budding career, he is completely incompetent.

A Slight Case of Murder

A Slight Case of Murder

Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with foreclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.

Fun with Dick and Jane

Fun with Dick and Jane

After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.

Ocean's Eleven

Ocean's Eleven

Danny Ocean and his gang attempt to rob the five biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night.

Pardon Us

Pardon Us

It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman.

Thunder Road

Thunder Road

Unrepentant Tennessee moonshine runner Luke Doolin makes dangerous high-speed deliveries for his liquor-producing father, Vernon, but won't let his younger brother Robin join the family business. Under pressure from both out-of-town gangster Kogan, who wants a piece of the local action, and Treasury agent Barrett, who wants to destroy the moonshine business, Luke fights for his fast-fading way of life.

National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1

National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1

An LA detective is murdered because she has microfilm with the recipe to make cocaine cookies. Two cops partner to find and stop the fiends before they can dope the nation by distributing their wares via the 'Wilderness Girls' cookie drive.

Ocean's Thirteen

Ocean's Thirteen

Danny Ocean's team of criminals are back and composing a plan more personal than ever. When ruthless casino owner Willy Bank doublecrosses Reuben Tishkoff, causing a heart attack, Danny Ocean vows that he and his team will do anything to bring down Willy Bank along with everything he's got. Even if it means asking for help from an enemy.

Swindle

Swindle

A boy named Griffin finds a valuable multi-million dollar baseball card. After accidentally selling the card for a million dollar loss, he enlists the help of his best friend Ben and his colleagues to regain the baseball card.

She Done Him Wrong

She Done Him Wrong

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more male friends than can be imagined. One is a vicious escaped criminal on the way to see 'his' girl, unaware she hasn't exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader.

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity

An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

Fletch

Fletch

When investigative reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher goes undercover to write a piece on the drug trade at a local beach, he's approached by wealthy businessman Alan Stanwyk, who offers him $50,000 to murder him. With sarcastic wit and a knack for disguises, Fletch sets out to uncover Stanwyk's story.

Weekend at Bernie's

Weekend at Bernie's

Two young insurance corporation employees try to pretend that their murdered employer is alive by puppeteering his dead body, leading a hitman to attempt to track him down to finish him off.