Michael O'Keefe Very good crime drama. The gangster with the big ego, small in stature, Joe Krozac(Edward G. Robinson)in spite of all the crime associated with him... goes to prison for ten years on a tax evasion charge. He previously brought back a wife Talya(Rose Stradner)from the old world. As he enters lock up he finds out she is pregnant. In prison Krozac is not the "mister big shot" he has been so accustomed to. For ten tears he is obsessed with meeting his son. While away his wife has divorced him and married a newspaper writer(James Stewart). She has also renamed her son. Krozac is released and his old gang roughs him up and humiliates him trying to find the location of his hidden money. They kidnap his son, since a beating doesn't get the results they want. Joe manages to return the boy home, but bonding is not successful. Very good atmospheric scenes. I most enjoyed the last several minutes of the movie that is shot in the rain. Robinson is always a top notch gangster. Stradner is neither attractive or effective. The young boy Douglas Scott is way too prissy to be interesting. Stewart is yet the big star. Others in the cast: Lionel Stander, John Carradine, Frank Conroy and Alan Baxter.

bkoganbing MGM imported Edward G. Robinson over from Warner Brothers to star in The Last Gangster. Robinson brought over his Little Caesar character with him for this film.Imagine if you will Little Caesar going back to the old country and importing a wife. We don't see anything of the courtship of Robinson and his bride Rose Stradner. My guess is that Robinson wants a dutiful stay at home wife to raise his children and the Twenties flappers that he would encounter in the illegal booze business don't fill that bill.Anyway to say Rose is fresh off the farm is an understatement. She hasn't a clue what Robinson is involved in. And when Robinson goes off to Alcatraz like another well known mobster of the era for income tax evasion, she doesn't know what to make of it.In the criminal business it's impossible to be nice to those on the way up, so when you're on the way down, it's a given people are going to dump all over you. A concept Robinson can't quite get into his head. But that's what happens.The loyalest person to him is Stradner, but Robinson in no uncertain terms tells her the only function she has is to raise HIS son to whom she's given birth. After that Stradner takes up with James Stewart who plays a newspaper reporter and she marries him.After Robinson serves his ten year stretch the story takes a maudlin and rather unrealistic turn. I won't say any more lest you care to see it the next time it's broadcast.I think Edward G. Robinson knew what kind of inferior material he was in so he simply reverted to type and snarled his way through the film. James Stewart was certainly up and coming at MGM at this time, but he's given very little to do in the film, but be Rose's faithful second husband.Best performances in the film are that of Lionel Stander as Robinson's number two guy who is not someone you want as a friend and Alan Baxter as the surviving brother of a family that Robinson ordered a hit on.The sad thing was that at Warner Brothers Robinson was desperately trying to expand his range of parts and when he gets a loan-out assignment it's more of the same.

MartinHafer This is an excellent gangster film from the 1930s and the only major surprised is that this film was NOT made by Warner Brothers--a studio that held Edward G. Robinson's contract AND made a habit of making LOTS of gangster films. However, in this case, he was loaned out to MGM and it's one of the few gangster films from this glossier and slightly more prestigious studio. Well, the end result is difficult to distinguish from the Warner product--except that the supporting characters differ (Frank McHugh, Alan Jenkins, Humphrey Bogart and Barton MacLane are nowhere to be seen). And, saying that it resembled a Warner film is NOT a criticism--as Warner had perfected this style of film and always entertained.Edward G. is the head of a crime syndicate--much like Al Capone. And, like Capone, he is eventually sent to prison for tax evasion. His foreign-born and raised wife is pregnant and Edward's son is born a short time later. At first, the wife believes all of Robinson's claims that it "was all a setup--I ain't done nuthin' wrong". But, later when she meets reporter Jimmy Stewart, she realizes her hubby is pond scum and decides to leave him and start a brand new life for herself and her baby.Ten years pass and Edward is STILL a blow-hard who plans on leaving prison and picking up with his family as if nothing had occurred. However, they are in hiding and Robinson is in for a few other surprises. The film's final ten minutes or so do an excellent job of tying it all together.

C.K. Dexter Haven Starts out OK, obviously patterned on Capone's downfall resulting in him being shipped off to Alcatraz. And for about 10 minutes once Robinson gets there this promised to be a gripping gangster drama. But does it all slide downhill quick after that, turning into a bowl of sentimental slop about his redemption over the love of his son who is born while he's off to the bighouse.Robinson does a stalwart enough tough guy turn here, but he's just doing what he did in his sleep back then, so the film cannot be recommended on his performance alone. It's a bad film. Very hackneyed script that fails its promise. James Stewart fans won't consider this his finest hour either. He's stuck in a contrived part as Robinson's ex wife's new hubby. The scene where he first meets her has to be seen to be believed. Then there's that Clark Gable moustache he's forced to wear after the story jumps ahead 10 years. His embarrassment shows.Unless you're on a mission to see everything Edward G. or Jimmy Stewart ever appeared in, this one's really only good for a laugh.