The American Dream and the culture of appearances in Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar

Abstract Known as the precursor of the gangster sound films from this genre’s “classic” period, Little Caesar, directed by Mervyn LeRoy in 1931, narrates Rico Bandello’s (Edward G. Robinson) path from his rise as a gang leader to his death. Little Caesar established the parameters followed by the gangster films in the 1930s and also contributed to the image of the gangster as an American icon due to its dissemination through the cultural industry, mainly in terms of films. My objective with this present article is to verify through the analysis of some of the scenes how the culture of appearances and the ideology of the American Dream are configured throughout the narrative.摘要：作为该类型“经典”时期黑帮有声电影的先驱之作，1931年由梅尔文·勒罗伊（Mervyn LeRoy）执导的《小凯撒》（Little Caesar），讲述了里科·班代洛（爱德华·G·罗宾逊（Edward G. Robinson）饰）从崛起为黑帮头目直至最终殒命的人生历程。《小凯撒》确立了1930年代黑帮电影所遵循的创作范式，同时凭借文化产业（主要为影视领域）的传播，助力黑帮形象成为美国标志性文化符号。本文旨在通过对若干场景的分析，探明整部叙事中表象文化与美国梦意识形态的建构逻辑。