Responsibility Killed the Cat

by

Gerry Greenberg

No, it can’t be! Something’s very wrong here. It’s just not right! That’s Edward G. Robinson there on the screen, lying on a courtroom floor, having generously taken a bullet for a friend. The audience is supposed to believe that he has seen the error of his ways, learned that he was too vicious and self-centered, and now he is making amends. Too vicious? Making amends?!? This is Rico Bandello, for Chrissakes, Little Caesar! This is the man who, along with Humphrey Bogart, wrote the book on how machine-gun wielding gangsters were portrayed in movies.  Now he’s Mr. Nobility? That’s what we are presented with in the 1955 film Illegal. Alright, it’s true that Robinson was just making his way back from being blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee for consorting with Communists, so he couldn’t afford to be too selective about the jobs he was offered. And yes, Robinson had played non-gangster roles in other movies, but this is unacceptable. This is a slap in the face to everything that made Robinson great. Every memorable character he ever played had a cynical toughness to it. He was a wise guy before Scorcese knew what one was. And here he is now, practically a martyr to goodness and decency. What a revolting development this is!

But there’s something more at work here. A lesson that is more subtle than the triumph of good over evil. Think about it. This is the first time that Edward G. Robinson was presented as a standup, straight out, virtuous citizen. He was doing his civic and humane duty for the first time in his life. And what was his reward? He was shot down in cold blood, left in a heap at the feet of the court officials. True, he was smiling, and seemed to enjoy his sudden promotion to the rank of hero, but that’s beside the point. As soon as he turned over a new leaf, became responsible, and grew a conscience, he was gunned down.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to be responsible and do the right thing, but you can’t overdo it. You can’t go from Little Caesar to Mahatma Gandhi overnight or something bad is going to happen. You have to be sensible about it. Take Robert Osborne for example – the venerable host of the Turner Classic Movies channel where many Edward G. Robinson films are featured. Osborne is acknowledged by all viewers to be a film scholar and a gentleman. His introductions and analyses of classic cinema is an indispensable feature of TCM programming, and the audience can count on Osborne’s presence every evening. But wait, what’s Alex Trebek doing here on TCM introducing the movie Khartoum, telling us all about Chinese Gordon’s adventures in the Sudan, and rambling on in his pseudo-intellectual manner as if he was still hosting Jeopardy and he had all the answers on index cards in front of him? Osborne isn’t here tonight. Is he hosting a party somewhere, or maybe a film festival or a cruise? Or maybe he’s on medical leave. Who knows? The point is he’s taken a night off. He’s not perfect. He’s responsible, but not too responsible. He lets Trebek or Ben Mankiewicz handle the duties once in a while, and he kicks back somewhere. Responsible but not too responsible – that’s the way to go.

I think I must have internalized this lesson a while back. The other day I decided to vote early, and headed for our local board of elections location only to find that there had been an accident and the road to the site was closed. Well, I was not to be deterred. A responsible voter, determined to cast my ballot on that day, I made a lengthy detour around the mishap and eventually succeeded in registering my vote. On the way back home, it occurred to me that I had time to go and get my flu shot. But then I thought again. The image of Eddie G. lying prostrate on the hardwood floor appeared before me. Hadn’t I been responsible enough for one day? Why tempt fate by being an overachiever. I turned the car toward home and was sure I did the right thing.