The last line as scripted read “Mother of God, is this the end for Rico?”, but the studio was worried that this would seem blasphemous coming from a hoodlum, so it was changed to “Mother of mercy…”

W. R. Burnett, who wrote the book on which this film is based, was apparently furious that no Italian actors were cast.  He went on to co-write the screenplay for the similar Scarface two years later.

Director Mervyn LeRoy later had great success with I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang before joining MGM where he directed Random Harvest and produced The Wizard of Oz.  He won a special Academy Award in 1945 for a documentary about prejudice, The House I Live In, and in 1975 he received the Irving Thalberg Award for his production work.

Little Caesar has recently released been released on DVD, along with a number of other gangster movies, in special “Warner Night at the Movies” presentations.  These consist of newsreels, cartoons and short films, as well as the main feature, just like a cinema would show in the Golden Age.