"I had the advantage of reading the book, and when the script was first submitted to me, it was just another gangster story - the east side taking over the west side and all that"

In this quote, Edward G. Robinson is referring to a script he existed with. He had actually checked out the book the script was based upon, and when he first checked out the script, he saw it as a normal gangster story. He was referring to the concept of the east side of a city taking over the west side, which is a common style in gangster stories. Robinson suggests that he was not impressed with the script initially, as it was just another gangster story. Nevertheless, he should have ultimately seen something in the script that made him change his mind, as he went on to star in the film. This quote shows that Robinson was not initially amazed with the script, however was eventually won over by its potential.