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Gangster Film Reader

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ISBN-10: 0879103329

ISBN-13: 9780879103323

Edition: 2006

Authors: Alain Silver, James Ursini

List price: $20.00
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Description:

In the 1930s the gangster film in the United States coincided with a very real and very sensational gangsterism at large in American society. Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932) borrowed liberally from the newspapers and books of the era. With the release of just these three motion pictures in barely more than a year's time, Hollywood quintessentially defined the genre. The characters, the situations, and the icons-from fast cars and tommy-guns to fancy fedoras and fancier molls-established the audience expectations associated with the gangster film that remain in force to this day. As with their Film Noir Reader series, using both reprints of seminal articles…    
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Book details

List price: $20.00
Copyright year: 2006
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Publication date: 2/1/2007
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 422
Size: 6.00" wide x 9.00" long x 0.93" tall
Weight: 1.430
Language: English

Bill Watts is a retired professional wrestler. He lives in Bixby, Oklahoma. Scott Williams is a reporter, legal journalist, and wrestling commentator. He is the author of Terry Funk: The Hardcore Legend. He lives in Dickinson, Texas.Alain Silveris the author ofThe Samurai Filmand the coauthor of fifteen other books, includingRaymond Chandler’s Los Angeles, and two screenplays. He has written numerous articles for theLos Angeles Times,DGA Magazine,Film Comment, andPhoton. He has also produced nine independent features and over fifty soundtrack albums, and is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America.James Ursinihas contributed to various publications…    

Alain Silveris the author ofThe Samurai Filmand the coauthor of fifteen other books, includingRaymond Chandler’s Los Angeles, and two screenplays. He has written numerous articles for theLos Angeles Times,DGA Magazine,Film Comment, andPhoton. He has also produced nine independent features and over fifty soundtrack albums, and is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America.James Ursinihas contributed to various publications includingCinema,Femme Fatales,Mediascene, andPhoton. Together, they are the coauthors of eleven books, among them the Film Noir Reader series,Film Noir: An Encyclopedia Reference to the American Style, andThe Noir Style. They both…    

Acknowledgmentsp. vii
Introductionp. 1
Seminal Work
The Gangster as Tragic Hero (1948)p. 11
Scarface (from Howard Hawks, 1968)p. 19
The Gangster Film (1970)p. 29
Iconography of the Gangster Film (from Underworld USA, 1972)p. 39
Little Caesar and Its Role in the Gangster Film Genre (1972)p. 47
Yakuza-eiga: A Primer (1974)p. 65
Big Funerals: The Hollywood Gangster, 1927-1933 (1977)p. 85
Post-Code Gangster Movies (from Gangsters on the Screen, 1978)p. 97
All in the Family: The Godfather Saga (from Crime Movies, 1980)p. 107
Case Studies
A Gangster Unlike the Others: Gordon Wiles' The Gangsterp. 119
White Heat: I Am Cody Jarrett, Destroyer of Worldsp. 135
The Gangster According to Aldrichp. 155
A Study in Ambiguity: The Godfather and the American Gangster Movie Traditionp. 165
De Palma's Postmodern Scarface and the Simulacrum of Classp. 183
Yoked Together by Violence: Prizzi's Honor as a Generic Hybridp. 195
Way of Life: GoodFellas and Casinop. 209
Takeshi Kitano: Melancholy Poet of the Yakuza Filmp. 225
Contemporary Views
The British Gangster Filmp. 237
Reforming Hollywood Gangsters: Crime and Morality from Populism to Patriotismp. 259
A New Kind of Girl for a New Kind of Worldp. 277
The Gangster and Film Noir: Themes and Stylep. 291
Hits, Whacks, and Smokes: The Celluloid Gangster as Horror Iconp. 325
Fukasaku and Scorsese: Yakuzas and Gangstersp. 343
The Hong Kong Gangster Moviep. 357
Family Values and Feudal Codes: The Social Politics of America's Fin-de-Siecle Gangsterp. 381
Notes on Contributorsp. 407
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.