101 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Die
(back cover)Angels With Dirty Faces * Dillinger * Get Shorty * King of New York * Donnie Brasco * The Big Sleep * Bloody Mama * The Godfather * The Departed * Get Carter * Infernal Affairs * Force of Evil * Goodfellas * Little Caesar * The Krays * Hard-Boiled * Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels * Marked Woman * The Glass Key * The Killers * Carlito's Way * Bonnie and Clyde * PÃ©pÃ© le Moko * Point Blank * Reservoir Dogs * Underworld * Rififi * White Heat * The St. Valentine's Day Massacre * Sexy Beast * Scarface * Shaft * Touch of Evil * Prizzi's Honor * The Musketeers of Pig Alley * Road to Perdition * The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond * The French Connection * Menace II Society * New Jack City * Heat * The Long Good Friday * This Gun for Hire * The Usual Suspects * Casino * Dead End * Brother * City Streets(front flap)From the Prohibition-era classics of Mervyn LeRoy and William A. Wellman to the mean streets and Mafiosi of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese,101 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Dieexplores the rise of the gangster movie to the popular phenomenon it is today. Whether holding up the local liquor store or wheeling and dealing in the spider web of organized crime, the fictional characters on the big screen are never too far from the real world.The gangster genre kicked off with actors like James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. Their tough-guy stances set the tone for the development of the devious, crazy, and charismatic crooks played by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. One-line quips, sharp suits, a sense of camaraderie, and grisly killings define the genre that has given us some of cinema's most memorable moments depicting society's underbelly in action.With insight from critics, film historians, and academics,101 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Diebrings passion and knowledge to a wealth of dirty rats, dons, molls, hoods, shootouts, holdups, heists, gangs, murders, drug deals, and car chases. And in the closing reels you will wonder whose side you are really on--the good guys' or the bad guys'?(back flap)Steven Jay Schneider is a film critic, scholar, and producer. He is editor of1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die,and101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die,all available from Barron's. He is also the author and editor of many other books on film.