Gangster Films:
See Filmsite's extensive section on Gangster (Crime) Films
AFI described gangster films as "a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a twentieth century setting. Profit-minded and highly entrepreneurial, the American gangster is the dark side of the American dream. The gangsters' lifestyles are portraits in extremes, with audiences cheering their excesses and reveling in their demise."
(Winners marked with this icon  and
ranking number)
- AL CAPONE, Allied Artists, 1959
- ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES,
Warner Bros., 1938
- ATLANTIC CITY, Paramount, 1980
- THE BIG HEAT, Columbia,
1953
- BLOODY MAMA, American International, 1970
- BONNIE
AND CLYDE, Warner Bros., 1967 (#
5)
- BOYZ N THE HOOD, TriStar, 1991
- A BRONX TALE, Savoy, 1993
- BROTHER ORCHID, Warner Bros., 1940
- BUGSY, TriStar, 1991
- BUGSY MALONE, Paramount, 1976
- BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, Miramax, 1994
- CASINO, Universal, 1995
- CITY STREETS, Paramount, 1931
- DEAD END, United Artists, 1937
- THE DEPARTED, Warner Bros., 2006
- DONNIE BRASCO, TriStar, 1997
- FORCE OF EVIL, MGM, 1948
- ‘G' MEN, Warner Bros., 1935
- GET SHORTY, MGM, 1995
- THE
GODFATHER, Paramount, 1972 (#
1)
- THE
GODFATHER PART II, Paramount, 1974 (#
3)
- GOODFELLAS, Warner Bros.,
1990 (#
2)
- GUN CRAZY, United Artists,
1949
- HEAT, Warner Bros., 1995
- A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, New Line, 2005
- KEY LARGO, Warner Bros., 1948
- THE KILLERS, Universal,
1946
- LITTLE CAESAR, First
National, 1930 (#
9)
- MILLER'S CROSSING, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1990
- NEW JACK CITY, Warner Bros., 1991
- ON
THE WATERFRONT, Columbia, 1954
- ONCE
UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, Warner Bros., 1984
- OUT OF SIGHT, Universal, 1998
- PRIZZI'S HONOR, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1985
- THE PUBLIC ENEMY, Warner
Bros., 1931 (#
8)
- PULP FICTION, Miramax, 1994 (#
7)
- RESERVOIR DOGS, Miramax, 1992
- THE RISE AND FALL OF LEGS DIAMOND, Warner Bros.,
1960
- THE ROARING TWENTIES,
Warner Bros., 1939
- SCARFACE: THE SHAME OF A NATION,
United Artists, 1932 (#
6)
- SCARFACE, Universal, 1983 (#
10)
- SCARLET STREET, Universal, 1945
- SOME
LIKE IT HOT, United Artists, 1959
- THIEVES LIKE US, United Artists, 1974
- TOUCH
OF EVIL, Universal, 1958
- UNDERWORLD, Paramount, 1927
- THE UNTOUCHABLES, Paramount, 1987
- THE USUAL SUSPECTS, Gramercy, 1995
- WHITE HEAT, Warner Bros.,
1949 (#
4)
Nominees: Robert De Niro was the most featured actor with seven movies; James Cagney and Al Pacino were featured with five movies each.
Winners:
- The Godfather (1972)
- GoodFellas (1990)
- The Godfather, Part II (1974)
- White Heat (1949)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- The Public Enemy (1931)
- Little Caesar (1930)
- Scarface (1983)
Comments: Some
Like It Hot (1959) was not a true gangster film
(it was a comedy with a few gangster caricatures), by any stretch
of the imagination, and shouldn't have been in the nominees
list. Atlantic City (1981) was
more a crime-related drama and character study than a gangster
film. Not included in the top 10: The
Roaring Twenties (1939), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Miller's
Crossing (1990), or Boyz N the Hood (1991). Missing
from the nominees were these two major crime films: The
French Connection (1971) and Chinatown
(1974) ? |
