Customer Reviews

Classic Gangster Films (Citadel Film)

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Robert Bookbinder's "Classics of the Gangster Film" is a compilation of the top 50 gangster films that appeared between 1930 ("Little Caesar") and 1983 ("Scarface"). The book contains all the films you're familiar with, and some you may not be. Some of the films (e.g., "Smart Money") may not exactly be gangster movies in the classic sense of the world, but even when Bookbinder strays from the classic definition, he doesn't stray too far.

The format for each film is the same. He gives us the main credits and cast, followed by a blurb and then a synopsis. The oversized book is amply illustrated and each film gets about 5 pages with 6 or 7 photos, all of which are from the films. Generally speaking there are no reviews nor any references to the critic's evaluations of the films, and generally speaking there is no mention of the box office success.

Bookbinder has a good knowledge of the films and the actors and directors, and generally speaking his descriptions are accurate and interesting and informative. However, film buffs will find little new or surprising here.

There is no attempt to try to offer an explanation for the evolution of the gangster film, even while Bookbinder describes the changes. His focus seems to be on the actors themselves and their evolution, which is certainly a point of view. However, there are many factors that went into the creation and evolution of the gangster film (e.g., contemporary events, WW 2, societal attitudes, the growth of the FBI, changes in literature, director preferences, box office trends, etc.) and most of these factors are ignored or only tangentially dealt with.

This is a good book, well illustrated, well written, and comprehensive. It will appeal to people who want to take a walk down memory lane and see the evolution of the gangster film.