Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Gangster Film (Hardcover)

~ Phil Hardy (Editor) "Joseph Von Sternberg's essay in poetic realism, the silent outing Underworld (1927), was the dominant influence on the gangster film as it emerged during the..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Hong Kong, Warner Brothers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Wow! Phil Hardy has been editing encyclopedias devoted to various film genres for years, but this book on the gangster film is perhaps his most impressive. A companion piece to his Western, science fiction, and horror encyclopedias, this is an extraordinary treat for lovers of crime movies. An oversized book, it contains more than 500 pages on the genre, covering it year by year from the beginning of the sound era until today and, uncharacteristically for Hardy, concentrating half its focus on films from the '60s through the '90s. Hardy and his team have composed hundreds of words on each of more than 1,500 films, considering the rarities of the genre as seriously as the classics, and focusing on foreign as well as English-language films. This is a must for aficionados and novices, those who want to pore over its pages, and those who are looking for a great browse. Big black-and-white stills, 650 in all, illustrate every page of this wonderful, magnificently researched, and tremendously entertaining volume. This is easily one of the best film books of the late 1990s. --Raphael Shargel

Product Description

Included are critical entries of more than 1,500 films dealing with gangsters, complete with plot synopses, credits, and 650 black-and-white photographs to capture the very essence of this exciting genre. Arranged chronologically, The Gangster Film offers deliciously opinionated and detailed descriptions, statistical information, credits and trivia from early classics such as The Public Enemy, Key Largo, Dragnet and On the Waterfront as well as contemporary blockbusters like The Grifters, Chinatown, The Godfather and Pulp Fiction, with such stars as Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson. Essential authoritative and entertaining, The Gangster Film is the guide for serious students of film, film buffs and home viewers.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879518812
• ISBN-13: 978-0879518813
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,994,854 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, though poorly organized., February 6, 2003

By	Michael L. White "impossiblefunky" (Westland, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At once, this book is amazing in its scope but horribly frustrating in its approach. Unlike a conventional encyclopedia, this voluminous tome orders the films within by year rather than alphabetically. This system makes the book virtually useless when trying to find a particular film at a glance. Sure, there's always the index but that fails miserably when a reader has interest in a film with a foreign title. Translated titles are available in the index, but too many foreign films have multiple titles. To make things worse the index is bereft of directors, stars, or any other means of cross-referencing a movie with which the reader might not be fully familiar. This is a flawed and ultimately ineffective work. (ISBN: 0879518812)