Bullets over Hollywood: The American Gangster Picture from the Silents to "the Sopranos"

From Scarface to White Heat , from The Godfather to The Usual Suspects , from Once Upon a Time in America to Road to Perdition , gangland on the screen remains as popular as ever.In Bullets over Hollywood, film scholar John McCarty traces the history of mob flicks and reveals why the films are so beloved by Americans. As McCarty demonstrates, the themes, characters, landscapes, stories—the overall iconography—of the gangster genre have proven resilient enough to be updated, reshaped, and expanded upon to connect even with today’s young audiences. Packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes and information about real-life hoods and their cinematic alter egos, insightful analysis, and a solid historical perspective, Bullets over Hollywood will be the definitive book on the gangster movie for years to come. The gangster, like the gunslinger, is a classic American character-and the gangster movie, like the Western, is one of the American cinema's enduring film genres. From Scarface to White Heat , from The Godfather to The Usual Suspects , from Once Upon a Time in America to Road to Perdition , gangland on the screen remains as popular as ever.In Bullets over Hollywood , film scholar John McCarty traces the history of mob flicks and reveals why the films are so beloved by Americans. As McCarty demonstrates, the themes, characters, landscapes, stories-the overall iconography-of the gangster genre have proven resilient enough to be updated, reshaped, and expanded upon to connect with even today's young audiences. Packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes and information about real-life hoods and their cinematic alter egos, insightful analysis, and a solid historical perspective, Bullets over Hollywood will be the definitive book on the gangster movie for years to come. Frontmatter Prologue: Gunslingers to Gangsters (page 1) PART ONE: THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE 1 Mean Streets (page 13) 2 Archetypes (page 26) 3 The Mobster of a Thousand Faces (page 46) 4 A Landscape of Night and Shade (page 64) 5 Molls, Twists, Babes, and B Girls (page 76) PART TWO: THE HOODS 6 The Shame of a Nation (page 109) 7 The Green-Eyed Mobster (page 135) 8 "Made it, Ma! Top o'the World!" (page 151) 9 Bustin' Out (page 177) PART THREE: THE FAMILY 10 Once Upon a Time in New York (page 203) 11 An Offer Hollywood Couldn't Refuse (page 222) Epilogue: Through the Looking Glass (page 241) Acknowledgments (page 247) Appendix I: The Oscars—Major Award Nominations and Winners, 1927-Present (page 249) Appendix II: The American Gangster Picture (Feature Length)—A Selected Filmography, 1915-Present (page 264) Notes (page 303) Selected Bibliography (page 313) Index (page 317) About the Author (page 327) "In Bullets over Hollywood, film scholar John McCarty traces the history of mob flicks and reveals why the films are so beloved by Americans. As McCarty demonstrates, the themes, characters, landscapes, stories of the gangster genre have proven resilient enough to be updated, reshaped, and expanded upon to connect with even today's young audiences. Packed with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and information about real-life hoods and their cinematic alter egos, analysis, and a solid historical perspective, Bullets over Hollywood will be the definitive book on the gangster movie for years to come."--BOOK JACKET. 'Bullets Over Hollywood' traces the history of the American gangster movie & explains why this genre has remained so popular throughout cinema history En gennemgang af amerikanske gangsterfilm frem til 2003. Der fokuseres på tema, karakterer, landskaber og genrens historie A lively history of gangsters in American film and an insightful look at why we love them BLAME IT ON DAVID WARK GRIFFITH.