Gangsters and G-Men on Screen - by Gene D Phillips (Hardcover)

About the Book

In this book, noted film and literature scholar Gene D. Phillips looks at the crime film genre. In addition to the usual suspects like Little Caesar, and The Godfather Part II, which he examines with a fresh perspective, Phillips also calls attention to some of the less herald...

Book Synopsis

In this book, noted film and literature scholar Gene D. Phillips looks at the crime film genre. In addition to the usual suspects like Little Caesar, and The Godfather Part II, which he examines with a fresh perspective, Phillips also calls attention to some of the less heralded but no less worthy films and filmmakers that represent the genre.

Review Quotes

Gangsters and G-Men on Screen is a brief anthology of some of the major gangster movies, together with a short plot synopsis and...extra information on production, original story, shooting location and directors. . . .For newcomers to the genre...it is a good introduction.

Here's a broad-ranging survey of movies about gangsters and government agents (G-men), starting with the first, D. W. Griffith's The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), and ending with recent offerings like Public Enemies and Gangster Squad. There are, of course, many well-known movies here--Little Caesar, the original Scarface, Bonnie and Clyde, The Untouchables, The Godfather--but the author also introduces us to a lot of films and facts that are likely to be unfamiliar. For example, did you know that the first true 'talkie' wasn't 1927's The Jazz Singer, which only had one scene with audible dialogue, but rather Lights of New York, a 1928 gangster movie? Did you know that one of the most controversial gangster pics of the late 1940s bore the sweetly delicate title of No Orchids for Miss Blandish? Whether you're a longtime fan of gangster films or relatively new to the genre, this comprehensive and very enjoyable book has something for you.

Phillips analyzes 24 gangster films from the silent era to Gangster Squad (2013), showing how and why the style of these films changed. He focuses on the development of the films from their first conception or source to the ultimate film, and he details the early struggles in bringing some crime films to the public due to opposition from film industry censors and regional censors. In addition, he notes changes in the scripts and comments on directors, producers, and actors. He also looks at the critical reception given to the films. Phillips's revealing observations about films and actors were in part gathered from interviews with famous directors--e.g., John Huston, Martin Scorsese, and Fritz Lang, to cite just three. . . .Phillips's prose is readable, and the scholarly apparatus is ample. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates, general readers.

About the Author

Gene D. Phillips, SJ, is the author of several works on film and literature, including Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films ofDavid Lean, Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder, and Out of the Shadows: Expanding the Canon of Classic Film Noir (Scarecrow, 2011). He is the coauthor of The Francis Ford Coppola Encyclopedia (Scarecrow, 2010).