16 + GUIDE - British Film Institute

POWERS, Richard Gid
G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in American popular culture.
Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. 356p. illus. bibliog. index.
Focusing on the law enforcers rather than law-breakers, this book follows the shift the
filmmakers had to make from the gangsters to the lawmen, when it was felt that the films
glamorised the gangsters. This book explores in particular how J Edgar Hoover’s FRB was
represented and promoted in American popular culture, in the 1940’s/50’s.
RAFTER, Nicole
Shots in the mirror: crime films and society.
Oxford University Press, 2000. ix, 201p. illus. filmog. index.
Focusing on America, Rafter explores the sociology and ideology of crime films (including the
gangster genre) and their relationship to society. The opening chapter detailing the history of
crime films provides a useful and concise overview of the topic. The rest of the chapters are
organised by themes rather than films, though all the major US films from the 1930’s to the
1990’s are covered.
ROSOW, Eugene
Born to lose: the gangster film in America.
Oxford University Press, 1978. 422p. illus. bibliog. filmog. index.
This easy to read, but exhaustive history of the US gangster genre provides an essential
understanding of its background, influences and developments through to 1976. This book is
also very well illustrated with pictures that complement many of Rosow’s observations.
RUTH, David E.
Inventing the public enemy: the gangsters in American culture, 1918-1934.
University of Chicago Press, 1996. 190p. illus. index.
A key text in understanding the attraction of audiences to gangsters. Ruth examines all forms
of media to demonstrate why the gangster and public enemies provoked fascinations and
how their depiction in the media had little to do with representing reality, and more about a
“projection created from America’s values, concerns and ideas about what would sell”. While
not exclusively dealing with gangsters in film, there are many references to the classic
gangster films. This book provides a valuable insight into its subject.
SCHATZ, Thomas
Hollywood genres: formulas, filmmaking and the studio system.
Random House, 1981. 297p. illus. bibliog. index.
In this book examining all the Hollywood genres, there is an excellent chapter on the gangster
genre. Concentrating on the classic 1930’s gangster films, especially SCARFACE and postwar
films such as KEY LARGO and WHITE HEAT, Schatz examines the gangster prototypes,
the audiences, and the influence of censorship in the form of the Production Code.
SHADOIAN, Jack
Dreams and dead ends: the American gangster/crime film.
MIT Press, 1977. 366p. illus. bibliog. index.
A theoretical examination of the gangster genre that elaborates on many of the characteristics
of the films, tries to place them in context of the society they are/were aimed at and attempts
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