Mob Culture: Hidden Histories Of The American Gangster Film
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
"This book does a fine job at what it sets out to do-redefine the American gangster genre. It convincingly exposes and documents the exhausted nature of criticism on the genre, explores important overlooked material, and introduces new approaches."-William Luhr, Saint Peter's College
"Beyond The Godfather and Little Caesar this highly original anthology uncovers new aspects of the gangster genre, from its dress codes to its relation to government investigation, from gangsters on nickelodeon screens to HBO series, from tong wars in Chinatown to the African American gangster in race films."-Tom Gunning, University of Chicago
Sinister, swaggering, yet often sympathetic, the figure of the gangster has stolen and murdered its way into the hearts of American cinema audiences. Despite the enduring popularity of the gangster film, however, traditional criticism has focused almost entirely on a few canonical movies such as Little Caesar, Public Enemy, and The Godfather trilogy, resulting in a limited and distorted understanding of this diverse and changing genre.
Mob Culture offers a long-awaited, fresh look at the American gangster film, exposing its hidden histories from the Black Hand gangs of the early twentieth century to The Sopranos. Departing from traditional approaches that have typically focused on the "nature" of the gangster, the editors have collected essays that engage the larger question of how the meaning of criminality has changed over time. Grouped into three thematic sections, the essays examine gangster films through the lens of social, gender, and racial/ethnic issues.
Destined to become a classroom favorite, Mob Culture is an indispensable reference for future work in the genre.
About the Author
Lee Grieveson is the director of the graduate program in film studies at University College London. Esther Sonnet is a principal lecturer and head of media at the University of Portsmouth. Peter Stanfield is a senior lecturer in film studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury.
Mob Culture: Hidden Histories Of The American Gangster Film,Esther Sonnet,Lee Grieveson,Peter Stanfield,Rutgers University Press,0813535573,Cinema/Film: Book,Film & Video - General,Film & Video - Guides & Reviews,Film & Video - History & Criticism,Gangster films,History and criticism,Performing Arts,Pop Arts / Pop Culture,Race in motion pictures,Sex role in motion pictures,United States
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