Bullets over Hollywood : the American gangster picture from the silents to The Sopranos / John McCarty.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCarty, John, 1944-

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gangster films--United States--History and criticism.

Gangster films.

United States.

Penn Provenance:

McCarty, John, 1944- (autograph) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

viii, 325 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Da Capo Press edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press, 2004.

Summary:

Dark, ambiguous, and exciting, the gangster movie has never waned in popularity -- and the allure of the gangster as antihero remains as powerful as the days of Prohibition were long. From Scarface to Carlito's Way, from The Godfather to Road to Perdition, from Once Upon a Time in America to Chicago, gangland on the screen is as seductive 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, and stories 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 revelatory behind-the-scenes anecdotes and information about real-life hoods and their cinematic alter egos, illuminating analysis, and a solid historical perspective, Bullets over Hollywood will be the definitive book on the gangster movie for years to come.

Contents:

Prologue: Gunslingers to Gangsters 1

Part 1 The Devil's Triangle

1 Mean Streets 13

2 Archetypes 26

3 The Mobster of a Thousand Faces 46

4 A Landscape of Night and Shade 64

5 Molls, Twists, Babes, and B Girls 76

Part 2 The Hoods

6 The Shame of a Nation 109

7 The Green-Eyed Mobster 135

8 "Made it, Ma! Top o' the World!" 151

9 Bustin' Out 177

Part 3 The Family

10 Once Upon a Time in New York 203

11 An Offer Hollywood Couldn't Refuse 222

Epilogue: Through the Looking Glass 241

Appendix I The Oscars

Major Award Nominations and Winners, 1927-2003 249

Appendix II The American Gangster Picture (Feature Length)

A Selected Filmography, 1915-Present 264.

Notes:

Includes filmography (pages 264-300).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-313)and index.

Local Notes:

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy has dustjacket retained.

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy signed by the author.

ISBN:

0306813017

OCLC:

54931571