Gangsters Paradise

However, the public's love of gangster cinemas was not fully established until 1927, with the release of Josef von Sternberg's Underworld. This was an immensely popular film centering around the manners of a gangster. Despite stripped-down publicity and the absence of major stars, Underworld was an immediate ready of such extreme popularity that it influenced other directors and producers to make films dealing with akin subject matter. As such, Underworld "was effectively the beginning of the genre as it was the first gangster movie to make a big impression on the public" (Cameron, 1975, p. 16).

Although these early placidera gangster films got the genre off to its start, they were not without their limitations. For example, in terms of influence and story lines, the early profound films were " basically romances" (Kaminsky, 1974, p. 14). The emphasis on crime and the gangster way of life had not yet developed, and thus the films were simple romances within a gangster setting.

One of the reasons why the gangster film had not yet solidified into an identifiable genre was the fact that the silent films lacked the typical gangster dialogue, which soon came to strongly partize the genre. In later films, dialogue became one of the close to vital elements of the genre. Indeed, the unusual style of dialogue used by the motion effigy gangsters "gave crime movies much of their flavour" (Cameron, p. 16). Because of the

the Forties, Rexdale: Classic Bookshops, 1982, pp. 208210.

Edward G. Robinson's anti-racketeering law, the "Little Caesar" character of the film defined the fabulous resonance's of the gangster character. This character was closely based on A1 Capone, the most famous gangster of the Prohibition period and a realise strongly imprinted in the hearts and minds of the American moviegoers. Rico mirrors Capone in a number of ways: "ethnically, in public appearance and in the extent to which he relishes the rewards of his position" (Cameron, p. 89-90). In addition, the character contains many of the mythic elements of Julius Caesar as well, although they are move into a rather perverse representation of this type of character.

It has been state that "Rico's rise to power is an ironic parallel to the rise of a truly historic figure, an emperor, in more 'classical' works of publications" (Kaminsky, p. 15).

Cameron, Ian. A Pictorial Historv of Crime Films. London:

The late 1940's also saw important changes in the style of the gangster genre. more than films were treated in a documentary style, and the use of a narrator came into vogue (Camerson, p. 55). After the end of the war character types changed again as well, and throughout the 1950s "the gangster or gangster figure returned as an object of psychological displacement, saddle-sore selfawareness, and uncertainty" (Kaminsky, p. 14). This psychological focus lent itself specially well to the "film noir" style which was present in gangster films of the late 1940s. This style used shadows and lighting in such a way as to "heighten the sinister atmosphere... [and create] a landscape fraught with danger, full of corruption, where moral and intellectual determine are as illdefined and murky as the streets" (Overbey, 1982, p. 141). Because the film noir influence featured themes of isolation, loneliness, and the psychological world of the gangster, the settings in a flash began to include "dark offices, taverns, middle class homes, alleys, [and
Order your essay at Orderessay and get a 100% original and high-quality custom paper within the required time frame.