Dreams and Dead Ends: The American Gangster Film

Dreams and Dead Endsprovides a compelling history of the twentieth-century American gangster film. Beginning withLittle Caesar(1930) and ending withThings To Do In Denver When You're Dead(1995), Jack Shadoian adroitly analyzes twenty notable examples of the crime film genre. Moving chronologically through nearly seven decades, this volume offers illuminating readings of a select group of the classic films--includingThe Public Enemy,D.O.A.,Bonnie and Clyde, andThe Godfather--that best define and represent each period in the development of the American crime film. Richly illustrated with more than seventy film stills,Dreams and Dead Endsdetails the evolution of the genre through insightful and precise considerations of cinematography, characterization, and narrative style. This updated edition includes new readings of three additional movies--Once Upon a Time inAmerica,Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, andCriss Cross--and brings this clear and lively discussion of the history of the gangster film to the end of the twentieth century.