Crime and Gangster Films

Different film genres have developed since films were first made-each affecting Americans differently by having varying plots, themes, characters, and settings.  Gangster and organized crime films are just one of the genres among many.  Theses films can be more easily understood by learning of their history, cultural and social aspects, and what modern characters and films can be expected in the future.

            In order to trace the history of crime and gangster films, it is crucial to learn of D. W. Griffith. Griffith produced hundreds of one-reel films, and then began to produce films that depicted truth and showed realistic events, rather than magical, gentle movies he had produced before. “The two poles of Griffith’s moral world are gentleness and violence1.”  In Griffith’s movies, his gentle side is usually shown by his female characters while his violent side is shown through the male character and reality. According to Griffith, all he needed was a ten-year-old boy to put action into a film and a fifteen-year-old girl for romance2.  The actions of these characters on screen would produce the emotions and reactions Griffith wanted his movies to evoke in his audience.  During the time Griffith was working on movies that would cause and audience to feel emotion, German filmmakers had a goal to produce films that caught the attention of the audiences eyes and visual spectrum.  The German filmmakers were not interested in emotions; their focus was on the actual visual image on the screen that the audience would see.  Griffith did produce visually pleasing films, but they also caused the audience to have emotions and feelings about the characters and events in the films.

            One of the first films to be categorized under the organized crime and gangster genre was The Musketeers of Pig Alley.  This movie was produced by Griffith in 1912, and was a silent film. The movie is about a married woman who begins to fall in love with a criminal.  The film has a scene in Pig Alley where a gunfight takes place. Smoke fills the screen, and bodies can be seen falling and contorting in different directions. Thus, violence is introduced to an audience through film.  The movie depicts police officers being corrupt, as one officer takes money from a mysterious hand behind the door of a saloon.  The Musketeers of Pig Alley depicted the reality of life, at the time, in New York. While this movie was in production, hired killers shot a well-known gambler, named Herman Rosenthal, in front of the Café Metropole. The killers obviously had immunity from the police. It was later discovered that a lieutenant on the police force, Charles Becker, had hired the killers and helped organize the shooting3.  Crime and gangster films initially showed audiences the reality of politics and social aspects of their time.

            At first, audiences were attracted to crime and gangster films because of the way these types of film were shot, and the visual image they saw on the screen.  This quickly changed, and audiences began to enjoy these movies because of the reality they offered about the corrupt political and criminal system of the time. The organized crime, violence, and drug use in film made the audience, essentially the American public, more aware of the government and crime forces attitude towards the three problems of organized crime, violence and drug use facing American society at the time4.  This is one of the main reasons crime and gangster films have continued to remain popular and in production. Organized crime and gangster films helped to fill the society’s need for reality.  Theses films opened the eyes of the upper class to the slums and problems facing the poor people who lived in them.  By having a violent male and romantic female as the main characters, both sexes were, and still are, attracted to these films and would be seen in the audience watching them.

            The producer of crime and gangster films must give some of the credit of their success to the characters, settings and plots that audiences have fallen in love with.   The typical characters in these movies involve a male who is trying to live the American dream and get rich fast. Unfortunately, he tends to attempt to make this dream a reality by getting involved in illegal operations such as murder, drug dealing, mob affiliation, and dealing with corrupt law officers.   Along the path of this illegal and dangerous lifestyle he will meet a beautiful female-which brings with it the romantic aspect of the film.  The setting of the movie is typically in a place in New York that is notoriously known for gangs and Italian mobs to reside. The characters are able to get the audience involved in the film emotionally by trying to solve the American dream of getting rich5.   Once the audience is attached to the character, the setting goes along with their actions and choices they make through out the film. The setting tends to be dark, and have characters standing in shadows with their faces barley visible, to give the illusion to the audience that what they are doing is shady and not legal.  When the male and female character are introduced to the audience and fall in love, the settings in which they are shown tend to be filled with light and aspects of romance in order to show that what they are doing is good and they are in love.  The plot of the crime and gangster movie has not changed much over the years: the male character is trying to live the American dream and he does so by getting involved in illegal and often violent activities. This plot leads to the common theme in gangster films which is a male character who wants to live the American dream and finds the government is corrupt so the he becomes deceitful. He begins to lie, steal and kill in order to make money, which is the fuel for their dream.  While he is living this lifestyle he falls in love with the female character that is good and wants the male to get out of the illegal mess he is in.  He promises her he will, after he does one last job.  This last job he does will either land him in jail or in a coffin.  Examples of these plots and characters can be seen in movies such as Donnie Brasco and Goodfellas.  One of the most popular and well-known character in crime and gangster films is Al Pacino.  He has played in numerous films, always as the male character that is trying to live the American dream. In Scarface, Pacino manages to make money by selling drugs and getting involved with organized crime and is able to briefly live the American dream. He dies in his home surrounded by drugs and dead bodies.  

            One psychological aspect of crime and gangster movies is they do not contain any African American characters. This is done so the audience views the movie as if it is in its own world…a world consisting of Italian and Latin gangsters and crime leaders. Crime and gangster movies do not have African Americans characters because it makes the movie more realistic for the audience because there are no African Americans in the mob.

            Crime and gangster films will continue to be made, as audiences demand a film that gives them a sense of reality.  Since people tend to feel the American government is corrupt it is safe to say that these films will most likely continue to show corrupt law officers and government officials, who are deceiving and lying to the public.  The characters and plots will also remain similar, as it is still many peoples goal to live the American dream.

            In conclusion, crime and gangster films have been around for many decades, and will continue to remain popular, as audiences demand movies that show reality.   These movies would not have become as popular as they did without the help of D. W. Griffith. Griffith began making movies the public wanted to see, and this sparked an interest in audiences.  Crime and gangster films will continue to be made as long as society demands them.