Over the last century-plus, the mythos has spread from hard-boiled mobsters spraying Tommy gun fire to yakuza enforcers turning pistol-play into art, larger-than-life mafioso in three-piece suits and street-level bosses whose empire only extends to the end of the block.Ĭlearly, gangsterism is a diverse profession, and so are gangster movies. Almost since the movies began, filmmakers have been fascinated by people living outside the law.
In truth, the closest most of us have gotten to a life of crime is spending a few hours in the loafers of cinema’s smoothest criminals.
