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Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Borgart is considered one of the most well known Film Noir and Crime actors. He was born in New York, and in 1922 managed a stage company which was owned by family friends. He began to appear in many of the plays that were held, and managed to gain a contract with Fox in 1930. He's played many films with a various range of genres such as a Westerns and Horrors, but he's most famous for his Gangster films, and has appeared in successful films such as Casablanca and The Big Sleep. -
Edmond O'Brien
Oscar- winner Edmond O'Brien was born in New York, and had a taste of performance at an early age as a magician. His enjoyment and interest in perfomance influenced his whole education and majored in Drama at Columbia University. He was also in some Broadway shows during the mid 30s, and landed some big roles such as Julius Caesar and D.O.A. He was known for being one of the most respected actors in American cinema. -
The Prohibition Era
The genre of crime, originated during this period, as it was a time of strict rules and regulations. The making, transporting and selling of alcohol was banned which caused a network of illegal trading to form. This "bootlegging" was hard to control as so many people were involved with it, including memebers of the law. It was common for "speakeasies" to open, where people could secretly drink this black market drink. The feirce competiton, however, lead to a rise in gang violence, -
White Tiger
This crime drama was one of the first British films of this specific genre. It is about three criminals who manage to comitte a "magnificent" crime, but are forced to hide together, so they don't get caught. However, they start to distrust eachother as time runs out. -
The Public Enemy
James Cagney plays the main character, a glamorous gangster, which became his most common role, and is what people identify him as. A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war. -
Start of WWII
Because of the distruption of the war, many male actors were away on the front, thus leaving the actressess to take on their roles. This is the beginning of the Femme Fatal character, who is portrayed as strong, independent and brave women. Some actressess known for their femme fatal roles are, Dolly Dowling and Jean Gillie -
Film Noir
The french word "Noir" translates into "Black", and is used to describe Hollywood crime dramas. They started appearing during the war to reflect the dark times that had occured. The film noir period lasted from the early 40s to late 50s. The common low key lighting and simple props are to express the hardship that had come along to many countries. Many Film Noirs include the classic crime focused narrative and strong protagonsits. -
Double Indemnity
This Film Noir was based on James M Cain's novel, and was directed by Billy Wilder. The plot consists of an insurance man is persuaded into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions. This film is known as a classic and sets the bar for other films within the genre. However, many the singer, Kate Smith opposed the film, due to the lack of morals within it, but many other critics ignored her opinion. -
The Big Sleep
This is one of the most popular Film Noir films, and was one of the first times that the novel was produced into a film. The plot was so complex that the screenwriters such themselves didn't know whether the victim had been murdered or had killed himslef. This ambigious narrative meant that there was no need for any expensive props or locations. The gripping storyline and the way in which it was portrayed was the selling point of this film, and also managed to gain an enormous amount of success. -
The Swinging 60s
After the war, crime dramas became slightly more uplifting and had a more comedic atmosphere to them, rather then being dark and mysterious. The character's were more down to earth and the narratives were increasingly light hearted. This was to portray the economic and social optimism. In America it was popular to create Italian gangster that have violent mobs, whereas in the UK, many characters were adopting a cheeky cockney style gangster, who was charming and daring. -
Peeping Tom
Peeping Tom is a British Crime film that includes a man who murders women and films their dying expressions. This film is seen as very twisted and controversial by many critics, due to the nature of the main storyline was rated as a 15. However, it's postmodern and unique elements have made it a very rememberable film, both down to the horrific plot and well executed performance by Karlheinz Bohm. -
The Killers
This American crime film oozes intertexuality by being a remake of the successful Noir film, which was based on Ernest Hemingway's novel. The plot includes two professional hit men who try to find out who hired them and why, after one of their victims didn't try and escape. This film includes former American president Ronald Reagan and famous actor Lee Marvin. -
Guy Ritchie
Guy Ritchie was born inHertfordshire in the UK and had always been interested in making films, although never attended film school. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and in 1995 got a job as a runner, which inevitably started his film career. He started out making short videoes, but finally made his debut film, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. Since then he has made some very successful films such as Snatch, RocknRolla and most recently, Sherlock Holmes. -
Bullitt
Is a about a San Francisco police officer who is determined to hunt down the underworld kingpin that killed a witness in his protection. It stars the famous Steve McQueen who became very popular at playing ruthless characters in crime films. -
The Italian Job
The Italian job is probably one of the most popular British Crime films in Cinematic hisotry, due to it's very patriotic style. The actor Michael Caine, is recognised heavily for his performance in the film, especially for the famous line "You're only supose to blow the bloody doors off!". The film captures a group of criminal masterminds point of view, who have to transfer a large sum of money, whilst dodging the police and the mafia. -
American Civil Rights
During America in the 1970s/80s tension was building rapidly because of the racial injustice. Black Power was emerging and had a huge influence on media. Because of this crime films became more serious, gritty and violent to express their frustration with the lack of change. -
Shaft
The main character, who was portayed as the protagonist was African American. This shocked the nation, as during this time, black Americans were fighting for equality, through the use of violence and power. This was expressed through Shaft, which therefore made him an anti-hero as he was a "bent cop" that didn't alwasy play by the rules, and so had qualities of an antagonist as well as aprotagonist. -
British Gangsters
This was a time where crime films in Britain got highly sophisticated and more serious rather than being comedic. Big gangster groups such as the Kray Twins, Johnson Crew and the Burger bar Boys dominated the streets of London, sending a social fear across citites. The murderous and threatening nature of these groups were emphasised by the films content, as they suddenly became extremley violent. -
Postmodern Crime
This is the era where postmodern films really took off, and the crime genre was overloaded with representations and interepretations of past influences. A common theme that was followed, was the London ganster, who was very likeable and easy to root for by the audiences. There are often hybrids that portray a mixture of genres, and usually use hyper reality to create a parody of past films. Directors, such as Tarantino are known for using old genres, but giving them a modern twist. -
Snatch
Snatch is a postmodern British Crime film, directed by Guy Ritchie, who is famous for his unique filming style. It is about a stolen diamond that captures the interests of Boxing promoters, Russian Gangsters, Bookmakers, and Ameture Robbers. This film both challenges and conforms to stereotypes, such as London Gangsters and Travellers. It includes actors who are well known for their gangster roles, such as Jason Statham. -
Legend
Legend is the latest film adadptation of the famous Kray Twins, who were British Gangsters that controlled many parts of London through fear and violence. Therefore this film includes intertextuality as well as high art, as the film is very violent to portray the realism of the events which occured and because of this, the film is rated 18,
