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Palgrave Macmillan

American Gangster Cinema

From "Little Caesar" to "Pulp Fiction"

  • Book
  • © 2002

Overview

Authors:
  1. Fran Mason
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Part of the book series: Crime Files (CF)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
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  2. Modernity and the Classic Gangster Film

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 1-30

  3. The Post-Code Gangster: Ideology and Social Conscience

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 31-50

  4. The Death of the Big Shot: the Gangster in the 1940s

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 51-71

  5. Outside Society, Outside the Gang: the Alienated Noir Gangster

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 72-96

  6. Order and Chaos, Syndicates and Heists

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 97-119

  7. Nostalgia and Renewal in the Post-Classical Gangster Film

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 120-140

  8. The Postmodern Spectacle of the Gangster

    • Fran Mason
    Pages 141-164

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 165-184
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Keywords

About this book

Much analysis of gangster movies has been based upon a study of the gangster as a malign figuration of the American Dream, originally set in the era of the Depression. This text extends previous analysis of the genre by examining the evolution of gangster movies from the 1930s to the contemporary period and by placing them in the context of cultural and cinematic issues such as masculinity, consumerism and technology. With a close examination of many films from Scarface and Public Enemy to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction , this book provides a fascinating insight into a topical and popular subject.

Reviews

'...extremely well-researched and very useful...a must for film-buffs.' - Cercles

About the author

FRAN MASON is a Lecturer in Film and Cultural Studies at King Alfred's College where he has taught since 1991. He heads the BA programme in Film and American Culture and the MA in Contemporary Popular Knowledges. He teaches and researches in the study of film and culture and has published on a range of areas, including conspiracy and cyberculture and American Literature and Culture.

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