Here is the first in a series of my personal Top 10 by genre. For purposes of this lists, I've decided to not count Westerns involving hoods like Billy The Kid, nor movies with minor gangster themes (On The Waterfront, Chinatown, Raging Bull, etc). These are pretty much movies about crime or a main character who is a gangster. Let me know thoughts or your own opinions.
10. Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932) starring Paul Muni. Directed by Howard Hawks.
The film was based on the life of Al Capone, though his name was not used in this picture. At the time Capone was still alive, and said to be a fan of the film. Many themes are similar to the popular Al Pacino 1983 version, but the pre-code version has a certain charm to it and is far better acted all around. It's superior in directing as well.
9. The Untouchables (1987) starring Kevin Costner, Robert DeNiro, Sean Connery. Directed by Brian De Palma
This film deals with Al Capone who is actually called Al Capone. But if focuses more on Eliot Ness's pursuit of the gangster in Chicago. The star studded cast all do great jobs in this epic that doesn't quite last as long as most gangster epics, and that isn't a bad thing.
8. The Departed (2006) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalberg. Directed by Martin Scorcese
Scorcese finally got his Oscar for this Boston crime saga in which a cop goes undercover in the Irish mob and vice-versa. It's superbly acted all around.
7. Donnie Brasco (1997) starring Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Michael Madsen. Directed by Mike Newell.
Depp plays an FBI agent who infiltrates the mob. He befriends an aging and often passed over gangster (a nicely not over the top Pacino) and grows to love the life a little too much.
6. Public Enemy (1931) starring James Cagney. Directed by William Wellman
Cagney is at his best as Tom Powers is a great look at the history of prohibition, and is one of a handful of movies that's content contributed to Hollywood's inplementation of the production code in 1934.
5. Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien. directed by Michael Curtiz.
This is one of my favorite Golden Age movies. Cagney and O'Brien play childhood friends who hit diverging paths. Cagney becomes a gangster, O'Brien a priest. As they rekindle their friendship after Cagney's release from prison, O'Brient becomes concerned about his relationship with a group of young boys the priest supervises. One of the best endings.
4. Goodfellas (1989) starring Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci. Directed by Martin Scorcese
Liotta narrates and stars as Henry Hill, telling his story of his rise and fall in a Mafia syndicate. Excellent acting and writing make this a classic.
3. The Godfather (1972) and Godfather II (1974) starring Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert De Niro, Robert DuVall, James Cazalle, Diane Keaton. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
This is the defining epic of the Italian mafia. It's as good as advertised, and gives us the best quotes this side of Casablanca. It's a shame the 1990 3rd installment is so inferior.
2. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman. Directed by Arthur Penn
Fantastic film about the national obsession with the bank robbing lovers. The cast is excellent, and everything about this movie is as well.
1. City of God (2002) directed by Fernando Meirelles.
It may be foreign, but no film better captures the more horrific side of crime. In this case the crime isn't quite as organized, and it's not quite as glamourous. But it sure is captivating, and remains one of the best films of all time.
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