AFI Picks Top 10 Gangster Films

American Film Institute members vote on which films they believe are the best. They offer a list of the top 100 films of all time as well as top 10 lists of best genre pictures. Here's the lowdown on their picks for best crime films.

AFI described gangster films as "a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a 20th century setting. Profit-minded and highly entrepreneurial, the American gangster is the dark side of the American dream. The gangsters' lifestyles are portraits in extremes, with audiences cheering their excesses and reveling in their demise."

Nominees: Robert De Niro was the most featured actor with seven movies; James Cagney and Al Pacino were featured with five movies each.

Winners: The Godfather (1972) (# 1), GoodFellas (1990) (# 2), The Godfather, Part II (1974) (# 3), White Heat (1949) (# 4), Bonnie and Clyde (1967) (# 5), Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932) (# 6), Pulp Fiction (1994) (# 7), The Public Enemy (1931) (# 8), Little Caesar (1930) (see photo above) (# 9), Scarface (1983) (# 10).

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Foreigners Drive Noir Projects Forward

American directors don't seem interested in making many noir-inspired movies these days. Maybe some would like to but can't get the funding. Most American-made films are targeted at a younger audience, and hard-boiled fiction doesn't usually make the cut.
That's OK, foreign filmmakers are picking up some of the slack.
Case in point is Denmark's Nicholas Winding Refn, who just won the Best Director award at Cannes for his film, "Drive," a film noir he shot here in Los Angeles. The movie stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt man who makes movies by day and does robberies at night.
I'm reminded that it's often non-Americans who keep American film and music genres alive after audiences in the U.S. turn away. Europeans and Asians have remained solid fans of U.S. home-grown jazz and blues. And the same goes for film genres such as film noir and gangster movies.
I'm glad that someone still sees the value of this kind of filmmaking. Maybe overseas enthusiasm for the genre will catch on here. Let's hope.


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A Game Even Mickey Cohen Might Have Liked

"L.A. Noire" launched today. I'm not a video gamer by any means, but it's worth mentioning today's radio interview with John Buntin, author of "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City," the book about gangster Mickey Cohen's reign over the City of Angels.
The book and the video game are similarly titled, although the game title has an extra "e" for reasons still unclear to me.
Why mention the game at all in this forum? Because the video game is said to be more cinematic than a non-enthusiast for video games such as myself might suspect. The plot also borrows story points from the AMC TV series "Mad Men," a favorite of mine.
Buntin, who I've had the pleasure of meeting at a book signing he did at the L.A. Athletic Club, got a preview of the game, which has been under heavy wraps by its developer, Rockstar Games. Buntin admired what he saw, all in all, but noted that L.A.'s skies circa 1947, the era in which the "L.A. Noire" game is set, are too pastel blue (where's the smog?), the police don't act as violently as they were capable of then and the city is not shown as densely populated as was 1947 Los Angeles.
However, developers went to great pains to portray the city accurately, poring over 1947 topographical maps of the city, collecting vintage Sears catalogs to get the colors correct -- yes, this "Noire" is in color, not black and white.
For those of us who enjoy the films, fiction and true crime stories of 1930s to 1950s L.A., it's probably a good thing that pop culture is finally catching up with the literature from the shadowy underbelly of Los Angeles. Maybe film-makers will become inspired and create something like the old movies for the big screen.

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Dead Hollywood Starlet Still Spotted at Old Haunt?

17575 Pacific Coast Highway, once home of silver screen star Thelma Todd.

Quite by accident I had the opportunity to tour a historic L.A. crime scene this week. I'd seen pictures of the place a thousand times, but I didn't recognize it until my host pointed out the tawdry historic significance of the location -- and that's right up my alley.

I found myself walking the hallways of the apartment and former speakeasy operated by 1920s-'30s screen siren Thelma Todd. The place is a sprawling art deco remnant of the silent film era located at 17575 Pacific Coast Highway. It's got a breath-taking view of the ocean.

Lucky Luciano

According to legend, Todd was a bit of a wild woman. Among the list of notable characters she associated with was notorious gangster Charlie "Lucky" Luciano.

Luciano is alleged to have pressed Todd to allow him to open a gambling den on the top level of her speakeasy. The actress balked.

Theories abound about Todd's death, and aside from Luciano, other suspects include:

- Todd`s ex-husband, Pat DiCicco, a self-described agent with underworld connections. After one too many beatings, Todd divorced him. He felt humiliated and may have sought revenge.

Slumped behind the wheel.

- Roland West, a failed director and Todd`s occasional lover. They were co-owners with West`s wife in the Malibu restaurant, Thelma Todd`s Sidewalk Cafe. The three partners lived in a duplex together above the eatery. It was an uncomfortable arrangement, and West bitterly resented Todd`s numerous affairs.

- Jewel Carmen, West`s wife. She didn`t object to her husband`s liaison with Todd, but when the restaurant started to lose money, she threatened to kill Todd for squandering her investment.

On Dec. 16, 1935 after a night of partying at the Trocadero nightclub on Sunset Blvd., Todd was found asphyxiated behind the wheel of her Lincoln Phaeton touring car inside her garage, the doors pulled shut. Her
nose was broken. The death was called accidental, but understandably doubts linger -- with no less than four suspects who could have helped her take that last big curtain call, you'd have to wonder. But the case remains unsolved.

They say the building is haunted by Todd's ghost. I peered through the garage door windows at the scene of the actress's death. It looks very much the same as those 1935 crime scene photos. I did not see Thelma's ghost -- of course, it was the middle of the day.

Maybe another visit, sometime in the early morning hours next Dec. 16 might be a better time to catch a glimpse of the departed actress's restless spirit.

Listen and watch as "Mysteries & Scandals" host A.J. Benza runs down the details of Todd's demise:

Austrian blaggard impersonates Ronald Reagan -- No, it's not Arnold.

"The Robber" promises to be a cool and slightly off-beat crime thriller with a psychological edge. Directed by Benjamin Heisenberg ("Sleeper") and starring Andreas Lust ("Revanche"), it opens in New York City on April 29 and will expand to other U.S. and Canadian cities thereafter.
The film's main character, Johann Rettenberger, was inspired by the life of Austrian bank-robber and runner Johann Kastenberger, who set long-distance race records while secretly robbing banks on the side. Widely referred to as "Pump-gun Ronnie," after the Ronald Reagan mask he wore and the shotgun used on the assaults, Rettenberger still holds the record time in the Bergmarathon, a famous race held in the Austrian Alps.
Rotten Tomatoes lists the film's genre as a "Sports & Fitness Drama." Wonder if bank robbery in a rubber mask is "sports" or "fitness"?

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Mean Streets and Sidewalks, Preminger's Bleak Vision

In Otto Preminger's 1950 hard boiled crime drama, "Where The Sidewalk Ends" (Script by Ben Hecht), Dana Andrews, as Det. Mark Dixon, lays the groundwork for "Dirty" Harry Callahan.
Much like Clint Eastwood's Fascist-leaning crime fighter, Andrews' Dixon can't play by the rules--he'd just as soon slap around crooks and wiseguys, and can't stomach the thought of honoring their constitutional rights.
Andrews gave a similarly sullen performance in another film also directed by Preminger and co-starring Gene Tierney, 1944's "Laura."
In "Laura," Andrews, as Det. Lt. Mark McPherson, obsesses over the murder victim whose case he's assigned to investigate. When the object of McPherson's obsession, Laura, mysteriously appears, very much alive, a new mystery begins to unfold, as does a potential romance between the detective and the would-be murder victim.
But in "Sidewalk," we see a more driven, haunted figure in Andrews' performance. Near the end of the film, we learn that the detective has a dark past. When it looks like the unlucky Dixon will get off the hook for an accidental killing he commits and tries to cover up, he realizes that his only chance for redemption is to turn himself in and suffer the consequences. By doing so he trashes his career and sacrifices his chance for romance with the woman of his dreams. But for him it's the only way to break from his past and begin a new life.
"Laura" is the hands-down more popular of the two films, but for its existential angst and toughness, "Sidewalk" is head and shoulders above its earlier counterpart.

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HBO's mini series based on James M. Caine novel gets high praise

Salon magazine says:
"Mildred Pierce" is a quiet, heartbreaking masterpiece. Kate Winslet's expert performance anchors a tough, smart portrait of a woman's struggle to master her life. Read the full story.