Gangster Films of the 1930s
The Popularity of the American Gangster in the 30s"You can dish it out, but you got so you can't take it no more." Caesar Enrico Bandello"Do it first. Do it yourself. And keep on doin' it." Anthony CamonteBy the time the American gangster film arose, the country was already well into the heart of the Depression. Millions of formerly prosperous citizens were plunged into lives of degradation and despair. Official reports put unemployment at 15 percent; a realistic yet conservative estimate shot that figure up to over a third. (http://stats.bls.gov/) Wherever Americans turned, they saw the jobless, starving, and homeless. It seemed as if Americans had lost their spirit when bewildering forces beyond one's control thwarted the individual trying to make a living at every turn. Meanwhile, the familiar institutions seemed to have their heads stuck firmly in the sand. President Herbert Hoover has been known to have said that, in fact, some people were benefiting from the Depression. Radio programming and newspaper stories followed suit, blaring promises of false economic hope while stashing real-life stories of failure in the last minutes or the back pages.
The tabloids never again had a story as big as the St. Someday, I'm gonna run the whole works. Perhaps even more appealing was the fashion in which Tony rises to the top. Brash and loud, he made it to the top the old-fashioned way, eliminating those above them who were "soft" and grabbing everything, including the girl, for himself. All the famous bosses were either dead or in prison (even Al Capone was in Alcatraz). Like both Rico and Tom, Scarface's Tony Camonte lusts after possessions, including high-priced clothes, luxurious jewelry, and especially "expensive" women. This is shown most clearly through his pursuit of Poppy, whose first reaction to Tony is one of scorn. Much like Little Caesar, Public Enemy focused almost entirely on the "meteoric rise" of the gangster. America had hopes for an economic revival by the end of 1938, and the brash rebellious gangster was no longer needed. Tom credited Putty Nose with providing them with a way out of poverty. A number of gangster films flooded the market with knockoffs of the genre leaders, which were less sympathetic in their portrayal. When Tom and Matt ambush him after the banquet, they reflect shortly on the effect he has had on their life: Matt: If it hadn't been for you, we might have been on the level. A man named Putty Nose uses the boys as petty thieves. In fact, his impetus to go to the big city comes from a tabloid article he reads about the fabulous banquet for Diamond Pete Montana. When they reach adulthood the first talk they have is about the difficulty of the times.
Common topics in this essay:
Little Caesar's,
Lovo Poppy,
Depression Radio,
Someday I'm,
Little Caesar,
Putty Nose,
Tom Matt,
Montana Throughout,
Day Massacre,
American Dream,
little caesar,
public enemy,
gangster films,
american dream,
putty nose,
johnny lovo,
contempt leadership,
american gangster,
americans lost,
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Acceptance Essays
