The economic downturns of the Great Depression contributed to the county's fascination
             with gangster genres. As Americans lost their jobs or saw their farms foreclosed on by
             the once admired establishment or banking system; with public endorsement gangsters
             descended in spirit from America's frontier outlaws such as the James Gang, and led by
             desperadoes like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and Machine Gun Kelly--rose up
             to assault the system. Because of Prohibition, the Great Depression and World War II,
             gangsters became the modern gunslingers and outlaws. The gangster saga replaced the
             Western as the American myth. It told the story of modern America.
             Young Americans enjoyed watching gangster films during the 1930s. Before
             President Roosevelt's New Deal, gangsters were without doubt the American cinema's
             most striking heroes. The film industry's love affair with members of criminal gangs was
             only natural, they were colorful, violent, and charismatic men and women whose
             law-breaking activities were followed by millions of law abiding Americans. But when
             brought to the screen, gangster films more than any other Hollywood genre created
             problems not only for the usual censorship lobbies but also for judges, lawyers, teachers,
             policemen, mayors, newspapers, and local councilors. Many respectable citizens believed
             that gangster films based on the lives and activities of Prohibition-era criminals, led to an
             increase in juvenile delinquency and accused Hollywood of delivering impressionable
             youth into a career of crime. The harmful effects of fast-moving and exciting gangster
             films on young cinema patrons thus became a prominent concern of those eager to
             control and censor this pervasive new mass medium.
             After a series of sex scandals rocked the American film industry, in 1922
             Hollywood's Jewish moguls hired a midwestern Presbyterian gentleman and influential
             ...