Directors Gangster Movie Tournament (1 Viewer)

[Walter Kittel]

Jim, I haven't seen most of those titles and of the few I have on Laserdisc; I am unsure what their viewing rate might be for other HTFers, but you make a good point about their classic status. ( I stil need to see The Big Combo, it has been languishing in my collection for some time. )

Well, viewing the 1st entry in the thread shows some of them in need of thirds, so instead of nominating; I'll third:

Little Caesar
The Public Enemy ( Both from my LD collection. )

Second:
Rififi

Nominating:
The Seven-Ups
The Pope of Greenwich Village
The Usual Suspects
Kansas City Confidential - since Reservoir Dogs is on the list.

- Walter.

 

[Brook K]

Third Atlantic City

Second My Blue Heaven

I haven't seen the movies you mentioned Jim. White Heat is the only movie in the Warner gangster box I've seen.

 

[SteveGon]

Seconded: The Big Combo, Kansas City Confidential, Mona Lisa, The Road to Perdition, Sexy Beast, and The Usual Suspects.

Rififi had already been seconded, so it's in.

I'm surprised too, that so many haven't seen movies like The Roaring Twenties, The Public Enemy, and The Petrifed Forest.

 

[SteveGon]

Just curious as to which films everyone has seen. From the noms list, I haven't seen:

Afraid to Die
Branded to Kill
Bugsy Malone (seen parts of it)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (always wanted to see it; why isn't it on video?)
Gangster No. 1
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Mickey Blue Eyes
Mobsters (seen parts of it)
Salvatore Giuliano
The Seven-Ups
The Sicilian Clan
Tokyo Drifter
Youth of the Beast

Of these, I'll get around to the ones on Criterion DVD eventually. Not too interested in Bugsy Malone, Mickey Blue Eyes or Mobsters. Most of the others seem to have gotten very mixed reviews so I'm not in too much of a hurry to see them.

From the list, just The Long Good Friday. Just bought a copy off eBay though (been meaning to get it and this was a good excuse.)

 

[Jim_K]

Walter,

You should see The Big Combo, I'm pretty sure you'll dig it.





I've seen all of the titles nominated so far except for the following..........

These 4 are languishing in my Netflix queue
Casque D'Or
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor & Humanity
Youth of the Beast


Most (not all) of the rest of these I'll get around to some day.
Afraid to Die
Clockers
The Criminal
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Gunman in the Streets
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
The 3 Penny Opera '31
The Sicilian Clan
Johnny Stecchino
Bugsy Malone
Mickey Blue Eyes

4 more noms (trying to keep it mainstream or fairly recent)
Heat '95
Dillinger '73
The Hit '84
City of God


Some other suggestions
The Big Heat
Dead End '37
Criss Cross
Pepe le Moko
Force of Evil
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
The Enforcer '51
The Narrow Margin '52
Deadly is the Female (Gun Crazy)
Thief '81
The Getaway '72

 

[Walter Kittel]

Steve, I wish that The Friends of Eddie Coyle was on DVD. Robert Mitchum is terrific in this film.

Surprised you haven't seen The Seven-Ups; that used to get a lot of airplay on television in the '80s. I managed to snag an LD copy on Ebay; always worth watching just for the chase sequence. The location photography lends a lot of authenticity to the film. Richard Lynch plays a real scumbag (surprise!) in this one. And what '70s cop film wouldn't have Tony Lo Bianco in it?

Unfortunately there are number of nominees that I haven't viewed. Some are still in my unviewed pile of DVDs, and some just don't capture my interest. Of the titles to qualify for the tournament as of now, only State of Grace hasn't been viewed.

- Walter.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Second:
Heat (1995)
City of God

I considered nominating some of the other titles that Jim suggested, but categorized some of them as being more noirish than criminal due to their primary focus being the the psychological state of their ostensive protagonists. The Big Heat and Force of Evil both readily come to mind, and are very high on my list of favorite crime/noir titles.

Steve, if these qualify then I readily welcome them to the fray.

- Walter.

 

[Ric Bagoly]

Second-

Bugsy

Married To The Mob

Third-

The Usual Suspects

Heat

Nominate-

Car 54, Where Are You?

Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead

Pulp Fiction

Jackie Brown

 

[george kaplan]

Well I'll nominate

The Big Heat

Criss Cross

 

[Brook K]

There are 4 from the list I haven't seen:

Key Largo
The Kiss of Death
Public Enemy
State of Grace

Key Largo and Public Enemy I always meant to see, and of course I've seen the clip from the end of Public Enemy a bunch, but I just never got around to seeing the movies.

On the nomination list there are 29 I haven't seen, so this tournament could easily have me in constant abstain mode. So many of these films are shown on TCM all the time that I just keep putting off watching them in favor of other stuff. I plan on buying the Gangster box eventually, but I have too big a backlog to get it now. Heck, I still have the Noir Box unopened.

 

[Jim_K]

Second
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown
The Big Heat
Criss Cross

Third
Kansas City Confidential

 

[Jim_K]

Oh and a few more suggestions
True Romance - since PF made it in
The Glass Key
The Killing '56

Hitmen
Leon
This Gun For Hire

 

[Jim_K]

Not really picking an argument, but since I consider Noir to be a style & not a genre I didn't have a conflict suggesting the mentioned titles. Though I understand if someone has a different viewpoint than mine.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Second: Salvatore Giuliano

 

[SteveGon]

Updated. Added of all Jim's suggestions plus (just for Brook) The American Soldier.

Seconded and thirded some titles - check the list in my OP.

 

[george kaplan]

I'll second:

The Killing
This Gun for Hire

 

[Brook K]

Third
The Killing
Pepe Le Moko

Second
The American Soldier

Nominate
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

 

[SteveGon]

Well, feel free to second or third whatever you can...

 

[Walter Kittel]

Second:
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Third:
The Getaway (1972)
Pulp Fiction
Sexy Beast

- Walter.

 

[Brook K]

Nominate

A Bronx Tale