Film 1701: Hollywood Olden - Crime Films

Overview

• Last Week: Discussed the classical gangster film "Public Enemy" by William A. Wellman (1931).
• This Week: Focus on the revisionist crime film, specifically "The Godfather" (1972) by Francis Ford Coppola.

Robert Evans and Paramount Pictures

• Before film, owned a women's clothing store with his brother.
• Brief acting career, then turned to producing.
• Became head of Paramount in 1967 and turned it around with hits:
  • "Rosemary’s Baby" (1968)
  • "Love Story" (1970)
  • "Chinatown" (1974)
• Notable scandals include cocaine trafficking conviction and involvement in the Cotton Club murder.

"The Godfather"

• Adapted from Mario Puzo's novel (1969).
• Paramount bought rights for $80,000 before it was a bestseller.
• Difficulties in hiring a director; Coppola eventually signed on.
• Contentious casting decisions:
  • Marlon Brando for Don Vito Corleone.
  • Al Pacino for Michael Corleone, requiring negotiations with MGM.

Plot Summary

• Set between 1945 and 1955, focusing on the Corleone family, a powerful mob family in New York.
• Vito Corleone, originally from Sicily, becomes a local power in Little Italy.
• Family includes sons Santino (Sonny), Fredo, and Michael, and daughter Connie.
• Central conflict: Law and order vs. crime, with the gangster seen as an antihero.

Themes and Cycles in Gangster Films

• Classical vs. Revisionist Cycles:
  • Classical: Clear distinction between order (police) and chaos (gangsters).
  • Revisionist: Blurred lines; gangsters may represent order against corrupt systems.
  • Reflects 60s and 70s youth animosity toward establishment power structures.

The Antihero in Crime Films

• Antihero: Sympathetic but not moral; often admired for defying corrupt systems.
• Classical cycle portrays gangsters as sociopaths, ultimately punished.
• Revisionist cycle glorifies gangsters for resisting systemic corruption.

The Revisionist Cycle and Ideological Challenge

• Questions classical values like the American Dream.
• Classical gangster wants to assimilate; the revisionist gangster rebels.
• Revisionist gangster films critique societal standards and expose establishment corruption.

Key Examples of Revisionist Gangster Films

• Bonnie and Clyde (1967): Broke cinematic conventions, popular with youth.
• In Cold Blood (1967), St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Boston Strangler (1968).
• The Brotherhood (1968): A precursor to "The Godfather".

Conclusion

• Revisionist crime films reinterpret the gangster narrative.
• They challenge societal norms and explore themes of identity and systemic corruption.