initial victims (such as the thugs responsible for the
protagonist’s initial humiliation) are usually por-
trayed as deserving of their fate. This pattern shifts
as the hero reaches his goal to rule the criminal syn-
dicate. His ambition clouds his vision; he becomes
paranoid and power-hungry, and begins to resemble
his deposed adversaries. Before he self-destructs, he
often destroys—figuratively or literally—characters
that represent his last remaining ties to the earnest
go-getter that began the story. Frequently, the pro-
tagonist expresses last-minute regret for what he
has become, but by then it is almost always too late.
More sympathetic secondary characters often
serve to humanize the gangster antihero. While the
doomed protagonist is nearly always male, the sec-
ondary characters that provide a tenuous connec-
tion to the Old World values that he must sacrifice
on his climb up the ladder usually take the form of
a mother or sister. The only other female character
typical to the genre is either a fellow criminal or a
sort of gangster groupie known as a moll. Whereas
the protagonist’s mother loves him for his potential
humanity, the gangster moll loves him for his
potential power and wealth. She is a symbol of his
aspirations—an alluring veneer concealing a rotten
core.
He may also have a sidekick—a trusted compan-
ion from the old neighborhood—who makes the
journey with him. This friend may be responsible
for giving the protagonist his first break in the busi-
ness, only to be later eclipsed by the hero. He is
often instrumental in the protagonist’s downfall—
either as a betrayer or as a victim of the central
character’s greed and lust for power.
Antagonists come in two forms: law- enforcement
agents and fellow gangsters. In stark contrast to
portrayals in traditional procedurals, the police in
gangster movies are portrayed as oppressors who
are corrupt, incompetent, or both. They are some-
times in league with the gangster antagonist, the
current kingpin who lacks the imagination or
courage of our hero. His overthrow is often one of
the first major obstacles the protagonist must over-
come. Of course, the ultimate antagonist in many
gangster movies is the protagonist himself.
According to an urban legend, when the gang-
ster Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks,
he replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”
The same sort of logic explains the setting of the
vast majority of gangster films. Movies about organ-
ized crime are set in urban locations because organ-
ized crime flourishes primarily in large cities. The
particulars of the setting evolve as the plot pro-
gresses. The story usually opens in a slum, develops
on the mean streets downtown, then works its way
upward into luxury penthouses.
In contrast to most movie stars, the actors most
closely associated with early gangster films were
diminutive and relatively unattractive. The author-
ity that actors like Edward G. Robinson and James
Cagney conveyed on-screen was made all the more
powerful by their atypical appearance. (In another
blow to Hollywood logic, Cagney—whose gangster92 CHAPTER 3TYPES OF MOVIES
The antiheroThe gangster movie provided the cinema
with some its first antiheroes. These unconventional central
characters pursue goals, overcome obstacles, take risks,
and suffer consequences——everything needed to propel a
compelling narrative——but they lack the traditional “heroic”
qualities that engage an audience’s sympathy. While he may
not be courteous, kind, and reverent, he is almost always
smart (if uneducated), observant, and brave. More than
anything, the gangster-hero is driven by an overwhelming
need to prove himself. This need motivates his quest for
power, fame, and wealth... and almost always proves to be
the tragic flaw that brings about his inevitable downfall. In
the final moments of Raoul Walsh’s White Heat(1949), the
psychopathic protagonist Cody Jarrett (James Cagney)
declares “top of the world, Ma!” before blowing himself to
bits rather than submitting to the policemen who have him
surrounded.