Old-Timey Gangster Movies, Best to Worst
Best classic gangster movies, from the late 20's to early 60's
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- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJames CagneyJean HarlowEdward WoodsAn Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienHumphrey BogartA priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyHumphrey BogartPriscilla LaneThree men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsRichard AttenboroughHermione BaddeleyWilliam HartnellIn Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.
- DirectorHoward HawksRichard RossonStarsPaul MuniAnn DvorakKaren MorleyAn ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsLeslie HowardHumphrey BogartBette DavisA waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsEdward G. RobinsonDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Glenda FarrellA small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsIda LupinoHumphrey BogartAlan CurtisAfter being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGary CooperSylvia SidneyPaul LukasMan joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsVictor MatureRichard EganStephen McNallyThree hoodlums carefully case a small town while planning to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday. On Saturday, things turn violent and deadly.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsSylvia SidneyJoel McCreaHumphrey BogartThe lives of a young man, a young woman, an notorious gangster, and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
- DirectorArchie MayoMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyMadge EvansArthur ByronFive members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the state reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed deputy commissioner as a political favor, arrives - complete with hip flask and blonde. Gargan falls for activist nurse Dorothy and, inspired by her, takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. But Thompson, to conceal his years of graft, needs a quick way to discredit Gargan.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergArthur RossonStarsGeorge BancroftClive BrookEvelyn BrentBoisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsEdward G. RobinsonJane WymanBroderick CrawfordThree ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGeorge BancroftFay WrayRichard ArlenA criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsJohn GarfieldClaude RainsThe Dead End KidsA champion boxer on the lamb, believed to have committed murder while drunk, takes refuge and finds redemption at a farm for delinquent youths.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyRalph BellamyPatricia EllisEx-convict Danny Kean decides to become honest as a photographer for a paper. He falls in love with Patricia, the daughter of the policeman who arrested him. Mr Nolan, her father, doesn't like that relation at first, but McLean, Kean's boss, convinces him of Kean's good nature. But Kean uses his relation to Patricia to make a photo of an execution. Due to this, Nolan loses his stripes and Kean isn't allowed to see Patricia any longer. But when one of his former friends kills two policemen, Kean sees his chance....
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsMamie Van DorenGerald MohrLee Van CleefIn Las Vegas, a group of assorted criminals plans the robbery of an armored truck hauling casino money to the bank.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsGene NelsonSterling HaydenPhyllis KirkReformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsEdward G. RobinsonMary AstorHelen VinsonWhen Prohibition ends, a beer baron sees the writing on the wall, quits the rackets, and tries to break into California society.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsEdward G. RobinsonBette DavisHumphrey BogartFight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyBette DavisAllen JenkinsAn unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
- DirectorEwald André DupontLewis SeilerStarsThe Dead End KidsMargaret LindsayRonald ReaganA group of tough city kids have 'graduated' from reform school and are assigned to a "Boy's Town" type of inmate self-government city shelter. The shelter is run by Hiram Krispan (Grant Mitchell), a crooked superintendent, assisted by Buck Caesar (Stanley Fields), an ex-racketeer on probation. Buck enjoys trying to straighten out the kids and joins with them and social workers Beth Avery (Margaret Lindsay) and Jim Donahue (Ronald Reagan), in getting Krispan removed from his job.
- DirectorRichard QuineStarsMickey RooneyDianne FosterKevin McCarthyAn upright car mechanic falls in love with the girlfriend of a gangster. This forces him to participate in the criminal underworld.
- DirectorJames CruzeStarsCharles BickfordAnn DvorakAlan BaxterThe undercover cop Rocky Thorpe infiltrates a crime syndicate being run by the incarcerated mob boss John Franklin. Franklin conducts his business via a short-wave radio concealed in his cell. One day Franklin is caught and placed in solitary confinement. Thorpe, Franklin's physical double, takes his place. Soon changes in the gang's activities are subtly made. Thorpe orders the mob to keep careful records of their activities, to gather enough evidence to convict them all. Trouble ensues when Franklin escapes from jail.
- DirectorWilliam BerkeStarsRobert LoggiaGerald S. O'LoughlinEllen ParkerThe hardworking detectives of the 87th Precinct in an unnamed city during a massive heat wave investigate the seemingly random murders of policemen.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BlondellBarton MacLaneWhen a crusader against rackets is murdered, a grand jury battles the rackets by promoting McLaren to be in charge of the cleanup. He fires NYPD Detective Blake, who punches him and joins the racket.
- DirectorRichard WilsonStarsRod SteigerMartin BalsamFay SpainA chronicle of the rise and fall of Chicago crime boss Al Capone during the Prohibition era.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsMickey RooneyCarolyn JonesCedric HardwickeGeorge "Babyface" Nelson became one of the most important gangsters of 1930's Chicago by making brutal robberies. In order to compete with Al Capone, he allied himself with John Dillinger.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsCharles BronsonSusan CabotMorey AmsterdamThe criminal exploits of Public Enemy number 1, George 'Machine-Gun' Kelly, during the 1930s.
- DirectorBill KarnStarsLurene TuttleTristram CoffinPaul DubovMa Barker and her four sons terrorize the 1930s South and Midwest with a string of kidnappings, robberies and murders, and even get to work with such famous criminals as John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.
- DirectorHerbert J. LederStarsJohn EricsonBarry NewmanRoy FantCharles Arthur Floyd finds work on an oil rig after serving time for armed robbery; but when he becomes involved with a married woman, her husband swears revenge. Floyd's boss doesn't know that his new employee was a jailbird.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallBobby JordanWhen gamblers kidnap Muggs to throw a fight, friend Danny steps in and wins the scheduled boxing bout, leaving Mugs jealous, resentful and wrongfully suspicious.Not quite true 'gangster movies', but a similar genre that ran from the late 30's to mid-50's, based around groups like 'The Dead End Kids', 'East Side Kids' and 'The Bowery Boys', that started as a spin-off, with groups of young actors from 'Dead End, and 'Angels With Dirty Faces'
- DirectorHarold YoungStarsRobert WilcoxHelen ParrishMarjorie MainAfter his father is sentenced to death for accidentally killing a cop, Johnny's family is left to fight for survival. His sister becomes a burlesque performer for money while Johnny joins a local gang and turns to a life of street crime.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanHuntz HallImpoverished boys get sent to reform school while an adult older brother to one of them gets put on death row - all innocent of their charges.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneStarsJames CagneyMae ClarkeJames BurkeThe adventures of an investigator (Cagney) for the Bureau of Weights and Measures.
- DirectorBurt BalabanStuart RosenbergStarsStuart WhitmanMay BrittHenry MorganThe rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsJohn PayneSonny TuftsEllen DrewWar hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
- DirectorFred F. SearsStarsDennis O'KeefeAbbe LanePaul StewartA former military accountant is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the mob in Chicago in an attempt to break open the rackets. To complicate his job, two women stand in his way, each with her own agenda.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsFrank SinatraDean MartinSammy Davis Jr.In Prohibition-era Chicago, two rival gangs compete for control of the city's rackets.More like a (musical) satire of gangster movies, than a true 'gangster movie'. It's still a cool, old rat-pack movie about gangsters, though (with a brief cameo from Edward G. Robinson)
- DirectorRobert ParrishStarsBroderick CrawfordBetty BuehlerRichard KileyJohnny Damico botches a murder case and is suspended from the force. In reality, he is put undercover to identify the mysterious boss of the NY waterfront who has murdered everyone in his way. Will Johnny be next in line?
- DirectorBurt BalabanStarsJohn Davis ChandlerKay DoubledayBrooke HaywardStory of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, a notorious gangland killer in the 1930s.
- DirectorBill KarnStarsJohnny CashDonald WoodsCay ForesterA murderous thug and his cohorts take a bank executives wife hostage after their robbery plans go awry.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsRegis ToomeyAdele LongmireHoward Da SilvaGangster Frank Dillon abducts Dr. Steven Bishop to treat wounded Joe Madison. Dillon also takes Joe's nurse sister. Dillon threatens Bishop's life if Joe dies, but Bishop knows Dillon will kill him anyway.
- DirectorWilliam AsherStarsHenry SilvaElizabeth MontgomeryRichard AndersonExiled American gangster Colini sends his protégé-killer Giordano to the USA to eliminate Colini's mob enemies.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsJoan WoodburyJack La RueLinda WareCircumstances force naive Dorothy Adams into serving an unjust prison term, but she emerges from it a cynical criminal who rises to power in the local crime organization.
- DirectorWalter MatthauStarsWalter MatthauCarol GraceBruce MacFarlaneHoodlum Jack Martin is on the lam and robs a small town bank which brings the local cops and local crime boss into the mix.
- DirectorLeo C. PopkinStarsRalph CooperGladys SnyderReginald FendersonTwo mobs fight for control of the jukebox racket.
- DirectorGene Fowler Jr.StarsCharles BronsonKent TaylorJennifer HoldenA Los Angeles high-school teacher's problems begin when he happens to witness a gangland killing and agrees to identify the murderers. Not realizing this will cause the underworld to retaliate "big time".