ABSTRACT
Although the gangster film appeared in embryonic form before World War I, it did not become a distinct genre until the late 1920s when “prohibition provided a new, lucrative, and well publicized field of activities for racketeers, one which required a high degree of coordination and organization, transforming the ‘crook into the gangster’” (Raeburn 47). During this period, criminals such as Al Capone and Bugsy Moran supplied alcohol to otherwise law-abiding citizens and were regarded by many Americans as suppliers of legitimate needs. Figures like Capone and Moran were newsworthy, and the film industry moved in to capitalize on their illegal exploits (Raeburn 47). Among Hollywood’s earliest gangster films were The Racket (1928), Alibi (1929), Thunderbolt (1929), and Born Reckless (1930).
