DISCOVER--thirty great gangster films
by jonabbott56 | created - 22 Dec 2012 | updated - 22 Jan 2016 | PublicThis list is in alphabetical order, including the Chinese and Japanese titles. Thirty classics to get you started, there are others, the most notable absentee being Al Pacino as Scarface--that was no. 31. A deliberate absentee that turns up on other lists is the movie version of The Untouchables, I love the original TV series too much to include that one. Amazing how many other lists leave out Warren Oates as Dillinger, a top five entry in my book. Hit the see all lists button to see my separate lists under the DISCOVER pre-fix for James Cagney, Chow Yun Fat, and crime sprees...
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1. Across 110th Street (1972)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two New York City cops go after amateur crooks who are trying to rip off the Mafia and start a gang war.
Director: Barry Shear | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Frank Adu
Votes: 7,155 | Gross: $3.60M
2. A Better Tomorrow (1986)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Lung Ti, Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat, Emily Chu
Votes: 25,486
3. Bloody Mama (1970)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A psychologically disturbed matriarch presides over her damaged family of bank-robbing misfits.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Shelley Winters, Don Stroud, Pat Hingle, Diane Varsi
Votes: 3,730
4. Casino (1995)
R | 178 min | Crime, Drama
In Las Vegas, two best friends - a casino executive and a mafia enforcer - compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods
Votes: 564,492 | Gross: $42.44M
5. Dillinger (1973)
R | 107 min | Action, Biography, Crime
John Dillinger and his gang go on a bank robbing spree across the midwest, but one G-Man is determined to bring him down.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Cloris Leachman
Votes: 5,857 | Gross: $2.00M
6. Flaming Brothers (1987)
Not Rated | 99 min | Action, Crime, Romance
A tale between two brothers: One has left the triads and gone legit, the other has decided to stay and keep the triad from going to the ways of drugs and gun running.
Director: Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Alan Tang, Patricia Ha, Lap Ban Chan
Votes: 675
This is Flaming Brothers.
7. Get Carter (1971)
R | 112 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When his brother dies under mysterious circumstances in a car accident, London gangster Jack Carter travels to Newcastle to investigate.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne
Votes: 36,807 | Gross: $0.39M
8. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,014,488 | Gross: $134.97M
9. The Godfather Part II (1974)
R | 202 min | Crime, Drama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Votes: 1,365,312 | Gross: $57.30M
10. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,258,456 | Gross: $46.84M
11. Hard Boiled (1992)
R | 128 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Teresa Mo, Philip Chan
Votes: 54,058
12. The Killer (1989)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kong Chu
Votes: 51,106
13. The Killers (1964)
Passed | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Surprised that their contract victim didn't try to run away from them, two professional hit men try to find out who hired them and why.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Clu Gulager
Votes: 9,335
14. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Starting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond
Votes: 2,464
15. The Long Goodbye (1973)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell
Votes: 37,337 | Gross: $0.96M
16. Mean Streets (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Votes: 119,747 | Gross: $3.13M
17. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
R | 229 min | Crime, Drama
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams
Votes: 378,020 | Gross: $5.32M
18. The Outfit (1973)
PG | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Earl Macklin robs a bank owned by the mob, serves his prison time and is released, only to start a private war against the crime outfit that owned the bank.
Director: John Flynn | Stars: Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan
Votes: 4,815
19. Performance (1970)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama
A violent East London gangster undergoes a transformation of identity while hiding from his former colleagues in the home of a jaded Bohemian rock star and his two girlfriends.
Directors: Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg | Stars: James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, Michèle Breton
Votes: 11,335 | Gross: $0.19M
20. Point Blank (1967)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the money that was stolen from him.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O'Connor
Votes: 23,265
21. Prime Cut (1972)
R | 88 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A vicious Kansas City slaughterhouse owner and his hick family are having a bloody "beef" with the Chicago crime syndicate over profits from their joint illegal operations. Top enforcer Nick Devlin is sent to straighten things out.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek, Angel Tompkins
Votes: 5,868 | Gross: $0.52M
22. The Public Enemy (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell
Votes: 23,032 | Gross: $1.01M
23. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,222,376 | Gross: $107.93M
24. Raw Deal (1986)
R | 106 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A former FBI agent turned small-town sheriff agrees to help the FBI chief infiltrate the Chicago mafia when the FBI chief's son is killed by them.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar
Votes: 37,659 | Gross: $16.21M
25. Rich and Famous (1987)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
To pay off his debt as a gambler, a man drags his sister and step-brother into a life of crime and a violent war between rival gang lords.
Director: Taylor Wong | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Andy Lau, Alex Man, Siu-Fung Wong
Votes: 772
This is Rich and Famous
26. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Passed | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George
Votes: 15,545
27. Thieves Like Us (1974)
R | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
When two men break out of prison, they join up with another and restart their criminal ways, robbing banks across the South.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Bert Remsen
Votes: 5,146
28. Tiger on Beat (1988)
TV-MA | 93 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A seasoned cop and his rookie partner are a pair of mismatched partners in this Hong Kong action-comedy in the style of 'Lethal Weapon'. The wacky twosome are up in arms as they try to solve the murder of a heroin trafficker.
Director: Chia-Liang Liu | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Nina Li Chi, Conan Lee, Norman Chu
Votes: 2,059
This is Tiger on the Beat
29. Tragic Hero (1987)
R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After being released from prison, Tang Kat Yung exacts revenge on Li Ah Chai, in this sequel to Rich and Famous.
Director: Taylor Wong | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Andy Lau, Alex Man, Siu-Fung Wong
Votes: 696
This is Tragic Hero, the sequel to Rich and Famous.
30. White Heat (1949)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 35,783
James Cagney's tour-de-force...
Jon is not on Facebook, but can reply to comments here, at the base of this list.
Obsessed with the popular culture of the 1960s and surrounding decades, Jon Abbott has been writing about film and TV for over thirty years in around two dozen different publications, trade, populist, and specialist. He is the author of several books, including
Irwin Allen Television Productions 1964-1970,
Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots,
The Elvis Films,
Cool TV of the 1960s: Three Shows That Changed the World,
and Strange New World: Sex Films of the 1970s.
See his Amazon author's page, and his other lists on the IMDB, all under the pre-fix DISCOVER.
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