American Gangster: The Crime You Need When the Mob Is Not Enough

[1] Interestingly, the cover of the American Gangster DVD did not use the image from its theatrical release poster, perhaps tacitly acknowledging that its original errand had failed.

[2] Breton, Andre. “Nonnational Borders of Surrealism.” Free Rein. Trs. Michael Parmentier and Jacqueline D’Amboise. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. 14-15. [First emphasis in original; second emphasis ours]

[3] American capitalism, incidentally, does not only produce winners and losers. There is also an all-too-familiar third category: survivors.

[4] Quoted in Davis, Francis. Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2002. 73.

[5] Gussow, Mel. “Martin Esslin, Drama Theorist, Dies at 83.” The New York Times. Jul. 5 2002: A25. 23 Mar. 2008. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/05/arts/martin-esslin-drama-theorist-dies-at-83.html.

[6] Dargis, Manhola. “Sweet, Bloody Smell of Success.” The New York Times. Nov. 2 2007: E1. 23 Mar. 2008. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/movies/02gang.html.

[7] “The Education of Gore Vidal.” American Masters. PBS, 2003.

[8] Hawks’ mayhem-riddled Scarface provides a particularly hysterical example of this. Responding to pressure from censorship boards seeing in Scarface a “glorification” of the gangster, the 1932 movie begins with three defensive title cards that together read: “This picture is an indictment of gang rule in America and of the callous indifference of the government to this constantly increasing menace to our safety and our liberty. Every incident in this picture is the reproduction of an actual occurrence, and the purpose of this picture is to demand of the government: ‘What are you going to do about it?’ The government is your government. What are YOU going to do about it?”