Crime movies are as old as filmmaking itself. They embody the American nightmare, functioning both as a mirror of society and a tool for educating the public about its enemies. In this history of the genre Carlos Clarens gives us a mini-history of crime American-style.

From New York's Biograph Studios, where raw violence was introduced to celluloid immortality, to today's multi-million-dollar celebrations of blood and power, Crime Movies shows us the whole picture: the unchanging cast of characters (the gangster hero, swaggering, charming, suspicious; the stoolpigeon or strikebreaker; the moll); the stars (James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Richard Widmark); the censorship battles, political pressure, and public outcry. Movies such as Intolerance, Underworld, Little Caesar, Public Enemy, Kiss of Death, On the Waterfront, Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Reservoir Dogs have fascinated America throughout the century.

Crime Movies illuminates these and hundreds of others, and details the filmmaking strategies Hollywood has adopted to deal with the controversial yet profitable and enduring subject of American criminality.