Phil Hardy, editor
The BFI Companion to Crime
$34.95, paperback
9780520215382
Available Now
352 pages, 8-1/2 x 11 inches, 4 color plates, 500 b/w photographs
March 1998, Only available in Include North America
March 1998, Only available in Include North America
Robbers, gangsters, murderers, and criminals of every description have long been a staple of popular entertainment. Movies are no exception, and film buffs and scholars alike now have a complete guide to the vast array of films that make up the fascinating world of crime cinema. The BFI Companion to Crime offers detailed information on the sub-genres and motifs of movies dealing with criminals and their behavior: prison dramas, heist stories, kidnappings, the exploits of serial killers, juvenile delinquents, and hired guns. Phil Hardy also includes articles on the historical and social background of crime movies. The Mafia, the Japanese yakuza, the FBI, and the underworld of union rackets, prostitution, and drugs are some of the topics covered. Fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Maigret, Philip Marlow, and Pretty Boy Floyd appear in these pages, along with the literary sources of many crime films. The works of Graham Greene, Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, and Eric Ambler are among those featured. Abundantly illustrated with more than 500 photographs, this is the book for film enthusiasts and anyone interested in the crime genre.
From the book:
Alcohol
"The one constant during a century of cinema is the alcoholic cop/lawyer/reporter seeking redemption. Even in 1992, it is not just heroin and crack, but booze too, that draws the Bad Lieutenant (1992) to his kismet."
Batman
"The hints of a romance between Batman and Catwoman, carried through in fetishist clashes of leather and rubber outfits as the strangest s-m relationship in mainstream cinema, signaled by the potent image of Catwoman licking Batman's face from chin to cowl, threaten to reconcile their fractured personalities but remain hauntingly unfulfilled."
Alcohol
"The one constant during a century of cinema is the alcoholic cop/lawyer/reporter seeking redemption. Even in 1992, it is not just heroin and crack, but booze too, that draws the Bad Lieutenant (1992) to his kismet."
Batman
"The hints of a romance between Batman and Catwoman, carried through in fetishist clashes of leather and rubber outfits as the strangest s-m relationship in mainstream cinema, signaled by the potent image of Catwoman licking Batman's face from chin to cowl, threaten to reconcile their fractured personalities but remain hauntingly unfulfilled."
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