Old-Timey Gangster Movies, Best to Worst
by J_Frank_Parnell | created - 4 months ago | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicBest classic gangster movies, from the late 20's to early 60's
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1. 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: 23,028 | Gross: $1.01M
2. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Passed | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 23,213
3. 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: 15,542
4. Brighton Rock (1948)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.
Director: John Boulting | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell, Harcourt Williams
Votes: 6,826 | Gross: $0.22M
5. Scarface (1932)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson | Stars: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins
Votes: 30,325
6. The Petrified Forest (1936)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Thriller
A waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin
Votes: 14,941
7. 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: 35,767
8. Little Caesar (1931)
Not Rated | 79 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, William Collier Jr.
Votes: 14,542
9. The Big Heat (1953)
Passed | 89 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby
Votes: 29,188
10. Key Largo (1948)
Approved | 100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man visits his war buddy's family hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore
Votes: 43,992
11. High Sierra (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 19,243
12. Gangs of New York (1938)
Approved | 67 min | Crime, Drama
The undercover cop Rocky Thorpe infiltrates a crime syndicate being run by the incarcerated mob boss John Franklin. Franklin conducts his business via a short-wave radio concealed in his ... See full summary »
Director: James Cruze | Stars: Charles Bickford, Ann Dvorak, Alan Baxter, Wynne Gibson
Votes: 170
13. Al Capone (1959)
Approved | 104 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A chronicle of the rise and fall of Chicago crime boss Al Capone during the Prohibition era.
Director: Richard Wilson | Stars: Rod Steiger, Martin Balsam, Fay Spain, James Gregory
Votes: 1,909
14. Baby Face Nelson (1957)
Approved | 85 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
George "Babyface" Nelson became one of the most important gangsters of 1930's Chicago by making brutal robberies. In order to compete with Al Capone, he allied himself with John Dillinger.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon
Votes: 781
15. Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)
Unrated | 80 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The criminal exploits of Public Enemy number 1, George 'Machine-Gun' Kelly, during the 1930s.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Charles Bronson, Susan Cabot, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Devon
Votes: 1,984
16. Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960)
Not Rated | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Ma Barker and her four sons terrorize the 1930s South and Midwest with a string of kidnappings, robberies and murders, and even get to work with such famous criminals as John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.
Director: Bill Karn | Stars: Lurene Tuttle, Tristram Coffin, Paul Dubov, Nelson Leigh
Votes: 350
17. Pretty Boy Floyd (1960)
Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Charles Arthur Floyd finds work on an oil rig after serving time for armed robbery; but when he becomes involved with a married woman, her husband swears revenge. Floyd's boss doesn't know that his new employee was a jailbird.
Director: Herbert J. Leder | Stars: John Ericson, Barry Newman, Roy Fant, Joan Harvey
Votes: 173
18. City Streets (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Man joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Lukas, William 'Stage' Boyd
Votes: 1,873
19. Dead End (1937)
Approved | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The lives of a young man, a young woman, an notorious gangster, and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Wendy Barrie
Votes: 8,591
20. Criss Cross (1949)
Not Rated | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An armored truck driver and his ex-wife conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed on the route.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 9,602
21. The Killers (1946)
Passed | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker
Votes: 23,639
22. The Big Combo (1955)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A police lieutenant is ordered to stop investigating deadly crime boss Mr. Brown because he hasn't been able to get any hard evidence against him. He goes after Brown's girlfriend, who despises him, for information instead.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Jean Wallace, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 8,626
23. The Breaking Point (1950)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An otherwise moral captain of a charter boat becomes financially strapped and is drawn into illegal activities in order to keep up payments on his boat.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Juano Hernandez
Votes: 4,406
24. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez
Votes: 22,092
25. Cop Hater (1958)
Not Rated | 75 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The hardworking detectives of the 87th Precinct in an unnamed city during a massive heat wave investigate the seemingly random murders of policemen.
Director: William Berke | Stars: Robert Loggia, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Ellen Parker, Shirley Ballard
Votes: 575
26. Guns Girls and Gangsters (1959)
Not Rated | 70 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In Las Vegas, a group of assorted criminals plans the robbery of an armored truck hauling casino money to the bank.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr, Lee Van Cleef, Grant Richards
Votes: 699
27. The Hoodlum (1951)
PG | 61 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Paroled sociopath and career criminal Vincent Lubeck betrays his family's trust when he masterminds a complex armored car robbery.
Director: Max Nosseck | Stars: Lawrence Tierney, Allene Roberts, Marjorie Riordan, Lisa Golm
Votes: 1,164
28. Drive a Crooked Road (1954)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An upright car mechanic falls in love with the girlfriend of a gangster. This forces him to participate in the criminal underworld.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Kelly
Votes: 2,019
29. The Mayor of Hell (1933)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Five members of a teen-age gang, including leader Jimmy Smith, are sent to the state reformatory, presided over by the melodramatically callous Thompson. Soon, Patsy Gargan, a former ... See full summary »
Directors: Archie Mayo, Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Madge Evans, Arthur Byron, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 1,842
30. Pushover (1954)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An undercover police officer falls for the beautiful moll of a bank robber on the run, and together they plan to double-cross the hood and the cops.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak, Philip Carey, Dorothy Malone
Votes: 4,126
31. Larceny, Inc (1942)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy
Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford, Jack Carson
Votes: 3,147
32. The Lineup (1958)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Richard Jaeckel, Mary LaRoche
Votes: 4,429
33. 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: 2,463
34. Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand
Votes: 8,146
35. Murder, Inc. (1960)
Not Rated | 103 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.
Directors: Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan, Peter Falk
Votes: 1,672
36. Quicksand (1950)
Approved | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After taking 20 dollars from his employer to go on a date with plans to repay it the next day, an auto mechanic falls into increasingly disastrous circumstances for more and more money which rapidly spirals out of his control.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Barbara Bates, Peter Lorre
Votes: 2,673
37. Crime Wave (1953)
Approved | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter.
Director: André De Toth | Stars: Gene Nelson, Sterling Hayden, Phyllis Kirk, Ted de Corsia
Votes: 4,553
38. Chicago Syndicate (1955)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A former military accountant is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the mob in Chicago in an attempt to break open the rackets. To complicate his job, two women stand in his way, each with her own agenda.
Director: Fred F. Sears | Stars: Dennis O'Keefe, Abbe Lane, Paul Stewart, Xavier Cugat
Votes: 624
39. Underworld (1927)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Directors: Josef von Sternberg, Arthur Rosson | Stars: George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent, Fred Kohler
Votes: 3,478 | Gross: $1.64M
40. Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
US Treasury agent George Morton persuades convicted criminal Johnny Evans to help him destroy a drug smuggling ring in exchange for early parole.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Howard Duff, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Tony Curtis
Votes: 780
41. The Crooked Way (1949)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
War hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew, Rhys Williams
Votes: 1,403
42. The Mob (1951)
Approved | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Johnny Damico botches a murder case and is suspended from the force. In reality, he is put undercover to identify the mysterious boss of the NY waterfront who has murdered everyone in his way. Will Johnny be next in line?
Director: Robert Parrish | Stars: Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler, Richard Kiley, Otto Hulett
Votes: 2,633
43. The Little Giant (1933)
Passed | 76 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
When Prohibition ends, a beer baron sees the writing on the wall, quits the rackets, and tries to break into California society.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, Helen Vinson, Russell Hopton
Votes: 1,441
44. Jimmy the Gent (1934)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Allen Jenkins, Alan Dinehart
Votes: 2,035
45. Mad Dog Coll (1961)
88 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Story of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, a notorious gangland killer in the 1930s.
Director: Burt Balaban | Stars: John Davis Chandler, Kay Doubleday, Brooke Hayward, Neil Burstyn
Votes: 372
46. Hell's Kitchen (1939)
Passed | 81 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A group of tough city kids have 'graduated' from reform school and are assigned to a "Boy's Town" type of inmate self-government city shelter. The shelter is run by Hiram Krispan (Grant ... See full summary »
Directors: Ewald André Dupont, Lewis Seiler | Stars: The Dead End Kids, Margaret Lindsay, Ronald Reagan, Stanley Fields
Votes: 386
47. Bullet Scars (1942)
Passed | 59 min | Drama
Gangster Frank Dillon abducts Dr. Steven Bishop to treat wounded Joe Madison. Dillon also takes Joe's nurse sister. Dillon threatens Bishop's life if Joe dies, but Bishop knows Dillon will kill him anyway.
Director: D. Ross Lederman | Stars: Regis Toomey, Adele Longmire, Howard Da Silva, Ben Welden
Votes: 248
48. Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
Approved | 123 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
In Prohibition-era Chicago, two rival gangs compete for control of the city's rackets.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby
Votes: 5,688 | Gross: $9.81M
Pretty sure this is the only colour movie listed, and it's more like a (musical) satire of gangster movies, than a true 'gangster movie'. It's still a cool, old rat-pack movie about gangsters, though (with a brief cameo from Edward G. Robinson)
49. Paper Bullets (1941)
Approved | 72 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Circumstances force naive Dorothy Adams into serving an unjust prison term, but she emerges from it a cynical criminal who rises to power in the local crime organization.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Joan Woodbury, Jack La Rue, Linda Ware, John Archer
Votes: 358
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