{"id":2489,"date":"2011-03-10T17:30:42","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T21:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=1749"},"modified":"2011-03-19T02:44:18","modified_gmt":"2011-03-19T06:44:18","slug":"gangsters-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2489","title":{"rendered":"Gangsters: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Tommygun_pic_b.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1750\" title=\"Tommygun_pic_b\" src=\"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Tommygun_pic_b.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"122\" height=\"109\" \/><\/a>Here\u2019s a slightly different spin on reviewing TCM\u2019s latest  group of classic films sets: along with reviews of one pair of classic gangster  films, I\u2019m adding either a contemporary classic whose roots lie in Warner  Bros.\u2019 vintage \u2018torn from the headlines\u2019 crime films of the thirties, or a  title you may have missed because the local distribution channels missed it, or  it\u2019s been forgotten for whatever silly reason.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a case in point:\u00a0  the first pair from TCM\u2019s Greatest Gangster Films Collection (Warner  Home Video) are <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kqek.com\/dvd_reviews\/j2l\/3747_LittleCaesar1931.htm\">Little  Caesar<\/a><\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2483\">M<\/a>] and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kqek.com\/dvd_reviews\/s\/3748_SmartMoney1931.htm\">Smart Money<\/a><\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2474\">M<\/a>] &#8211; both from 1931, and both  superb in spite of being in black &amp; white, mono, and made 80 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Chief reasons to catch these gems: Edward G. Robinson\u2019s  extraordinary performances, and the meanness and naughtiness that vanished once  the vile Production Code became law in 1934, disallowing all kinds of  behaviour, dialogue, visuals, inferences, and things we completely take for  granted today.<\/p>\n<p>Tied to the two classics is <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kqek.com\/dvd_reviews\/g\/3749_GangstersParadiseJerusalema.htm\">Gangster\u2019s  Paradise: Jerusalema<\/a><\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2469\">M<\/a>] (Anchor Bay),  Ralph Ziman\u2019s 2008 \u2018inspired by true events\u2019 crime drama based on a real-life  figure who managed to snooker abandoned apartment buildings from landlords  during the eighties in Hillbrow, the once crime-drenched inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Originally released as Jerusalema, the film may have been  overshadowed by the Oscar-winning success of South Africa\u2019s other recent  gangster film, <strong>Tstotsi<\/strong> (2005), but  it shouldn\u2019t be overlooked.<\/p>\n<p>Ziman shot a film no one wanted to finance using old  Soviet-era film cameras in dangerous locations in and around Hillbrow, and it\u2019s  a compelling update on the Little Caesar template of a kid who becomes a thug,  thief, gangster, slum lord, and eventually must fall from grace.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve posted reviews of the films and their extras (including  vintage short material on the Warner discs), and the next pair of gangster  films will also be accompanied by another South Africa crime film.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>,  Editor<br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kqek.com\/Main_Index_Page.htm\">KQEK.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first in a series, beginning with reviews of the first two films in TCM&#8217;s Greatest Gangster Films set &#8211; Little Caesar and Smart Money (Warner Home Video) &#8211; and the South African crime drama Gangster&#8217;s Paradise: Jerusalema (Anchor Bay)&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-E9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2559,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions\/2559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}