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.