A gutsy 30s gangster noir with two 'hood boys whose paths into adulthood are a complete contrast; Cagney becoming a violent gangster and O'Brien a priest. O'Brien has to fight the local kids' hero-worship of Cagney, and this leads to an emotional and ambiguous climax. Tense, dramatic, well-acted with sharp dialogue. Astounding. find out more...

An all time classic 60s movie glamourising the real life story of the Barrow gang who terrorised the American South in the early 30s. 'Reclaiming the American gangster movie, after it had been stolen by the Nouvelle Vague, Penn's film was so successful (and so imitated) that it inevitably met with some grudging devaluation. But it's still great, half comic fairytale, half brutal fact, it reflects the essential ambiguity of its heroes by treading a no man's land suspended between reality and fant find out more...

The story of an Arkansas farm girl who, as a young girl, witnessed the death of her father in a horrific crash and then gained revenge on his boss. On the run she hits the road in a life of crime and meets up with an assortment of characters, including a trade unionist, a black friend of his and a small-time Yankee conman. find out more...

One of the classic thrillers of the late sixties as a copper is assigned to protect a key state witness in a gangster trial. When the witness is killed the hunt is on for who knew where he was. A tense action packed thriller with one of the great car chases of all time. find out more...

Two-time loser Nick Bianco is caught during an armed robbery and pressured to squeal on his cohorts. Nick refuses and does time, but after his wife commits suicide and his daughters are put in an orphanage, he relents and agrees to work for the prosecutor. He gets paroled and straightens out his life, but when psychopathic killer Tommy Udo, a nasty little creep with wild eyes and a high-pitched laugh, is released, he's out to get even with Nick. find out more...

The classic heist movie, adapted from WR Burnett's novel. A tense, satisfyingly objective study of a gang of hardened villains who fall apart after attempting an ambitious robbery. Sounds familiar? Much imitated but never equalled, this is one of the late John Huston's finest accomplishments. find out more...

Cagney's original gangster performance, he plays Powers, a big time mobster on the up and up. The film's impact derives from its acknowledgement of crime as partly due to poor social conditions, rather than the product of evil individuals. Cagney's role installed him as the definitive gangster hero. find out more...

After WW1, Lloyd returns to practice law, out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver and former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging. Good guy Eddie builds up a fleet of cabs through the reluctant delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. Ruthless George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere. An archetypal gangster thriller. find out more...

Former G.I. Nick Garcos (Richard Conte) is a tyro trucker bent on extracting revenge from the man responsible for crippling his father: ruthless market operator Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb). Along the way he is seduced by siren Rica (Valentina Cortesa) and drawn into the San Francisco produce racket, embroiling him in a web of treachery and heartbreak. A classic, gritty, tough as nails union drama…great. find out more...

Superbly edgy gangster movie with Cagney on top form as the mother-fixated hoodlum who confesses to a robbery to avoid paying the price for the murders he really did commit. But when news reaches his cell that his beloved Ma is dead, his already flaky mind becomes totally, and fatally, unhinged. find out more...