7 of Martin Scorsese’s Favorite Gangster Movies

One of the undisputed greats of the modern Hollywood era, director Martin Scorsese has received more critical acclaim most filmmakers could ever dream of. With his subjects varying from the pool-hustling underworld and historical romances to religious drama, Scorsese's range has been wide, but if there's one film genre with which he is most associated, it is surely that of the gangster movie.

His own crime flicks such as Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and The Departed, have been routinely hailed as masterpieces, but what does the master himself consider the best gangster movies ever to have been made? Here are seven fantastic crime films cited by Scorsese for The Daily Beast as his favorites.

The Public Enemy (1931)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Force of Evil (1948)
White Heat (1949)
Night and the City (1950)
Touchez pas au Grisbi (1954)
Point Blank (1967)

The Public Enemy (1931)

This classic rags-to-riches tale of petty criminal Tom Powers (played by James Cagney) rising up the ranks of organized crime carries with it the cautionary message that only bad things can result of such behavior.

Indeed, the film's unforgettable ending, in which Power's meets his ultimate fate, remains deeply shocking to this day. The great William Wellman directed. Wellman's classic 1927 silent movie, Wings, made history in scooping the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture. He would later win another Oscar as Best Director for A Star Is Born (1937).

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

The wonderful James Cagney, who has become synonymous with the image of a tough-guy gangster, stars again in this stylish thriller based on the short story The World Moves On by Mark Hellinger.

Director Raoul Walsh had, by this point, already carved out an illustrious filmography, including the movie The Big Trail (1930) which gave Johny Wayne his first starring role. The Roaring Twenties follows three ex-army buddies, Eddie Bartlett (Cagney), George Hally (Humphrey Bogart) and Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn), who become embroiled in the world of racketeering. It makes for a wild and convoluted ride with nuance and punch.

Force of Evil (1948)

John Garfield, a method actor of great talent, stars as Joe Morse, a New York City lawyer working with gangster Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts), whose nefarious plans including control of the city's numbers racket (illegal gambling).

When Tucker runs up against a rival organization led by Bill Ficco (Paul Fix), Morse finds himself drawn deeper into an increasingly dangerous world. The movie received a mixed critical response upon initial release but has since come to be considered as highly influential, and a defining example of the film noir genre. Both Garfield and the film's director, Abraham Polonsky, were later blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee after refusing to cooperate with its investigations.

White Heat (1949)

Director Raoul Walsh and actor James Cagney team up again for what is considered by many to be one of the greatest gangster movies ever made. Cagney is unforgettable as the psychotic Arthur “Cody” Jarrett, whose ruthless gang is infiltrated by undercover agent Hank Fallon (Edmond O'Brien), leading to a cat-and-mouse game of hair-raising tension.

Two scenes in particular have made this movie famous: Cody's shocking prison breakdown and the gangster's boast: "top of the world, Ma!" This is essential viewing for any fan of the genre.

Night and the City (1950)

British-American author Gerald Kersh supplied the original novel on which this classic movie was based. The film has, in fact, been made twice—with a later 1992 version directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Robert De Niro. Scorsese went for this earlier adaptation, in which Richard Widmark plays con man Harry Fabian as he seeks to worm his way into the shadowy world of professional wrestling in 1950s London. It's a rough, tough, tale of underground life that still hits hard.

Touchez pas au Grisbi (1954)

This popular French Italian thriller, the title of which translates as “Don't Touch the Loot,” was directed by Jacques Becker, a filmmaker who was influential in the French New Wave movement. Novelist Albert Simonin provided the source material, with Jean Gabin starring as Parisian criminal, Max, who endures deadly complications following a heist of gold bullion.

There are burlesque dancers, drugs, and double crosses abound in this gritty and violent tale. This is the first in a trilogy of movies featuring the character of Max, all of which are based on Simonin's novels, with the others being Le Cave Se Rebiffe (1961) and Les Tontons Flingueurs (1963).

Point Blank (1967)

British filmmaker Sir John Boorman directed this magnificent revenge movie, in which homonymous criminal, Walker, is double-crossed and left for dead by his friend, Mal Reese, following their joint robbery of a major underworld operation.

Hardboiled macho man Lee Marvin makes a big impression as Walker, with the fantastic John Vernon playing Reese. Anyone who's watched Boorman's seminal Deliverance (1972) or Excalibur (1981) will know how distinctive and unforgettable the director's work can be, and Point Blank is up there with his very best.