The late 1950s brought black-and-white television to new heights, with The Untouchables exemplifying the era’s gritty appeal and plunge into endless tropery, some of which started right here. Known for its violence, the show stirred controversy in its day, with its portrayal of mob brutality and intense confrontations between law enforcement and the Chicago crime syndicates.
Classic Film Noir exposes the myths by which we fulfil our desires — sex — murder — and the suburban dream — 1940 to 1960 — FEATURING: amnesia, lousy husbands, paranoia, red scare and HUAC, boxing, drifter narratives, crooked cops, docu-style noir, returning veterans, cowboy noir, outré noir — and more.
The Scarface Mob (1959)
The Turning Point (1952)
It was inspired by the Kefauver Committee's hearings dealing with organised crime which were of enormous public interest in 1950 and 1951, and which inspired quite a few film noir moments, as it happened.
The idea of these hearings as a locus for the challenging of crime by means of public morals, created a unique set of cultural points for the 1950s. Since prohibition times, crime had grown into a major enterprise, and this its mangerial Kefauver-style film noir re-telling with sensation, morality, family, frienship, thuggery and downtown Los Angeles location shooting.