What's in a Title? Crime Films Volume II Quiz

Answer: The Musketeers of Pig Alley

Both the mugging and the rival gangs' shoot-out happen in Pig Alley and The Snapper Kid's mob are The Musketeers. In the alley scene which precedes the mugging, the alley looks remarkably like Hogarth's prints "Beer Street" and "Gin Lane" despite being New York in the early 20th century rather than London in the mid-1800s.

D. W. Griffith's "The Musketeers of Pig Alley" is often mistakenly cited as the first ever gangster film. Despite not being the the first, its influence can be seen throughout the genre and throughout the ages. The longevity of the film is down to Griffith's eye for composition. The camera is obviously static, but he has the actors move in and out of the frame to create amazing dynamism. In the case of the shoot-out scene, this dynamism creates an unpleasant intimacy, tension and urgency.

Answer: Dragnet Girl

There is a third pivotal character in "Dragnet Girl": Joji's girlfriend, Tokiko. She decides to become a nice girl in an attempt to get her man back, so she takes up knitting. She even gets Joji to help her ball the wool up. I suppose the title refers to Kazuko since both Joji and Tokiko undertake a voluntary clean-up in an attempt to be more like her.

"Dragnet Girl" is arguably the best of a handful of gangster films Ozu made which are sort of an early homage to the American culture that the youth of Japan was lapping up. Indeed, everything that surrounds the gangsters is American influenced, from the boxing club where they hang out to the jazz music they dance to via the Italian styled suits and hats they wear.

In his later films Ozu became known for his static cameras, but here they are roving all over the place, and from all kinds of angles. The plot is of little interest and none of the performances really stand out, it's really all about the images Ozu hones in on. At times it's as though he is a painter showing you hundreds of still lifes threaded together.

Answer: The Little Giant

Edward G. Robinson plays Bugs Ahearn, a parody of his breakthrough role as the lead in "Little Caesar" from 1931. Only two years had passed, but Robinson had starred in six films, none of which had really set the world alight.

The first part of "The Little Giant" is excruciatingly hilarious as Bugs gets into fine art and philosophy without the nouse necessary. Unfortunately he can't fool the real upper crust and gets everything wrong once in California. He gets duped by classy fraudsters, but has the last laugh when he goes back to what he knows best and calls in the boys to sort things out.

The brilliance of "The Little Giant" is that the audience is rooting for a gangster despite everything we know about his ilk. Furthermore, that knowledge is partly thanks to Robinson's portrayal of Rico in "Little Caesar", and here in "The Little Giant", it's his performance again that makes the picture.

Answer: White Heat

The title "White Heat" most likely refers to the very dramatic events at a chemical plant that close the film. However, Cody Jarrett (Cagney) suffers from debilitating sudden headaches which he describes as like "red-hot buzzsaws", and flashes of extreme rage, both of which easily imply white heat.

"White Heat" was a return to form for Cagney who hadn't made a decent gangster film since "Each Dawn I Die" ten years earlier. It is one of his greatest performances and is a classic of the genre, and indeed film history. What makes it so great is the depth his character has. The psychological background of a psychotic criminal wasn't significantly delved into in his previous roles, but in "White Heat" his relationship with his mother and the comfort she gives him (especially following one of his headaches) is highlighted.

It's not just Cagney that makes the film great though. Director Raoul Walsh, who had already worked with Cagney, pulled off what is arguably his last great bit of directing. Edmond O'Brien is spot-on as the mole, and Margaret Wycherly is my favourite supporting actor as Ma Jarrett.

Answer: Bob Le Flambeur

"Bob Le Flambeur" translates as Bob the gambler, although as film scholar Ginette Vincendeau has pointed out "flambeur" is underworld slang rather than standard French.

"Bob Le Flambeur" was Melville's first film to indulge in American iconography. Apart from having a very un-French moniker, Bob wears a trenchcoat and fedora, and drives a big American car. However, like many French gangster films, the film is also very French and it's great fun to tarry up which bits are French and which bits are American.

The 100-odd-minute film is divided up unconventionally. The first part follows Bob around his gambling and drinking haunts in the Quartier Pigalle of Paris. He's having a bad streak of luck, but he is by no means in dire straits, so the idea of the robbery does not come out of desperation. Unusually for a heist film, the idea doesn't even come up until after 35 minutes. Almost 50 further minutes are spent on the set-up, leaving about 15 minutes for the job, which doesn't even take place! Fantastic.

About the red herrings: "Bob Le Bricoleur" is the French name for the British kids programme "Bob The Builder", "Bob L'espérance" and " Bob Le Lynx Roux" are literal translations of Bob Hope, and Bob the Bobcat respectively

Answer: Get Carter

The Carter who is to be got is Jack Carter, played by Michael Caine. Carter rubs a lot of people up the wrong way while investigating his brother's death, not only the local Newcastle gangsters but also his boss down in London too. Although there are a myriad of characters who would like to get Carter, it's actually a very mysterious character to whom the job is eventually given.

A lot has been written about "Get Carter". It is widely believed to be a turning point in British gangster films, which had never really dealt with gangsters in an honest way. Michael Caine has said British gangsters were assumed to be stupid, silly or funny. "I knew from my background that they were none of those three. A lot of British movies were made by bourgeois people and they had no idea how gangsters reacted." In "Get Carter", the gangsters are professionals for whom violence is simply a tool to get the job done.

The reaction to "Get Carter" was mixed at the time. Caine talks about actors being a mirror which shows the audience who they are, and the reflection wasn't necessarily what the British in 1971 wanted to see. Director Mike Hodges floats the idea that maybe the film's later resurgence in popularity is due to the fact that it fits more comfortably with the British view of themselves. "When the film came out, we (the British) had a totally hypocritical view of what life in Britain was like, but now that has all been stripped away, and you cannot deny that, like everywhere else, corruption is endemic."

Answer: Across 110th Street

Late in the film, a taxi driver who is carrying one of the fugitive crooks reports in by radio that he is "going across 110th Street". This is not only to give his location, but a code to reveal that he has one of the sought-after men.

Apparently, for New Yorkers 110th Street acts as a boundary between Harlem and Central Park. The mafia boss in the film explains to his son-in-law who how Central Park itself serves as a divide between them, the respectable crooks, and the black criminals in Harlem.

"Across 110th Street" is often bundled in with the Blaxploitation films of the same era, and it does of course have elements of that genre, but its sophistication raises it a tad higher than average.

Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto play the cops leading the investigation and it's no mere chance that they are Italian-American and African-American characters respectively. The friction between them echoes the friction between the two gangs of hoodlums.

Answer: Reservoir Dogs

Tarantino has been loath to explain the title "Reservoir Dogs" and thus numerous theories abound. One states the reservoir bit is a from a mispronunciation of Louis Malle's "Au Revoir les Enfants" Tarantino either heard or muttered himself whilst working in a video rental shop. The dogs bit might be a homage to Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs". However, Tarantino has said, "It's just a perfect title for those guys, they are reservoir dogs, whatever the hell that means."

"Reservoir Dogs" was Tarantino's breakthrough film and introduced a fresh style of filmmaking. One such trademark is the use of a non-linear way of storytelling, and it works a treat. Not deigning to actually depict the crime itself was also stylistically brilliant, shifting our attention to the surrounding events and adding a whole different dynamic.

Answer: City of God

"City of God/Cidade de Deus" takes its name from a 1997 book of the same name by Paulo Lins. Lins took the name from the crime-ridden suburb of Rio de Janeiro where it is set, which is actually where he grew up.

Meirelles' film is told in flashback, and shares a lot with Scorsese's "Goodfellas" although the lead characters' choices couldn't be further apart. Despite the comparison, "City of God" is by no means a mere homage and oozes with personality. Many of the characters have oodles of charisma, but no punches are pulled regarding their callous brutishness either. Despite the young age of many of the characters, Meirelles skillfully avoids sentimentality too. In fact, the film ends with a scene that could hardly be more pessimistic.

Answer: In Bruges

"In Bruges" gets its title from the Belgian city where the pair of gangsters are sent, which is also where almost all of the action takes place.

The two hitmen, Ken and Ray, are played by Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell respectively. The former is taken by the wonderful art and culture of the place, the latter can't wait to get back to Dublin. They are supposed to lie low, but Ray ends up getting involved in sex and drugs. He also gets to know a racist dwarf and assaults an American tourist, both of whom play a part in his destiny.

Despite its genuinely funny scenarios and dialogue, "In Bruges" is ultimately about guilt and redemption. Brendan Gleeson's character picks up a theme constant to gangster films of a man who is in search of great, timeless beauty in art and culture, maybe to balance out the brutal acts he carries out.