Timeline of British Crime Films of the 20th Century

British Crime Films Of The 20th Century 1910-1920 WW1 (1914-1918), Depression, Unemployment, men out in France Fighting. 1911 A buccaneer For one Night (Bert Haldane) Silent Film Deals with unemployment (A problem at the time) A man fired from his job, turns to crime but is rescued by his lover. Due to the war, the British crime film industry slowed down a little. People didnt want to be reminded of the harshness of real life but wanted to be taken away from the war and real life therefore, crime films didnt properly restart until the late 20s thanks to Alfred Hitchcock. 920-1930 The Great fight had ended and things were looking better for Britain as unemployment and poverty decreased during the 20s. 1927 The Lodger A Story of the London Fog (Hitchcock) Silent the first square Hitchcock film About a man thought guilty by the police to be the killer of his sister amongst other beautiful women but is in particular innocent and is nerve-racking to kill the killer himself. A mo b try an attack him thinking hes the killer but the real killer is caught just in time for him to be spared.He and his lover live happily ever subsequently. 1929 Blackmail (Hitchcock) Thriller drama first truly British talkie film but began as a silent film beautiful blonde accidentally kills rapist. A man knows shes involved and blackmails her into telling the police. He gets blamed (due to his criminal record), chased and dies while she is left(a) innocent. 1930-1940 British crime film prospered and different formats of film became popular, especially the private investigator film including the visualisation of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. 940-1950 When WW2 was declared in 1939, instead of stopping birthday suit crime films adapted with films like, 1941 Cottage to let (Asquith) A spy film Set in World War II Scotland, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor. 1945 Waterloo Road (Gilliat) An AWOL soldier returns to south London to save his wife from the a dvances of a philandering draft-dodger As the immediate post-war period attention focused on gangs that had evolved in the chaos of the urban home front. 1947 Brighton Rock (Boulting) ilm noire This drama film centres on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader A psychopathological young hoodlum known as Pinkie The films main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton. 1947 Hue and Cry (Charles Crichton) A vivid portrait of a London still showing the damage of World War II. London forms the backdrop of a crime-gangster plot which revolves around a working-class childrens street culture and childrens secret clubs. 950-1960 focus shifted again in the 50s where it looked at how youth crime was on the rise. 1953 Cosh boy (Gilbert) 1960-1970 as unionised crime became a reality in Britain the crime film shifted on the activities of criminal gangs and also was starting to present the criminal of the film as a hero 1967 Robbery ( Yates) follows a gang performing the great train robbery The film follows their POV as the police try and hunt them down 1969 The Italian transaction (Collinson) gang of British thieves take on Europe in order to preserve British superiority and honour 1970-1990 Organised crime films still bear their popularity until the late 90s where focus began to shift again. Until then crime films focusing on gang crimes remained popular be it with different themes like prostitution, IRA and the Irish complaisant war or living in an urban lifestyle. 1971 Get Carter (Hodges) 1980 The long Good Friday (Mackenzie) 1986 Mona Lisa (Jordan) 1990 The Krays (Medak) 1996 Small Faces (MacKinnon)Late 90s the ordinary working-class criminal came back into focus shortly after this that addressed the victim-criminal and the career-criminal. 1996 Trainspotting (Boyle) placed drugs as the main focus of the film showing how drugs inflict onto society how the victims of drugs need to commit crime to support their habit. Going into the twenty-first century British crime films still relate around current social problems like drugs, prostitution etc they have become more stylised, gritty and realistic. slight romantic which was focused on in the early 20th century and more focused on current issues happening in the world at once and real people.