Classic Crime Dramas, a list by Riz

9.2

/2011791/

88

/27000/

87

/19331/

4.6

/1134540/

97

Audience

98

/736053/

100

/16/

4.0

age 16+

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

87

8.2

/920377/

79

/13846/

81

/11443/

4.2

/1091535/

89

/159/

Audience

93

/262011/

94

/23/

4.0

age 17+

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feed his urge for violent action.

8

83

8.1

/441498/

81

/8284/

79

/5532/

4.1

/471939/

92

/63/

Audience

94

/270919/

75

/20/

age 14+

After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four Oregon boys decide to go see the body. On the way, Gordie, Vern, Chris and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, as they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.

68

7.0

/97503/

73

/2113/

72

/1247/

3.6

/137402/

70

/50/

Audience

82

/138619/

45

/18/

2.5

age 14+

When two poor Greasers, Johnny and Ponyboy, are assaulted by a vicious gang, the Socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events.

91

9.0

/1363837/

87

/17096/

85

/11661/

4.6

/612475/

96

Audience

97

/412766/

90

/18/

age 16+

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

85

8.3

/377623/

81

/5088/

84

/5106/

4.2

/163190/

87

/55/

Audience

93

/75331/

75

/20/

4.0

age 18+

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

93

9.0

/864749/

88

/11941/

85

/7964/

4.6

/542253/

100

/61/

Audience

97

/106198/

97

/18/

4.0

age 12+

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

76

6.8

/99810/

70

/2113/

65

/1214/

3.4

/79838/

92

/50/

Audience

73

/71422/

75

/9/

4.0

age 16+

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

83

8.3

/916223/

83

/15906/

81

/11289/

4.1

/704159/

79

/77/

Audience

93

/489945/

65

/9/

4.0

age 18+

After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.

82

7.7

/97304/

79

/2144/

77

/1659/

3.9

/80682/

73

/126/

Audience

94

/181160/

78

/7/

4.0

age 14+

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

83

7.7

/120585/

75

/1672/

74

/1484/

3.9

/88655/

90

/69/

Audience

88

/56730/

86

/20/

4.0

age 16+

In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

88

8.1

/349758/

79

/4590/

79

/3559/

4.3

/271262/

99

/80/

Audience

93

/78383/

92

/23/

4.0

age 17+

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

74

7.7

/215655/

76

/3687/

76

/3115/

4.1

/349872/

95

/83/

Audience

88

/77350/

75

/15/

1.0

age 18+

Clean-cut Jeffrey Beaumont realizes his hometown is not so normal when he discovers a human ear in a field, the investigation soon catapulting him toward a disturbed nightclub singer and a drug-addicted sadist.

66

6.9

/44030/

71

/1138/

68

/765/

3.3

/24779/

66

/32/

Audience

69

/22181/

51

/7/

3.0

age 17+

After his wife is murdered by street punks, a pacifistic New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad, prowling the streets for would-be muggers after dark.

87

8.3

/279831/

82

/3818/

80

/2443/

4.2

/105063/

93

/109/

Audience

95

/61976/

83

/17/

4.0

age 13+

A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.

82

7.6

/121167/

74

/2421/

72

/1791/

3.8

/159407/

92

/116/

Audience

84

/169312/

86

/17/

4.0

age 11+

In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of Polish-American teenagers called the Jets compete with a rival gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, the Sharks, to "own" the neighborhood streets. Tensions are high between the gangs but two romantics, one from each gang, fall in love leading to tragedy.

82

8.3

/332803/

79

/3786/

80

/2452/

4.1

/157101/

93

/69/

Audience

92

/179373/

88

/16/

2.5

age 12+

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

77

7.8

/330743/

78

/6496/

77

/5363/

3.8

/178988/

83

/75/

Audience

89

/218057/

79

/16/

2.5

age 16+

Young Treasury Agent Eliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down Al Capone, but it's not going to be easy because Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jim Malone, a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one on the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone, but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war.

82

7.9

/83536/

78

/1337/

76

/992/

4.0

/56841/

96

/90/

Audience

92

/23329/

76

/15/

age 15+

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

74

7.2

/49427/

74

/987/

69

/669/

3.5

/18106/

78

/36/

Audience

80

/23385/

64

/14/

3.5

age 13+

Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.

80

7.8

/110955/

78

/2056/

76

/1553/

3.9

/63826/

79

/28/

Audience

90

/39642/

65

/11/

4.0

age 16+

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

85

7.7

/121824/

75

/1932/

75

/1577/

4.2

/126445/

97

/71/

Audience

89

/35404/

87

/17/

4.0

age 16+

Surveillance expert Harry Caul is hired by a mysterious client's brusque aide to tail a young couple. Tracking the pair through San Francisco's Union Square, Caul and his associate Stan manage to record a cryptic conversation between them. Tormented by memories of a previous case that ended badly, Caul becomes obsessed with the resulting tape, trying to determine if the couple is in danger.

83

7.5

/105220/

74

/1827/

72

/1313/

3.9

/120731/

94

/109/

Audience

88

/39322/

84

/33/

4.0

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

77

73

7.5

/16040/

75

/238/

72

/232/

3.7

/9345/

82

/28/

Audience

85

/8146/

An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.

77

73

7.5

/14111/

75

/232/

74

/221/

3.8

/9677/

82

/28/

Audience

82

/3168/

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

77

58

7.9

/5522/

77

/32/

77

/23/

3.7

/4129/

Audience

80

/399/

In Columbo's first outing, a psychiatrist uses a patient he is having an affair with to help him kill his wife, but his perfect alibi may come apart at the hands of a seemingly befuddled LAPD lieutenant.

74

7.3

/165131/

74

/3281/

71

/1948/

3.6

/68428/

79

/62/

Audience

81

/2705/

56

/16/

3.5

age 17+

A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider whom takes the youth under his wing.

78

8.0

/226684/

78

/2784/

76

/2083/

4.1

/113746/

89

/61/

Audience

92

/71398/

66

/13/

2.5

age 13+

In late 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy is the affable, clever and talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang. His closest companion is the laconic dead-shot Sundance Kid. As the west rapidly becomes civilized, the law finally catches up to Butch, Sundance and their gang. Chased doggedly by a special posse, the two decide to make their way to South America in hopes of evading their pursuers once and for all. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 1998.

81

7.7

/134746/

76

/2075/

75

/1792/

3.9

/97001/

93

/55/

Audience

88

/53917/

83

/16/

age 17+

Frank Serpico is an idealistic New York City cop who refuses to take bribes, unlike the rest of the force. His actions get Frank shunned by the other officers, and often placed in dangerous situations by his partners. When his superiors ignore Frank's accusations of corruption, he decides to go public with the allegations. Although this causes the Knapp Commission to investigate his claims, Frank has also placed a target on himself.

80

7.4

/40125/

72

/679/

70

/549/

3.8

/33619/

96

/47/

Audience

81

/10577/

77

/11/

4.0

In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.

84

7.6

/81329/

75

/1702/

74

/1349/

4.1

/183583/

89

/66/

Audience

87

/22356/

90

/8/

4.0

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

65

6.6

/4766/

72

/109/

63

/97/

3.3

/1761/

89

/9/

Audience

66

/1328/

1.5

Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime. In a north-side garage his hoods, dressed as policemen, surprise and mow down with machine-guns the key members of Bugs Moran's rival gang. The film traces the history of the incident, and the lives affected and in some cases ended by it.

70

6.8

/38171/

68

/805/

67

/722/

3.8

/54588/

78

/37/

Audience

65

/8613/

69

/18/

After losing an acting role and his girlfriend, Jake Scully finally catches a break: he gets offered a gig house-sitting in the Hollywood Hills. While peering through the beautiful home's telescope one night, he spies a gorgeous woman dancing in her window. But when he witnesses the girl's murder, it leads Scully through the netherworld of the adult entertainment industry on a search for answers—with porn actress Holly Body as his guide.

73

7.2

/69128/

72

/1742/

71

/1334/

3.5

/54493/

90

/42/

Audience

78

/20984/

63

/6/

3.0

age 12+

In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

86

8.0

/273011/

79

/3561/

78

/2766/

4.3

/241738/

96

/54/

Audience

90

/110545/

86

/15/

4.0

age 15+

Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturale. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.

73

7.4

/39645/

73

/576/

70

/467/

3.7

/20429/

83

/35/

Audience

80

/19130/

58

/9/

age 15+

An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is forced to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial under the threat of being disbarred.

88

8.1

/188496/

80

/2311/

77

/1297/

4.1

/72786/

100

/56/

Audience

95

/63924/

92

/16/

4.0

age 14+

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

80

7.4

/104620/

73

/1750/

71

/1569/

3.7

/58079/

93

/45/

Audience

80

/46976/

76

/14/

4.0

age 15+

A sheltered Amish child is the sole witness of a brutal murder in a restroom at a Philadelphia train station, and he must be protected. The assignment falls to a taciturn detective who goes undercover in a Pennsylvania Dutch community. On the farm, he slowly assimilates despite his urban grit, and forges a romantic bond with the child's beautiful mother.

85

8.1

/52448/

79

/709/

78

/668/

4.3

/59872/

90

/48/

Audience

94

/11495/

77

/8/

4.0

age 12+

A bible salesman finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership as a money-making con team in Depression-era Kansas.

74

7.1

/40009/

72

/639/

70

/553/

3.6

/15615/

93

/27/

Audience

79

/664/

65

/12/

3.0

age 17+

After a young woman suffers a brutal rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.

81

7.6

/147404/

76

/3548/

75

/2601/

3.8

/83149/

97

/31/

Audience

85

/65535/

76

/9/

3.5

age 14+

San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.

82

7.4

/63242/

73

/1403/

73

/1313/

4.1

/127001/

88

/60/

Audience

81

/11898/

86

/15/

4.0

Jack Terry is a master sound recordist who works on grade-B horror movies. Late one evening, he is recording sounds for use in his movies when he hears something unexpected through his sound equipment and records it. Curiosity gets the better of him when the media become involved, and he begins to unravel the pieces of a nefarious conspiracy. As he struggles to survive against his shadowy enemies and expose the truth, he does not know whom he can trust.

77

7.1

/45935/

71

/877/

68

/628/

3.4

/17670/

92

/48/

Audience

72

/20874/

77

/18/

4.0

Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell , and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretary David Brice, is also romantically involved with Atwell. When the young woman turns up dead, Farrell is put in charge of the murder investigation. He begins to uncover shocking clues about the case, but when details of his encounter with Susan surface, he becomes a suspect as well.

85

7.7

/135641/

74

/2260/

75

/1719/

4.0

/114806/

96

/94/

Audience

87

/44604/

94

/18/

4.0

age 16+

Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

80

7.8

/119129/

77

/2264/

77

/2114/

4.2

/232412/

89

/70/

Audience

90

/27289/

73

/13/

3.0

age 13+

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

54

6.4

/113530/

68

/2724/

64

/1804/

3.1

/35619/

31

/49/

Audience

52

/60210/

41

/15/

Ray Tango and Gabriel Cash are narcotics detectives who, while both being extremely successful, can't stand each other. Crime Lord Yves Perret, furious at the loss of income that Tango and Cash have caused him, frames the two for murder. Caught with the murder weapon on the scene of the crime, the two have no alibi. Thrown into prison with most of the criminals they helped convict, it appears that they are going to have to trust each other if they are to clear their names and catch the evil Perret.

88

8.1

/164846/

77

/1628/

79

/1443/

4.2

/82049/

99

/112/

Audience

95

/52404/

91

/15/

4.0

age 13+

A dim-witted yet kind-hearted boxer, Terry Malloy, who failed to succeed unintentionally lures a man to his death after being tricked by a criminal called Johnny Friendly whose men pick of every man who has the courage to speak up to their crimes. As he works on the waterfronts that Friendly owns, he is sent to a church meeting run by a good preacher about how to deal with the problem and runs into the dead man’s sister. Slowly, he falls in love with her and begins to feel guilt about his crime.

75

8.0

/138354/

79

/2218/

78

/1789/

4.0

/35550/

72

/32/

Audience

90

/48819/