The angel of death: Targetting the hitman

Spicer, Andrew H.

Abstract

Although there are hundreds of films that feature hitmen, this is the first critical account of the origins, development and possible cultural and historical significance of this figure and thus an original contribution to scholarship. It charts the emergence of the figure in the 1920s and 1930s and its relationship to sensationalised reporting of American urban crime. Through a series of four case studies from 1942 to the present day, the representation of the hitman is analysed in detail, exploring the tropes of masculinity encoded in this figure and its evolution as a transnational icon of violence and solipsism.

• Publication Date: Jan 20, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 155-174
• Series Title: Continuum Literary Studies
• Book Title: Crime Cultures: Figuring Criminality in Fiction and Film
• ISBN: 9780826432353
• Keywords: crime, film, hitman
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/965910
• Publisher URL: http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=133074&SubjectId=952&Subject2Id=1397
• Additional Information: Additional Information : By kind permission of Continuum International Publishing Group.