From the silent era and "The Black Hand" (1906) to HBO's hit series "The Sopranos", Hollywood has had a love-hate affair with Italian Americans. Now in paperback, "Hollywood Italians" is a celebration of nearly a century of images of Italians in American motion pictures and their often under-appreciated, underpraised, and truly remarkable contribution to popular culture. "Hollywood Italians" covers the careers of dozens of stars among them Rudolph Valentino, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, John Travolta, Sylvester Stallone, Marisa Tomei, and James Gandolfini. In addition, this book reviews the work of such Italian American directors as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese in a fresh light. In all, "Hollywood Italians" discusses scores of films with a concentration on their literary and European - cinematic roots. This book is capped by a no-holds-barred examination of "The Godfather" and its two sequels as well as the international television phenomenon "The Sopranos".

Table of Contents

1: Dagos: Hollywood Italian Histories of Immigration. / 2: Palookas: Hollywood Italian Prize Fighters. / 3: Romeos: Hollywood Italian Lovers. / 4: Wise Guys: Hollywood Italian Gangsters / 5: Comic Wise Guys: Hollywood Italian Gangsters Yuk It Up. / 6: Sopranos: The Postmodern Hollywood Italian Famiglia.

Author Biography

Peter Bondanella is distinguished professor and chairman, Department of West European Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington.