The gangster film is a subcategory of crime film. Although, they aren’t all serious necessarily, as gangster comedies do exist. Call them mobsters or what have you, but they are decidedly gangsters.

The movie was so successful that Hollywood made more than 50 gangster movies the following year. The most violent movie of 1932 was Scarface, starring Paul Muni as Tony Camonte, a Chicago mobster.

“The Alto Knights” is at times curiously muted for a crime drama and doesn’t match the greatness of previous De Niro gangster films such as “Mean Streets,” “Once Upon a Time in ...