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The Gang That Sold America

Name: The Gang That Sold America
Director: Bruno Corbucci
Released: 1979
Duration: 90 min

Representation Score

2.1/10

Limited

1979

Director

Bruno Corbucci

Runtime

90 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film adheres to the established conventions of the late 1970s crime genre. It relies heavily on traditional archetypes, such as the heroic agent and the crime boss, to drive the plot. Rather than challenging social or gender hierarchies, the narrative reinforces them. The storytelling prioritizes traditional masculinity and heterosexual romantic conflict, limiting the depth of its social representation. Ultimately, the work functions as a standard crime comedy. It lacks the intentionality needed to disrupt conventional expectations, focusing instead on genre clichés and localized ethnic settings.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Gang That Sold America have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film follows a conventional structure where everyone is assumed to be straight or cisgender. There is no representation of LGBTQ+ identities.

How does The Gang That Sold America portray gender?

Limited

The film emphasizes traditional gender roles. The male lead is actively involved in his job, while the female character is primarily defined by her physical appearance and her role as a romantic interest.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Gang That Sold America?

Fair

The film is set in Little Italy, providing a specific ethnic backdrop. However, the story focuses on local crime dynamics without exploring broader diversity.

How does The Gang That Sold America represent religion and culture?

Limited

The film operates within a standard crime-comedy framework. It reinforces traditional views of authority and social order through a simple law versus crime dichotomy.

Does The Gang That Sold America include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no mention of characters with visible or invisible disabilities in the narrative.

Present on Screen

The Little Italy setting provides a specific and culturally grounded ethnic backdrop for the crime narrative.

Limited or Absent

The film relies on reductive gender clichés, particularly in how it frames female characters through their physical appearance.
The narrative lacks representation of LGBTQ+ identities, adhering strictly to straight-centered storytelling.
The plot fails to explore multi-layered identities, focusing instead on narrow, localized crime dynamics.

Official Synopsis

Now an agent of Interpol undercover, the former Inspector Giraldi, goes to New York to find his friend Salvatore Esposito, aspiring restaurateur in Little Italy, suffocated by debts with the usurers headed by Don Gerolamo. He will remove the gang and assure her of justice, but she will suffer the advances of the Boss's daughter, the ugly Maria Sole.

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