Get Carter: A British Film Guide

"Get Carter" is now widely acknowledged as the finest British gangster film of all time. Released in 1971, the film fell out of fashion until the cultural changes of the 1990s gave a new currency to its pessimistic vision of a doomed male within a decaying social order. Before its re-release in 1999, Mike Hodges' fusion of the crime genre with social realism received surprisingly little critical attention. Steve Chibnall's book now gives "Get Carter" the consideration it demands. With the co-operation of Hodges and access to rare documents, including an early draft of the script, Chibnall places the film in its social context, describes its making, discusses its characteristics, scene by scene, and charts its changing status since the 1970s.

Steve Chibnall, the co-author of the first edition of the Dictionary, is Professor of British Cinema at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. He has written or edited a dozen books and journal special issues, regularly contributes booklet notes and commentaries to DVD releases, and frequently comments on aspects of British cinema on radio and television.