Nonureva Really Surprised!

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Tweekums When bank robber Jack Martin kills two police and escapes from custody one might expect him to get as far away as possible or at least lie low… instead he sets about robbing a bank he has invited the police to! That isn't quite as mad as it seems; he told them he a movie rehearsal was taking place. After that he heads out of town with both the police and men working for the local gangster, Dawson, whose turf he violated looking for him. Trying to give them the slip he goes into a library and talks to Carol, the lady on the desk; the next thing we know that are an item! It isn't long before the gangsters catch up with him and they rough him up hoping to find out where the money is; not realising Dawson couldn't care less about the money; he wants to employ Martin. Martin deals with them and is soon working for Dawson. After a succession of successful robberies Carol persuades him to quit; something Dawson won't allow.This film gets off to a fairly promising start; the opening bank robbery is rather amusing if a little unlikely. Unfortunately things aren't so good after that; there is little obvious chemistry between Martin and librarian Carol; certainly not enough to make us believe she'd walk away from her life to be with a murderous bank robber. Walter Matthau is the reason to watch this as he is always likable even when playing a character we really shouldn't have any sympathy for; the film is also notable as the only film he directed although his direction is clearly not of the same standard as his acting! The rest of the cast are okay at best and some are almost amusingly bad. The action scenes lack the tension they should have; one can tell they were done on a fairly minimal budget. Overall this wasn't terrible but it wasn't that good either; the only real reason to watch it is Walter Matthau; as actor not director.

wdnoble-1 Walter Matthau acts. Walter Matthau directs. Walter Matthau, pre-'Charade'; pre-'Fail-Safe'. Walter Matthau's wife plays his girlfriend. What's not to like; right? The first giveaway should have been the credits - the film-quality is so washed-out, I'm betting it was shot in 16mm with no filters. The second should have been the length (70min).I don't have the information to confirm my hunch that this was a TV pilot, enhanced with an additional ten minutes of stock-footage and a different ending - but it has the look-and-feel of an early TV movie or early pilot episode - and the production values reflect it (voicework is entirely dubbed after-the-fact, with lips not matching sound in a lot of cases).This complete-flyball-of-a-movie has a stock-plot (bad guy escapes; meets girl; falls in love; has second thoughts at last minute about 'staying in the game', all the while pulling 'jobs' for a criminal mastermind who would be more believable in Leave it to Beaver). Frequent use of technical shots in the police headquarters look like they were borrowed from "Highway Patrol" (absent the talent of Broderick Crawford).It's marginally-viewable (2 out of 10) for the midcentury-modern architecture (pay attention to the interior shots of 'Carol's' home, and both the exterior and interior shots of the country-clubhouse), plus the time-capsule of mid-late-'50's-era automobiles.

Jay Raskin It is noteworthy that this was made in 1959, around the same time that "Breathless" and the French Nouvelle Vague was beginning. It looks like a new wave film, but instead of celebrating the freedom and independence of low budget, auteur film-making, it seems to be trying and failing to be a "B" movie or even a Monogram "C" movie.It is much closer to bad early Roger Corman ("Swamp Women" or "She Gods of Shark Reef" than to great early Roger Corman ("Attack of the Crab Monster," or "Bucket of Blood") Matthau has some interesting cutting and camera angles, but he gets no performances out of his cast, including himself. The writing is bland and Ed Wood amateurish. The first bank robbery where Matthau pretends to be shooting a movie to lure the bank president inside his closed bank is ridiculous. The cops who stand guard outside the bank while this is going on would have to be mentally retarded or the most trusting souls in California to fall for the ruse.Matthau kills about seven cops, and a couple of innocent people, yet the movie seems to want to create sympathy for him by making him a Korean/Invasion of Normandy army veteran. Matthau has a bloodhound face that immediately makes us want to sympathize with him. This is the secret of his success, perhaps. It is too bad that as a director he was unable to put it to use.I would recommend this only for fans of Matthau who wish to see every film he was in. Otherwise, if you want a film where Matthau plays a gangster who falls in love and likes to gamble on horses, like this one, but unlike this movie is professionally done, try "Little Miss Marker." That film is delightful.

Dewey1960 One of the more pleasing aspects of having a cable channel like TCM is the comforting knowledge that sooner or later so many wonderful quasi-obscure little film noir gems will eventually be broadcast and make their way into the home libraries of those who so ravenously covet them. One such deliriously sublime example is GANGSTER STORY, a no-budget 1960 indie noir that starred and was directed by Walter Matthau. Produced in Los Angeles on virtually no money at all, it tells the simple but compelling story of criminal Jack Martin (Matthau) who, at the outset of the story has escaped his police captors and killed a cop in the process. His flight takes him to a quiet little town where he holes up while planning an outrageously weird bank job back in the big city. The heist nets him a bundle and now with the cops, the FBI and the outraged local crime kingpins (how dare this punk upstage them!) hot on his trail, the chase that will lead to Martin's ultimate destiny becomes hotter by the minute. This is a tough one to recommend across the board, as there will no doubt be many who are put off by the obvious lack of resources devoted to the making of this picture. But connoisseurs of ragtag B crime noirs are likely to savor the abundance of eccentric touches that Matthau invests in this truly odd and surprisingly inventive thriller. Trivia freaks will enjoy knowing that Carol Grace, the actress who plays Matthau's love interest, became the real-life second Mrs. Matthau a couple of years later.