The Gangster

A film about a small-time gangster with an overblown ego, who can talk the talk, but can't walk the walk. Mostly a self-pitying portrait of a second-rate gangster by the competent Barry Sullivan, who is unable to save this turkey. The female interests are uninteresting, and the minor characters are never developed. Don't waste your time on this film noir miss.

A strange film noir involving a low level racketeer being muscled out by a more powerful criminal. Overwritten is a mild description of this screenplay as the dialogue in this film is the most overripe words written in some time. The director, a former film designer, shot the film on sets (even though the action of the story takes place on Coney Island boardwalks) rather than actual locations giving the film an ethereal feeling of dreamy memory rather than what we come to expect from the the typical noir. Even the line delivery by the actors seems too much for most but if you can go w/the flow, you'll have a good yet strange time peeping this.

As a film noir entousiasme, I don't rate this film on the top ten of the genre. But it has some moments. Some great shots by Cinematographer Paul Ivano that would deserve being laminated and hanged on a wall. I'll let you notice them. Also check out a young 24 years old Shelley Winter with a 10 seconds scene as a waitress. In brief a movie carried by cinematography more than acting, by atmosphere more than by a script.

Here's a film I wish I could see again, even though it's a little too slow and talky for my tastes. It still was very interesting in spots. Barry Sullivan and Belita both provide some great film-noir lines and the photography is pure film noir. Henry Morgan has interesting part although his role is minor and Sheldon Leonard (with hair) is notable. The only character who became annoying was Akim Tamiroff, as the scared soda shop owner. The story, though, centers around Sullivan, who plays a man who doesn't trust anyone but would really like to find a woman he could trust. His outlook on humanity is brutal. It's so bad, it's almost funny. He reminded me of Lawrence Tierney in "Born To Kill." This movie is an odd combination of film noir, melodrama and character study and is worth checking out, if you can find it.