Der große Gangster

Humphrey Bogart, a master-actor of crime, did it again in this 1942 film. Ironically, it's when Bogie tries to go straight that things begin to go awry.

While we have all the familiar elements to a Warner's Gangster Film, this picture is done incredibly well. There are the small time crooks, the fancy lawyer who plots the jobs, two innocent young lovers caught up in this mess and a dame, Irene Manning, who gives a splendid performance.

Manning, the wife of the crooked lawyer, will not allow her lover, Bogart, to participate in a heist. That's when the action begins. Her husband discovers her indiscretion and makes sure that Bogart, who is blamed for being part of the robbery team, goes to prison on a life sentence as it is his third offense.

The lawyer causes more havoc until Bogie breaks out of jail and is finally able to deal with him.

With all his sinister gangster ways, Humphrey Bogart shows that he has a heart and will not let the "kid" take the rap and go to the chair as a result.

This movie is very similar to Bogie's first movie "Up the River." Having seen all but three of his movies I was not expecting very much and chose to watch it only because it was one I had never seen before. I was pleasantly surprised by the acting. But, the location shoots and especially the stunt work was extremely well done for the time. The first car crash was very different than those of most movies that are over 65 years old, showing a car crashing through other cars and then flying off of a ramp and rotating through the air before it exploded into flames. The location shots taken in the snow covered high mountain country provide glimpses of vintage life in rural America of 1940. And the ending car chase and motorcycle stunts were very impressive for stunt men without the safety equipment that is now used. Even the dance scenes that "Dancer" was in were also enjoyable and revealed some of the dancing style of vaudeville. All in all the movie was entertaining and worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of Bogart and early stunt work.

A very exciting fast paced gangster saga, It's interesting seeing Bogart reverting back to his 30's style tough guy persona one more time immediately after his acclaim as Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon" & just before his next triumph as Rick Blaine in "Casablanca". This was a transitional period in his career when his image was being redefined from gangster to anti hero. This movie was released at the wrong time, it was seen either too late or too early. Had it been made & seen in the 1930's or had it been withheld & shown in the postwar years along side of "White Heat" it might've went over like gangbusters. But not in 1942 during World War II? We had much more pressing concerns & worries with the Japanese & the Germans. This movie is every bit as good as "High Sierra" if not better, the car chase scene down the slippery slope is exciting & well done. This film literally puts the pedal to the metal & never let's up once. The story moves at lightening speed & will blast you right out of your seat. The Big Shot marked the last time Humphrey Bogart would appear as a gangster, he would not play a gangster for another 13 years until he appeared in a television production revival of "The Petrified Forest" recreating his famous Duke Mantee character. Bogart returned to the movies bringing Duke Mantee with him as escaped convict Glenn Griffin in the William Wyler directed suspense thriller The Desperate Hours in 1955. The Big Shot is essential viewing for fans of old gangster movies & for Bogart fans as well, I like both. So get your tommy guns & tear gas out & enjoy this shoot em up farewell send off to an exciting genre!

The Big Shot is a decent crime picture, reminiscent in theme to the previous year's High Sierra, which also featured Humphrey Bogart. Director Lewis Seiler was no Raoul Walsh but handles the familiar plot about the doomed criminal nicely, giving it shadings of atmosphere, urban and rural. The movie is one of the last flowerings of the second major wave of gangster pictures, of which it is a late example. Bogart is excellent, yet one can sense the genre running out of steam despite his performance and the nice pace of the film. There were more pressing issues at hand by the time the movie was made, such as a world war with Germany and Japan, as overall the activity of the criminals in the movie seem small potatoes compared to what was going on elsewhere, in Europe and in the Pacific.

This lost little bit of film noir featuring Bogart in his usual tough guy role (this film being made just previous to Casablanca) is not a bad watch for a lazy afternoon. There is nothing stellar about the plot, the performances, or the action, and some of it is even quite funny. Watch as the camera is pushed in at the actors' faces at key moments time and time again. Another fun part is the snowy car/motorcycle chase, a danger anyone who has fish-tailed their car on the way to work on a cold winter morning can relate to. If you haven't seen "Casablanca" or the "The Maltese Falcon," make sure you've seen those first, but you could certainly do worse than "The Big Shot."