Le dernier gangster

Anyone who's a die-hard Edward G. Robinson fan will probably already have seen The Last Gangster, a drama that tugs on your heart. Eddie G plays the titular character, a mob boss kingpin who gets sent to jail for scrimping on his income tax. His frustration is understandable, since he's gotten away with everything else and gets tripped up by a minor detail. Plus, his lovely wife, Rose Stradner, has just given birth to a little boy. Rose, an immigrant without a good command on the English language, is lost without her husband. She also doesn't have an income anymore and has to struggle as a new and single mother.

James Stewart plays a young newspaper reporter. He learns of Rose's plight and writes some articles sympathizing with her situation. As he gets to know her, he can't help himself from trying to help her and the little baby. As time passes, they start to fall in love. Obviously, the good guy vs. Bad guy element is pretty strong in this film. Eddie G is a gangster who abandoned his family, and Jimmy is an upstanding reporter who believes in doing the right thing. But you just can't help loving Eddie G and feeling terribly sorry for him - or at least I can't. When he pouts and starts to cry, it just tears me up!

The movies have always relied on clear-cut heroes and villains to either engage the sympathy or incur the animosity of members of the audience: simplistic, and far removed from real life. Much more thought-provoking are the occasional characters such as the lead in this film, an egotistical, tough-as-nails crime kingpin and killer, who nevertheless emerges convincingly as a man capable of sympathy and single-minded devotion. The scenario is to be commended for making the complexities and seeming contradictions in this character altogether believable. Of course it is the performer who must make this come alive on the screen, and here Edward G. Robinson succeeds brilliantly. In a gallery of great performances by such a fine actor, this one deserves to be much better known.

Edward G. Robinson stars in "The Last Gangster," with a cast that includes Lionel Stander, Rosa Stradler, James Stewart, John Carradine, and Sidney Blackmer.

As older men, Stander and Blackmer would be known for the TV show Hart to Hart (no mistaking that voice) and Rosemary's Baby, respectively.

Robinson is Joe Krozac, a powerful, ruthless mob boss who does not tolerate anyone moving in on his territory.

Joe takes a trip to Europe and returns with a bride, Talya (Rosa Stradner). Talya doesn't speak much English so she really doesn't know how Joe makes his living.

When she becomes pregnant, Joe is crazy with joy, absolutely obsessed with the idea of having a son, whom he dreams of taking over his crime business.

Joe, alas, taking a page out of Al Capone's book, lands in jail for ten years for tax evasion. He is determined to be a model prisoner so he can get out on time. When Talya brings the baby to see him, he only cares about the baby and not her.

When her son is called baby mobster in the newspaper, with a photo, Talya becomes disillusioned and stops bringing the baby. She also divorces Joe. Meanwhile, Joe left a lot of money somewhere and his old friends want it as soon as he's released.

This film went the typical gangster route until the end, and it's really very sweet. Robinson was such a wonderful actor - he could play a wimp or a bully, do drama and comedy - he was a real treasure.

James Stewart had an early role in this film. I thought he looked on the young side for Rosa Stradner, even though he was five years older. Toward the end of the film, I guess to show the passage of time, he has a mustache someone stuck on him, and it looks dreadful.

Rosa Stradner did a good job as an insecure woman from another country who marries the wrong man. She was married to Joseph Mankiewicz, during which time, she didn't work in the early years while he was out having affairs with Judy Garland and Linda Darnell.

But they stayed married, and she did a film, The Keys of the Kingdom, in which she was marvelous. At the age of 45, an alcoholic by now, she committed suicide. Very sad.

Supposedly the line from the Mankiewicz screenplay of All About Eve - "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night" was inspired by Rosa.

You won't have to fasten your seatbelts for this, but thanks to Robinson, it's good.

This is one of Edward G. Robinson's best performances. He played the gangster with the expired use by date in a number of movies, most notably in "Key Largo", but here he takes the character on a fascinating journey. He starts as a newly-wed little Napoleon, is crushed by his conviction on tax evasion, degraded through ten years of prison, and tortured to near death by his former gang when released. Through all this he is motivated by a great love for a son he has never met - when he does meet him finally his tender side is released.

What a challenging role this is - and how brilliantly Robinson rises to the challenge. At times you'll hate him, but he is always so vividly real that it is impossible not to empathise. Less effective is Rose Stradner as his wife - she too often slips into melodrama. It is perhaps not surprising to learn that she only made one other film. How fabulous Luise Rainer would have been in this role. The rest of the cast is terrific - that great Warner Bros store of thugs and villains - with Lionel Stander and John Carradine particular stand-outs.

And a pre-star James Stewart is the good guy - he even has a Clark Gable moustache in some scenes (the studio never let him grow that again!). The little boy is very icky - seems more English than American and is far too boy scouty to be appealing.

But add to all this strong direction, a good script, and stunning camera-work and you have a minor masterpiece. The torture scene is really very harrowing and the passage of time in prison montage is excellent - and you've got to love the opening credits.

Criminal kingpin Joe Krozac (Edward G. Robinson) returns from Europe with a new bride. Before long she's pregnant. But no sooner does she find out than Joe is arrested for income tax evasion. Before their son is born, Joe goes to prison. While he's in stir, his wife falls in love with a reporter (Jimmy Stewart) and divorces Joe. When Joe gets out, he plans to get his son back. But his old gang have plans of their own for Joe.

Robinson is the main attraction and shines in a role he could do in his sleep. But he's got able support from the likes of Lionel Stander, John Carradine, Edward Brophy, and Sidney Blackmer. Jimmy Stewart is fine but nothing special in an early role. This is a gangster flick with MGM polish. It was great entertainment any time Eddie G. was in a movie like this. Give it a shot and I'm sure you'll love it.