Guns Girls and Gangsters

Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Chuck Wheeler (Gerald Mohr) gets released from prison and decides to hold up an armor truck outside of Las Vegas. He gets involved with his cell mates former squeeze (Mamie Van Doren) but everything gets messed up when that guy (Lee Van Cleef) breaks out of prison and wants in on the action. The best thing about GUNS, GIRLS AND GANGSTERS is the rather catchy title and while nothing new is done for the crime genre, overall this here is a pretty fun "B" movie as long as you don't take it too serious or expect any sort of masterpiece. A lot of the film's entertainment value must be given to the cast who manage to fit their roles nicely and they help keep the film moving. I thought Mohr did a nice job in the role as the baddie as he had no problem being tough but you could also like him. It was fun seeing Van Cleef in a film long before he hit that image of the Sergio Leone films. He too manages to do a nice job in the role of the real villain without any redeeming factors. Mrs. Mamie Van Doren certainly is a looker and she manages to fit the role nicely but I will freely admit that her singing numbers were rather painful and should have been cut out all together. Director Edward L. Cahn manages to build up some nice drama at the end during the finale, which also includes some excellent gun fights and a rather violent conclusion. The narration that runs throughout the picture is certainly something very weak and just wait until you hear that closing line! I'm sure it was meant to be tough or raw yet it comes off hilariously bad. GUNS, GIRLS AND GANGSTERS should appeal to those who enjoy "B" pictures.

There is a scene in this movie that totally sums up the 1950s. Mamie Van Doren, bleached hair flowing in the wind, glamorous sunglasses glinting in the sun, drives a 1958 Edsel Citation Convertible, no doubt pink, that is pulling a horse trailer. It doesn't get any more 1950s than that!!!!

Enjoy this movie for its 1950s clichés. All the good girls are brunettes, and the bad girls are blondes. Men in tight suits and skinny ties. Crappy Rock-n-Roll. Cops save the day. Bad people get punished. People talk tired Film-Noir-speak. Mamie Van Doren's Bullet Bra and wide hips encased in an iron girdle.

Show this movie at your next 1950s party.

Given the title Guns, Girls And Gangsters I was ready to trash even with what I thought was an interesting cast. But this independent film from United Artists turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be given budget constraints.

Gerald Mohr is newly released from prison and he's got the germ of an idea for an armored car heist on the highway from Las Vegas to Los Angeles near the California/Nevada state line. It takes some split second timing and someone, namely him, who has to make a very accurate rifle shot.

It also depends on Mamie Van Doren checking into and occupying a room at a motel with a gas station and auto repair shop within feet of the spot picked by Mohr.

Mamie being Mamie has a lot of men interested in here, but they keep some distance because her husband Lee Van Cleef was Mohr's cellmate in the penitentiary is a most jealous type with a hair trigger. In fact the whole idea for the heist came from Van Cleef while he and Mohr were together in prison.

As in these films things that you can't plan for usually are what upsets the apple cart. In this case a jealous Van Cleef busts out of the joint with only three months left on his sentence.

Due to the nature of the plot Van Cleef only appears in the second half of the film. But when he comes on, he dominates. This is definitely one of his best early films.

The whole cast is outstanding. Mamie Van Doren always gives us something to look forward to. But Lee Van Cleef just totally steals Guns, Girls, And Gangsters.

Don't dismiss this one because of the exploitive title. This one is a real find.

Chuck Wheeler (Gerald Mohr) gets out of prison and heads to Las Vegas to enact an elaborate heist where he plans to steal an armored car carrying over $2 million in post-New Year's gambling money. He enlists the aide of local gangster Joe Darren (Grant Richards) and his lounge singer fiancé Vi (Mamie Van Doren), who just happens to be the wife of Wheeler's old cell mate. They plan everything out and it looks like it will go smoothly until Vi's ex-husband, Mike (Lee Van Cleef), breaks out of jail. This is a quick moving B-picture and director Edward L. Cahn never lets it lag through its 70 minutes. Van Doren isn't as much of a bad girl as in the previous feature I saw, VICE RAID. Here she is more of a good girl caught in a bad situation. To show how good she is, Van Doren gets two musical numbers in this one. Surprisingly, they don't play up her curves as much as VICE, but the swelling horn section is still abused plenty on the soundtrack. The supporting cast is all good and it is funny to know that even when he was young, Van Cleef still looked old.

I watch this movie every two years. It's a great classic grade B thriller, perhaps the greatest of the 50's; and the best picture shot by Edward L Cahn. The director usually gives us sleepy flicks, always built on the same frame, except his first ones, the 30's ones, as "Law and order". He lost his soul during the 50's and early 60's, till his death.

A little masterpiece. Mamie Van Doren, Lee Van Cleef contribute much for it.

A fast paced and pretty shot little thriller. If you are a caper movie lover as I am, DON'T MISS IT.

I would put it on the same scale as "Plunder Road".