Gangster Story

Gangster Story (1958)

* (out of 4)

Walter Matthau directed this film, his only stint in the director's chair. Matthau plays a hardened bank robber/cop killer who tries to hide in a small town but mafia dudes come chasing him. The plot of this film really makes no sense and the performances are all rather bad. This is an ultra low budget film that seems to have been filmed without sound and then later dubbed in. I'd recommend everyone watch this film at least once to see the dumbest bank heist in the history of film.

Thankfully Walter went back to acting.

.... because he leaps off the screen compared to the other actors, all of which have such wooden performances you could build a bonfire out of them.

It's about a bank robber, Jack Martin (Walter Matthau) who has just escaped the police but has one handcuff still attached to his wrist. He gets out of that cleverly. Then he decides to rob a small town bank in a most unconventional way. But the local mob - which Martin knows nothing about - is angry that this guy "invaded their territory" and are out looking for him. He realizes he's being followed, but he thinks they are the cops. Meanwhile, after the robbery, he has started working at a citrus ranch owned by a librarian, and things begin to get romantic between them. When the mob catches up to him, they make him an offer he can't refuse. How does this turn out? Watch and find out.

Matthau directed this and never directed another one. It's a virtue to cut your losses and apply yourself to what you are good at, in his case acting. The dialogue is very non-descript, the female lead (that's actually Matthau's wife playing this part) looks like she might have an intriguing backstory that is never examined, and the art design is ponderous. Why is there a big sign that says "Police Station" inside a police station? With a detective reading "Law and Order" magazine in his spare time.?

The film gets one thing right - When your actors make the ones in Ed Wood movies look like they are of Shakespearean quality, and your dialogue is flat, go with the one thing you have left - Hurry! Keep the pace quick, keep the action interesting, keep people guessing (sort of) what is going to happen next. And this film does that.

If you like Matthau - I do - this is probably worth a look. It is definitely not boring.

Gangster Story may have been more interesting with a higher budget and by ditching the California countryside locations. This story seemed to be in a smaller city (one scene has Matthau driving with cows in a field in the background) so I can't see why there would be such a mob presence here.

The bank robbery was actually quite funny. Matthau used all the wit and charm we saw in later films during this scene. He had a few other humorous lines in this film.

Some of the other dialouge was really stiff though, especially with the supporting cast. Looks like they just took people off the street and gave them lines to memorize. There was some really awful acting here. Matthau himself comes across stiffly in his tender scenes with his real wife. The kissing scene was embarrassing to watch.

Someone in another review made a comparison to the old "Highway Patrol" TV show and I agree. That show also was filmed in the California countryside and desert areas. The old black and white police cars in Gangster Story (minus any identification on them) looked and sounded just like THP cars.

I enjoy watching old, low budget films, though. Especially when it contains a major star in an early role. Kind of a cheap thrill, however, I wouldn't put this on anyone's "Don't Miss" list.

Gangster Story has the distinction of being the first film Walter Matthau ever starred in and the only film he ever directed. And for him personally he wedded his leading lady Carol Grace aka Carol Marcus. She became the second Mrs. Matthau.

It has a lot of similarities to one of Matthau's better serious roles Charley Varrick which was directed by Don Siegel after Matthau became a star. Unfortunately this one was shot on a dental floss budget and Matthau the actor did not get any great performances out of his cast.

Matthau plays a bank robber who has just escaped police custody and goes right to work and pulls off a nice bank robbery which comes to the attention of a local crime boss. He gets Matthau in his organization and they pull a big score, but the getaway was a bloody mess.

Matthau also has taken up with a local librarian who is intrigued by him even before she learns he's a professional criminal. The chance to leave her humdrum life as a librarian to become possibly Bonnie Parker is also intriguing, but up to a point.

As for the ending, no surprises but it doesn't end like Charley Varrick. Think of the film Heat from Robert DeNiro's point of view.

The only other person in the cast of note is Garry Walberg who plays one Matthau's henchmen from the big score who proves to be a loyal friend.

The whole affair in noir black and white looks like it was shot with a Kodak home movie camera. Matthau makes it interesting, but Ed Wood had bigger budgets.

I just saw Gangster Story(1960). It was funny to see the great Walter Matthau in such an awful, extremely low budget film. It made the old Broderick Crawford Highway Patrol look good in comparison. I think that this would give Plan 9 From Outer Space competition as the worst movie ever.