Highway 301

The criminal exploits of a small group of gangsters working in the Maryland/Virginia/North Carolina area. The docudrama subgenre of noir tends to produce few masterpieces and a lot of mediocrities. This one is closer to mediocrity, but has a few worthwhile assets. The intro, with "crime does not pay" lectures by the governors of the three states, sets the self-righteous, judgemental tone for the film's narration and messages. The story follows a standard formula, with early successes by the gang followed by the net of the law gradually closing around them and forcing their hand. The characterizations are fun but one-note. Steve Cochran in the lead has an edgy brutality but not much else. However, the action sequences are well done, and there is one nail-biting, suspenseful scene as one of the gangster's gals tries to escape. The photography is quite nice as well, at least during the gloomy night scenes.

A criminal gang gains a cross-state reputation for big-time robberies.

Looks like Warner Bros. was trying to repeat the success of White Heat (1949) from the year before. This movie's got plenty of action, plus snarling bad guy Cochran, and a capable cast even if stuck in one-dimensional roles. All in all, it's a decent slice of thick-ear, but a long way from a classic like Heat. Trouble here is that the staging goes from location style realism in the first half to studio bound noir in the second, a rather awkward adjustment. On one hand, I suspect the first half was to underline the prologue of the three state governors. On the other, noir is clearly artifice and calls attention to mood as well as story.

Then too, French import Andre's role grafts on like a studio effort at career promotion. She does okay, but the role is like an add-on. And dare I say it, but the climax is way overdrawn, as if they're intent on milking the situation dry. After all, impact doesn't have to depend on length. None of this is to deny the many moments of real suspense that dot the movie as a whole. I especially like the cat and mouse between cop Ryan and gang girl Grey. It's a peach of acting and scripting.

It's also probably worth noting that the epilogue is harshly law and order, at a time when Hollywood's social direction was largely reformist, e.g. Caged (1950), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1953). Anyway, if you don't mind your gunfire and melodramatics slathered on, this is a movie to catch.

Highway 301 is written and directed by Andrew L. Stone. It stars Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby André and Edmond Ryan. Music is by William Lava and photography by Carl Guthrie. Story is based on a real gang of robbers known as The Tri-State Gang, who terrorised and thieved in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Plot chronicles their activities and the pursuit of them by the authorities.

It opens with a trio of state governors cringe worthily pumping up the hard sell, for what we know is going to be a "crime doesn't not pay" message movie. I half expected the Star Spangled Banner to come booming out the speakers and an FBI version of Uncle Sam to flash on the screen telling us to come join the Crime Stoppers! Thankfully, once the cringe stops the film kicks in with a ruthless bank robbery and never looks back from that moment.

Led by cold blooded George Legenza (Cochran), this gang don't wear masks, they are ruthless but not beyond error, and tagging along are molls who are either oblivious to the gang's activities - fully complicit - or ignorant. It's a pressure cooker dynamic and as we soon find out, women are not going to be treated well here at all, if they are in the way or a threat to safety, they will cop it. Highway 301 is a violent film with some cold characterisations, and there may even be a subtle homosexual relationship between two of the gang members.

Andrew Stone's direction is tight and in tune with the jagged edges of his characters, with barely a filler shot used in the whole running time, while his scene structure for dramatic impacts work very well. Refreshingly there are no cheat cut-aways either. His cast are on form, with Cochran looming large with an intense and thoroughly dislikable portrayal leading the way, while Guthrie photographs with shadows prominent and a couple of night time street scenes that are visually noirish. Unfortunately Stone's screenplay hasn't the time to put depth into the principal players, the gang are bad and greedy, the women scratching around for purpose or brains, but that's all we know. It's the one flaw in an otherwise great crime movie. 8/10

I saw this very exciting and fast paced gangster movie over 50 years ago and remember it fondly to this very day. I even remember the theater I saw it in on a Saturday matinée. It kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end and the action never lets up. It's a classic Steve Cochran performance. A real bad apple with no redeeming qualities. Andrew L. Stone directed which is really no surprise because he specialized in action and suspense films which don't allow the viewer to take a deep breath such as the Last Voyage, Cry Terror and Blueprint for Murder. This is the kind of cops and robbers film that they don't make any more.

With Steve Cochran as the steely psychopath, his solidly loyal gang members (and Cochran loyal to them), and the carefree, hardboiled but feminine Virginia Grey, the film is well acted. The action on the streets and with large crowds is pleasingly complex and realistic. The finely staged light-and-shadow settings are consistently startling and eye-catching in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings. These elements, despite the governors unconvincingly reading their scripts and a narrative voice for documentary effect, could have made this film a solid 7 and perhaps an 8 out of 10. However, the predictable, tedious melodramatic "Perils of Pauline" escape attempts of the Lee Fontaine character are a ball-and-chain that (for this viewer) held this film back from being a runaway noir success.