Mardi, ça saignera!

A grim drama consistently going from bad to worse the whole way to the end, but very efficiently told and acted, and Edward G. Robinson makes one of his most interesting characters as the angry gangster who only knows one way of life which is the worst without any room for any human feelings at all. The priest character (Milburn Stone) is very interesting in this context, while Peter Graves as the second worst gangster ultimately takes matters in his own hands and proves himself a hero after all although in a negative way. It's a very efficient getaway and hostage drama which will keep you biting your nails all the way, although you know it can only end in one way, no matter how perfectly they arranged their escape and almost managed it in spite of the inevitable fact in these operations, that something always must go wrong.

A violent con, Vincent Canelli, escapes prison on the night of his execution. With the help of a phony newspaper reporter and Canelli's girlfriend, Hatti, who has planned the escape, the con takes along five hostages: the prison priest, the prison doctor, one of the guards, the young reporter whose place has been taken by one of the gang, and the kidnapped daughter of a guard who was forced to facilitate the escape.

Another inmate, Peter Manning, is taken along because Canelli wants the large amount of stolen money Manning hid before going to jail. He killed someone during the robbery, and refuses to reveal to the authorities where the money is unless his death sentence is changed to a life sentence.

The gang ends up at a hideout, but as they are preparing to flee the country with the loot, they're surrounded by police. Canelli threatens to kill hostages if he's not given safe passage; he shoots and seriously injures one of the hostages, and murders the kidnapped prison guard to make his point.

Prison break/gangster films aren't usually on the top of my watchlist, but Black Tuesday caught my eye, and it's one mean thriller with an unpredictable body count, plenty of gun play, and a fairly tense storyline, especially towards the end. Of course, the one adding the fuel to this little thriller is Edward G. Robinson, who, as mobster Vincent Canelli, has a giant chip on his shoulder and is devoid of any empathy- he's a cold fish, sadistic and incarceration on death row sees him reject morality absolutely and allows him to kill indiscriminately in the name of survival first, and greed second. The others perform excellently, such as Peter Graves, who shows a little remorse. Jean Parker plays Canelli's moll, the one who made the prison break possible.

This little known and little seen Edward G. Robinson film takes Eddie back to the days when he was playing some quite serious gangster roles. Caesar Enrico Bandello and Johnny Rocco don't have a patch on his Vince Canelli in Black Tuesday.

Imagine if Little Caesar or Johnny Rocco being captured and on death row with bank robber Peter Graves both sentenced to die that day. Only Robinson has a very well conceived plan to escape at the last minute. He takes Graves along and the rest of those on that Green Mile, the others to throw confusion and buy time and Graves because Graves has hidden $200,000.00 from his last bank job and Robinson wants to flee the country in style with lots of spending loot.

Graves is no fool either. When he says the money is well hidden and only he can get to it, he's not kidding.

Black Tuesday was shot on a shoestring budget and I'm sure what money they had was spent for a really good supporting cast of familiar faces. Standing out are Warren Stevens as one of the hired guns that helps Robinson crash the joint, Jack Kelly as a cub reporter who is one of many taken hostage and Milburn Stone as the prison padre taken hostage as well.

Both the prison escape scene and the final gun battle are well staged and brutal for the time. The film looks like it's in need of restoration and I hope it gets it.

"Black Tuesday" is one of Edward G. Robinson's better gangster films...and that says a lot! He plays Vincent Canelli, a convicted murderer who is on Death Row. However, Canelli isn't one bit repentant about his actions. In fact, he's planning to escape...and taking one of his fellow inmates (Peter Graves). Why? Because this other Death Row resident apparently stole $200,000...and Canelli needs it to start a new life.

Instead of explaining his escape, let's jump ahead to the tense ending. Canelli and his fellow crooks are hiding out when the police discover their whereabouts...and soon there is a shootout and Canelli threatening to shoot the hostages he's taken. What's next? Well, you probably won't predict the finale...which I really appreciate.

The best thing about this film is the writing. It's top-notch and never relies on sentimentality nor cliches. Instead, it's tough and very exciting...and well worth your time.

An interesting and surprisingly obscure prisoner-on-the-run crime drama, BLACK TUESDAY is perfectly suited for Late, Late Show viewing in the wee small hours of the morning, when much of the action takes place. Like KEY LARGO (also featuring Edward G. Robinson), THE DESPERATE HOURS and the PETRIFIED FOREST, the second half turns into a confined space stageplay. The large cast holed up in the even larger safehouse is game, however, and despite a few unintentionally funny and seemingly out of place romantic interludes, things otherwise generally remain taut. It's like old TV home week as no less than three players from the Desilu stage (Vic Perrin and William Schallert from Star Trek guest appearances, Peter Graves from Mission: Impossible right next door on the lot) get significant screen time. Also look for Russell (The Professor) Johnson in a minor part. Graves in particular has a much more emotive adult part than he customarily got (other than Stalag 17) and he goes for it with gusto, if not much panache. Still, Robinson is at his melodramatic "Where's your messiah now?" best here, blithely slapping broads, torturing gunshot victims and going out in a Little Caeseresque hail of bullets / blaze of glory.

Seasoned noir veteran Sydney (SIX BRIDGES TO CROSS, ROGUE COP, UNION STATION, THE HIGH WALL and most notably, THE BIG HEAT) Boehm's script is not brain surgery (the prison breakout is dazzlingly improbable) and is frankly a bit derivative of movies like Cagney's KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE and Bogey's HIGH SIERRA. Also, they obviously didn't spend much on production values. Still, there is no one more iconic in this kind of capo titti capi role than Edward G. Robinson and given the lack of exposure this movie has had in the last 40 years, seeing Robinson's performance is akin to unearthing buried noir treasure. Any fan of Edward G. should immediately seek out this elusive screener because his vicious performance is nothing short of breathtaking, and trumps any of the limitations of this movie.