Le Maniaque à la mitraillette

The opening scene before the credits run, and the outrageous title song, set the tone for this over-the-top movie. In this movie, the Prohibition-Era Gangster is transformed into a 1950's juvenile delinquent punk. Imagine "The Roaring 20s" by way of "Rebel Without A Cause". It's great to see Vincent Gardenia, Telly Savalas and Jerry Orbach early in their careers. Nevertheless it's John Davis Chandler's over-the-top performance, in his only starring role, that really dominates this movie.

Chandler is one of those character actors who's names you probably wouldn't recognize, but who's face you can never forget. He used to specialize in portraying nasty, sneering, sadistic little punks; a role which he gets to play to the hilt in this movie. Chandler's version of Coll is a paranoid-psychotic juvenile delinquent who never got over being abused by his bullying father. Armed with a machine gun and supported by only a couple of henchmen, he attempts to move in on the powerful Dutch Shultz Mob in 1920s New York. Shultz is portrayed as a vicious mobster, but also a successful organized crime boss. Coll, on the other hand, is portrayed as a vicious loose-cannon who likes hurting people because he was bullied as a kid, and he thinks that hurting others is the only way to be a man.

Those who enjoyed Al Pacino's performance in "Scarface" would love this film as an equally over-the-top crime drama. The principal difference is that the one is a big-budget film with "A-List" cast and production values, while the other is a low-budget sleeper that came and went under-the radar.

In the late 1950s into the mid-60s, there were a lot of films which purported to be biographies of famous mobsters, such as Al Capone and George "Pretty Boy" Floyd. "Mad Dog Coll" is one of these movies and it tells the SEMI-true story of Vincent Coll, a sociopath with a penchant for violence.

Before watching this movie, I read up on the real life Coll. Needless to say, the film omits, exaggerates and distorts his life. For example, he was born in Ireland and he and his family immigrated to New York while he was young. This is a very important event...and it's never mentioned in any way during the film! What it does get right is Coll's general style as well as highlighting some of the murders he was known to have been involved with during his short life.

One of the best reasons to watch the movie is to watch the performance of John Davis Chandler as Coll. Chandler had a long and successful career playing the slimiest and scariest of sociopaths...making him perfect for this role. He's scary and believable...and a bit over-the-top!

So is the film worth seeing? Well, it depends a lot on you. If you dislike gangster films or violent movies, skip it. If you want the TRUE story of Coll's life, read Wikipedia! But if you want an enjoyable and creepy crime film...this one is worth seeing. Plus, it gives you a rare chance to see a young Jerry Orbach as one of Coll's henchmen.

With His "Mad Dog" Face a Natural for the Titular Gangster, Actor John David Chandler Never was Offered a Lead-Role Again (quite odd),

but Did Have a Successful Career Playing Criminals and Especially the Mentally-Ill...He is an Actor that Leaves an Impression.

While the Movie does Feature Many Actors who would Become Well-Known, such as...Jerry Orbach, Telly Savalas, Vincent Gardenia, and an Unaccredited Gene Hackman...

Chandler Still Dominates the Movie, Propped Up by the Support, the Unforgettable Title, and an Overall Violent, Lurid, and a Code-Defying Sociopathic Tone,

it is Chandler that Steals the Spotlight Whenever He is On Screen.

It's a Fantastic First-Film in a Career Spanned to 1998 with a Guest-Spot on "Deep Space Nine".

He Became a Reliable Force of Evil that Enhanced Many Movies & TV and Classically for a Character-Actor, when He Appeared, it's..."Oh Yea That Guy".... What's His Name?

This is Part of the "Untouchables" Run-Off from the Late 50's, Early 60's when these Low-Budget "B" Movies were Raging. There were Dozens.

This One was Hard-to-Find and was Sleeping Waiting to be Discovered.

Reminds of a "Roger Corman" Movie and Just as Good.

Worth a Watch.

John Chandler would have made a great Joker with his toothy, sneering smile, sniveling voice and angular facial features. I don't know how Cesar Romero was cast for the Batman show on ABC or if they had other actors also on their list. While Cesar was jovial and circus clowny, Chandler would have been creepier, horrifying and too reptilian for the little TV viewers. His Mad Dog is depicted as a woman abuser and rapist. What I liked about this film was the gritty, grimey, sleazy depiction of gangsters as psychopaths and the gold digging women who orbit around them. While Martin Scorsese has built a film career idolizing and romantizing Mafia scum in glossy films, this film zeros in on their repulsive inhumanity.

Those years of the late 50s and early 60s there was a spate of films inspired by the legends of gangsterism. Vincent 'mad dog' Coll was every bit as ruthless and psychotic as shown here. But the facts are not true, they rarely were in these films.

John Davis Chandler made his debut here and played various punks and psychos his whole career. Chandler plays Coll probably as psychotic as he really was. His indiscriminate killing of citizens made both gangsters and cops want to see him put out of business.

Nice to see Telly Savalas, Jerry Orbach, and Vincent Gardenia in this independent New York based film. All of those worthy folks in their salad days.

Mad Dog Coll the movie, no better or worse than some of the others of this type.