MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Tweekums When bank robber Jack Martin kills two police and escapes from custody one might expect him to get as far away as possible or at least lie low… instead he sets about robbing a bank he has invited the police to! That isn't quite as mad as it seems; he told them he a movie rehearsal was taking place. After that he heads out of town with both the police and men working for the local gangster, Dawson, whose turf he violated looking for him. Trying to give them the slip he goes into a library and talks to Carol, the lady on the desk; the next thing we know that are an item! It isn't long before the gangsters catch up with him and they rough him up hoping to find out where the money is; not realising Dawson couldn't care less about the money; he wants to employ Martin. Martin deals with them and is soon working for Dawson. After a succession of successful robberies Carol persuades him to quit; something Dawson won't allow.This film gets off to a fairly promising start; the opening bank robbery is rather amusing if a little unlikely. Unfortunately things aren't so good after that; there is little obvious chemistry between Martin and librarian Carol; certainly not enough to make us believe she'd walk away from her life to be with a murderous bank robber. Walter Matthau is the reason to watch this as he is always likable even when playing a character we really shouldn't have any sympathy for; the film is also notable as the only film he directed although his direction is clearly not of the same standard as his acting! The rest of the cast are okay at best and some are almost amusingly bad. The action scenes lack the tension they should have; one can tell they were done on a fairly minimal budget. Overall this wasn't terrible but it wasn't that good either; the only real reason to watch it is Walter Matthau; as actor not director.

bkoganbing 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.

whpratt1 Never viewed this film until I noticed it showing on TCM and found out that Walter Matthau directed and also acted in this film as Jack Martin. Jack Martin is a crook who is very calm, bold and deadly with a gun in his hand. He pulls off a bank robbery and the cops are closing in on him and he decides to go into a Public Library and meets a blonde librarian named Carol Grace, (Carol Logan) while he is dodging the police, he hits on Carol Logan and she becomes very interested in him immediately, even when Jack tells her he is bank robber. There are many hold ups and plenty of cops are killed and Jack still takes on more hold ups for millions of dollars. This is not a bad film for 1960 and is great to see some of the old 1960 automobiles being driven around. Enjoy

JoeytheBrit Although this is film-making from the lowest echelons of independent cinema, with a budget that makes a shoestring look fat, there is something about it that just occasionally raises it above the countless other no-budget b-movies of its type.Of course, the fact that Matthau's in it is probably the only reason we still have the opportunity to see it today. As well as starring, Matthau directed, and it's easy to see why he chose to stick with acting. Walter's choice of shots is sometimes comically bad; at one point, two characters holding a conversation look as if they're both staring at empty corners of the room because of the confused shooting angles he adopts.The story is a run-of-the-mill crime plot chronicling the rise and fall of Jack Martin, an escaped convict with nerves of steel and a sense of humour. Martin manages to persuade the police to help him rob a bank, and gets his pursuers to hold a library door open for him so that he can make his escape. Inside the library, he woos the prim librarian (the future Mrs Matthau) by admitting he's a bank robber. No ordinary anti-hero then - at least not for the early sixties.Sadly, that's pretty much all this film's got going for it. Matthau aside, the acting is pretty awful and there are plot holes you could drive an armoured truck through.