Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

classicsoncall It doesn't happen very often, but it did here. The film's narrator and principal character, self-described crime kingpin Shubunka portrayed by Barry Sullivan, winds up dead at the end of the picture. How he gets to tell his story is a bit of a disconnect, but if that's something you can overlook, the ride is worth it.One never knows what you'll get with one of these Poverty Row efforts but this one looks like a keeper, due principally to it's great black and white photography, noir elements and a rather fine supporting cast. Shubunka himself is a conflicted fellow, one might even go so far as to say a bit unbalanced. The overbearing relationship he has with girlfriend Nancy Starr (Belita) contributes to his eventual undoing, though I'm inclined to believe it would have happened anyway, with or without her falling in with rival gangster Cornell (Sheldon Leonard).There's a puzzling side story involving Harry Morgan's soda jerk character Shorty wooing the older Mrs. Olga Ostroleng, her marital status perhaps kept purposely dubious. Shorty's proclamations of worldly conquests fall flat when he fails to win even the slightest peck on the cheek from the frumpy older woman. Unceremoniously dumped by Olga into the alley out her back door, Shorty's fate portends the downfall of the rest of the losers of Neptune Beach, including soda shop owner Jammey (Akim Tamiroff) and gambler Karty (John Ireland), as well as Shubunka himself. For old time cinema fans, stay alert and you'll catch Shelley Winters as the replacement cashier at the soda shop looking completely disinterested in what her boss Jammey has to say.

ccthemovieman-1 Here's a film I wish I could see again, even though it's a little too slow and talky for my tastes. It still was very interesting in spots.Barry Sullivan and Belita both provide some great film-noir lines and the photography is pure film noir. Henry Morgan has interesting part although his role is minor and Sheldon Leonard (with hair) is notable. The only character who became annoying was Akim Tamiroff, as the scared soda shop owner.The story, though, centers around Sullivan, who plays a man who doesn't trust anyone but would really like to find a woman he could trust. His outlook on humanity is brutal. It's so bad, it's almost funny. He reminded me of Lawrence Tierney in "Born To Kill."This movie is an odd combination of film noir, melodrama and character study and is worth checking out, if you can find it.

_Dan As a film noir entousiasme, I don't rate this film on the top ten of the genre. But it has some moments. Some great shots by Cinematographer Paul Ivano that would deserve being laminated and hanged on a wall. I'll let you notice them. Also check out a young 24 years old Shelley Winter with a 10 seconds scene as a waitress. In brief a movie carried by cinematography more than acting, by atmosphere more than by a script.

John Braun (kartrabo) Occasionally Allied Artists was able to produce a first rate serious film unrelated to their usual formularized output.'The Gangster' is an unconventional crime picture that concentrates on the latter end of a racketeer's career,the effects rather than the causes of his persona,his neighborhood of operations,and the people who have been corrupted by his contact. As the protagonist Barry Sullivan essays a suitably morose,hardened individual driven by desperation to hold onto his rapidly crumbling kingdom.Desperate too are the pathetic bystanders who will be effected if this petty prince of rackets should fall to the machinations of a rival mob.Belita is a fashion socialite whom Sullivan uses but cannot love.Akim Tamiroff is terrific as the owner of a seemingly innocuous ice-cream parlor where Sullivan's influence has set in motion the tragic events that follow.Also well-cast are Joan Lorring as an adoring counter girl,John Ireland as a hooked gambler,Harry Morgan as an amusing soda-jerk,and every film buff's "favorite" New York thug,Sheldon Leonard as the leader of the new mob organization.