Harrison's Reports (1959)

2 HARRISON'S REPORTS January 3, 1959 "I, Mobster" with Steve Cochran, Lita Milan and Robert Strauss (20th Century-Fox, Feb-; time, 80 min.) A good crime melodrama, centering around the meteoric rise of a young man from the slums to the nation's number one gangster, and around the gangland intrigue that ultimately leads to his assassination by his successor. Like most gangster films, this one, too, has an unpleasant story, but, thanks to the expert direction and impressive acting, it grips one's interest throughout and is loaded with the kind of violent melodramatic action one expects to find in a picture of this type. Steve Cochran is most effective as the young hoodlum who cleverly works his way to the dominant spot in a national crime syndicate. The characterization is ruthless, but he wins some measure of sympathy because of the tenderness he feels for his ashamed mother and for Lita Milan, a neighbor' hood girl who loves him in spite of his faults and who eventually permits herself to be degraded. The action is brisk from start to finish and many of the situations are tense and exciting, particularly toward the finish, where Cochran becomes involved in a tlirilling chase that ends with his being killed by Robert Strauss, his chief lieutenant and closest pal. Plenty of sex has been worked into the proceedings, and there is one sequence in which Lili St. Cyr goes through her famous strip-tease routine in a night'dub. This, combined with the film's murderous gangster ingredients, hardly makes it suitable for children. The black-and-white CinemaScope photography is first rate : — As a teenager living in a slum district, Cochran starts a life of crime by collecting horse race bets for Strauss, a local hoodlum. In due time, as he grows older and smarter, Cochran becomes Strauss' protege and takes on the job of delivering dope to addicts. Meanwhile he meets and falls in love with Lita, a neighborhood girl, who disapproves of his shady life. When his dope peddling activities are betrayed to the police by a disgruntled showgirl addict, Cochran goes to prison for a year without revealing anything about the dope ring. Upon his release from jail, he is assigned to murder a double-crossing hoodlum. The successful completion of this task, coupled with his accepting the prison term without a whimper, wins him an introduction to Grant Withers, the nation's top mobster. Under Grant's wing, Cochran rises quickly in the national crime hierachy and before long controls lucrative rackets that range from strikebreaking to the "protection" of crooked unions. To help Lita's impoverished family, Cochran hires John Brinkley, her brother, but he takes him off the payroll and gives him a beating when he learns that he had become a dope addict. Lita, desperate, accepts a job as Cochran's secretary. She is horrified one night when she sees Cochran kill her brother, who was trying to blackmail him at gunpoint. She lies to the police to protect Cochran and, with her pride gone, becomes his mistress. Shortly thereafter, the ambitious Cochran murders Moran and takes over as the national crime czar, with Strauss as his chief lieutenant. His rise to power strikes a snag when he is ordered to appear before a Senate Committee investigating crime. Strauss, taking advantage of the situation, leads Cochran to believe that others in the syndicate wanted to get rid of him and then hires two professional killers to eliminate him. When they fail, Strauss kills Cochran himself, despite Lita's tearful pleadings. Strauss takes over the top gangster spot, but it is apparent that he, too, will one day meet a violent end. It is an Edward L. Alperson production, co-produced by Roger and Gene Corman and directed by Roger Corman from a screenplay by Steve Fisher, based on the novel by Joseph Hilton Smyth. Adult fare. "Guns, Girls and Gangsters" with Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr and Lee Van Cleef (United Artists, January; time, 70 min.) "Guns, Girls and Gangsters" should fit in well as a supporting feature wherever gangster-type crime melodramas are acceptable. Set against a Las Vegas background, the story, which has been given a taut, semi-documentary treatment, offers a mixture of sex and violence revolving around the elaborate planning of an armored car robbery and around the murderous activities that take place when the plan misfires. The events leading up to the robbery and the manner in which it is executed are graphically depicted in detail and make for situations that are tense and exciting. The direction and acting are competent, with Mamie Van Doren making the most of her ample physical attributes as a sexy nightclub entertainer who becomes involved in the holdup scheme. The photography is good: — Unlike others who gamble in Las Vegas to make easy money, Gerald Mohr, a paroled convict, lays careful plans to hold up a special armored truck that transported the gambling receipts from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. His scheme includes forcing Mamie to assist him in the project. Mamie is the estranged wife of Lee Van Cleef, a former cell-mate of Mohr's, and she is the current girl-friend of Grant Richards, her employer and big-time Las Vegas hoodlum. Through putting pressure on Mamie, Mohr gets in contact with Richards and makes a deal with him to assist in the robbery, which was to take place at a motel and garage operated by John Baer and Elaine Edwards, his wife. The armored truck passed the motel at the same time every day, and Mohr planned to stop it by shooting a blowout in one of its tires. With the robbery planned for New Year's Day, Mamie takes up residence in the motel to check on the final details. The clever scheme hits a snag, however, when Van Cleef, Mamie's husband, escapes from jail and comes searching for her. He gets into a battle with Richards and kills him, after which he becomes involved in a vicious fight with Mohr when he finds him and Mamie making love at the motel. Nevertheless, Mohr decides to go ahead with the robbery and arranges for Van Cleef to take Richard's place. Everything goes according to plan and the robbery appears successful, but the crooks overlook an important detail that brings the police into action. In a showdown gun battle, Mohr and Van Cleef lose their lives, after which the police lead Mamie away to face an uncertain future. It was produced by Robert E. Kent from his own screenplay, based on a story by Paul Gangclin and Jerome Sackheim. It was directed by Edward L. Cahn. Adult fare.