THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet #Noirvember movie for Sat., Nov. 21: Lawrence Tierney in THE HOODLUM (1951)

The name of this week’s The Gangsters All Here movie gets straight to the point. The movie is called The Hoodlum — a title so generic, it’s the movie equivalent of slapping a white-with-black-lettering label on a can of beans. But there’s nothing generic about the guy who plays the title role…

It’s Lawrence Tierney!

The Hoodlum is directed by Max Nosseck, who directed Tierney in his breakout role in Dillinger (1945). But by the time of this movie, both Tierney’s and Nosseck’s careers had hit bottom — Tierney due to a lot of jail time earned by off-screen drinking and brawling, and Nosseck because he went from Dillinger right b;lkack to the B- and worse-type movies he’d previously been doing.

One could almost say that the bitterness of these two men burst forth in this movie and made it work. Tierney plays Vincent Lubeck, a career criminal whose career is so vast, it’s lovingly detailed in the movie’s prologue. Lubeck gets paroled due to a lucky break, but he still comes out of jail declaring that life has never given him a chance and will continue to not do so. So when Lubeck gets a good look at both (a) a loot-filled armored car that passes his way every day, and (b) his brother’s sob-sister-and-virginal girlfriend, what do you think are the chances that he’ll try to nab both?

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, I give this movie a 4-½. Tierney sizzles from start to finish, and the movie is uncompromising in nearly every aspect of its subject matter (especially for 1951). I deduct a half-star only because the movie begins with that weariest of tropes, a plea to the jailhouse warden from the convict’s elderly mother. But if you stick with the movie right to the end, you’ll see that even this cliche gets turned on its head.

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Nov. 7: PLUNDER ROAD (1957)

Watching Plunder Road, I recalled the late film critic Roger Ebert’s four-star review of Brian DePalma’s excellent 1981 thriller Blow-Out. Describing how the lead character reconstructs a crime right in front of our eyes, Ebert wrote, “We [the movie’s audience] are challenged and stimulated: We share the excitement of figuring out how things develop and unfold, when so often the movies only need us as passive witnesses.”

Plunder Road gives you the same feeling of excitement. It’s the story of five men who pull off what is breathlessly described by radio newsmen as the biggest gold heist in history. The thrill of it is that we get to see it happen. The movie takes no shortcuts; its first 15 minutes show the robbery taking place in staggering detail. And it’s that attention to detail that keeps the movie riveting: Will the thieves pull off their intended goal of getting their stolen gold halfway across the country — where they can melt it down and throw the law off their trail — or will simple human frailty slip them up?

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, this movie definitely earns a 5. Most of the gangster movies we’ve shown up to now were filled with non-stop talk and endless exposition, but this movie never gives away any more than it has to, always leaving you eager to find out what happens next. This is thriller movie-making at its best.

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Oct. 31: CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955)

You didn’t think The Gangsters All Here was going to ignore Halloween, did you? Darned if we didn’t dig deep in the vaults and find an honest-to-gosh gangster-zombie movie for ya!

Creature with the Atom Brain chronicles the only-slightly-hard-to-swallow tale of Frank Buchanan (Michael Granger), an exiled American gangster who has sworn revenge on the former cohorts who squealed on him. With the help of ex-Nazi-but-nevertheless-mad-scientist Dr. Wilhelm Steigg (Gregory Gaye), Frank returns to America and gets his vengeance. Dr. Steigg is able to use atomically charged brains to reanimate corpses, whom Frank then uses to wipe out his old enemies.( It’s a bit like Plan 9 from Outer Space [released four years later], but with the backing of Columbia Pictures to give the movie a thin veneer of legitimacy.)

Luckily, there’s a relentless good guy on the case, in the form of habitually pipe-smoking police scientist Chet Walker (Richard Denning from Creature from the Black Lagoon) — who, in best ‘50s chauvinistic style, seems just as interested in slapping his wife on her behind and demanding a cold martini from her as he does in solving the strange case of multiple murders. And speaking of behinds…

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, I’d give this one a 3. It’s not quite as bad as anything that writer-director Ed Wood ever cooked up, but it’s not for lack of trying. You’ll be amazed at how nonchalant people are when they’re accosted by monotone gunslingers with huge stitches across their foreheads.

1. When this movie was first released, it was banned in Sweden and Finland (giving those countries far more points for good taste than I previously would have).

2. The movie’s title inspired a same-named song (by a performer named Roky Erickson), which in turn provided the name for an alternative rock band from Antwerp, Belgium.

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Oct. 24: THE BIG COMBO (1955)

This week, The Gangsters All Here makes a bid for legitimacy with a film-noir gem titled The Big Combo. It stars Cornel Wilde as Police Lt. Leonard Diamond, who is on a one-man quest to bring down Mr. Brown (ultra-slick Richard Conte), a racketeer who appears to control everything and everyone in town except for Lt. Diamond. The worthy supporting cast includes Helen Walker (in her final film role), Jean Wallace, and Brian Donlevy (who seems to play a slobbering syncophant in about every other one of these types of movies).

And my dear online blogger-friend Salome at BNoirDetour would never forgive me if I didn’t mention two other memorable supporting actors: Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman as Mr. Brown’s henchmen Fante and Mingo. When I first watched this movie, I regarded this less-than-dynamic duo as simply the movie’s answer to Of Mice and Men‘s simpletons George and Lennie. But Ms. Salome finds a fascinating homoerotic subtext to this pair’s relationship, right down to their sleeping in separate but nearby beds. You decide.

Are you kidding? With all of the aforementioned juicy plot elements, plus a jazzy score from Laura‘s David Raksin, this movie can’t possibly get less than 5 out of 5 fannies. You’ll want to stay put right up to the movie’s final shot (which unapologetically apes, er, does a homage to a legendary film from the 1940’s). See you this Saturday!

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Oct. 17: Broderick Crawford in THE MOB (1951)

This week, Broderick Crawford joins our The Gangsters All Here Rogue Gallery. The Mob stars Crawford as Johnny Damico, a tough-skinned cop who, for spoiler reasons I won’t go into here, goes undercover to infiltrate a waterfront crime ring. Waterfront corruption was a rich vein of storylines for Columbia Pictures to mine — it earned movie immortality for Marlon Brando three years later in On the Waterfront — but Crawford definitely makes the territory his own. Add fine supporting work from Ernest Borgnine, Richard Kiley, and John Marley (two decades before his menacing role in The Godfather), and how can you lose?

(CORRECTION: Last week, I mistakenly touted our weekly movie entry, Machine Gun Kelly, as Charles Bronson’s movie debut. In fact, Bronson has a walk-on role here as a waterfront worker, and he had several years of movie work behind him by the time he did Machine Gun Kelly, which was actually Bronson’s starring debut. My apologies.) 

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, this movie rates an on-the-nose 5. Despite contemporary reviews that dismissed The Mob as just another shoot-’em-up, this one has it all. There are gritty action scenes, nail-biting suspense, and best of all, Broderick Crawford in a role that shows his softer side along with his well-known gruffiness. You won’t want to miss this one!

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Oct. 10: Charles Bronson in MACHINE-GUN KELLY (1958)

To The Gangsters All Here Rogues Gallery of Walter Matthau, Steve McQueen, Dick Powell, James Cagney, and Hugh Beaumont, we now add Charles Bronson! In his first starring role, Bronson plays the title role of George “Machine-Gun” Kelly, a tough-talking, fist-waving gangster who nevertheless shrinks at the sight of any symbols of death. Kelly can spit out some neat lead with his Thompson gat, but just wave your poison-icon tattoo at him and he shrinks like a little kid!

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, I rate this movie a 3. It’s not a perfect gangster movie, but it has enough disparate elements to keep you fascinated, not the least of which is a crazily incongruous score by “Gilligan’s Island” composer Gerald Fried. And where else will you get the chance to see Charles Bronson and “The Dick Van Dyke Show’s” Morey Amsterdam share scenes in a movie?

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Oct. 3: RAILROADED! (1947)

All right, you mugs! I’ve been spoiling you rotten the last couple of weeks, showing you gangster movies from big studios like Columbia and Warner Bros. with stars like Richard Widmark and Jimmy Cagney. This week we’re going back to Poverty Row studio PRC, where the closest you’ll get to a big-name star is Beaver Cleaver’s dad, Hugh Beaumont!

Railroaded! is the 1947 saga of innocent teenager Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly), who gets framed for a robbery that happened to involve the (stolen) laundry truck that Steve drives for a living. Since Steve was unfortunate enough to leave his monogrammed scarf in the truck, the cops seize upon this weak link as though it was gold-star Exhibit A just to get Steve, who has no previous record of any wrongdoing, behind bars in record time.

We find out soon enough — well sooner than clueless cop Mickey Ferguson (Beaumont), anyway — that the real culprit is Duke (John Ireland), a monotone, paranoid criminal with a fetish for using perfumed bullets. (Yes, you read that right.) Ferguson starts examining the clues and ends up getting caught in a love triangle between Steve’s sister Rosie (Sheila Ryan) and Duke.

The most surprising name in the credits is that of director Anthony Mann, who went on to better efforts such as Winchester ‘73 (1950, with James Stewart). Mann tries hard here, but he fills the screen with such ultra-noir-ish shadows, you’ll have trouble telling the heroes from the villains.

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, I give this one a 3. The movie’s style doesn’t completely overcome its routine substance, but you’ll have to love the way that the cops ignore 57 varieties of the Ryan family’s civil rights in order to make their case against Steve stick.

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Sept. 19: KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE (1950)

First off, please note the new time for The Gangsters All Here Live Tweet. We’ve switched from 12 noon over to 2:30 p.m. EST on Saturdays, just before #SatMat. So enjoy a hearty lunch, and then join us for some gangster grittiness!

Secondly, we’re switching to our new time slot in style with 1950’s Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. This movie is so perfect for our Live Tweet, this week we’re not even bothering with a review. Instead, we’re only going to list the movie’s highlights.

A Warner Bros. gangster picture! Starring James Cagney at his sociopathic best! And Barbara Peyton at her masochistic lowest! With crooked cops! Sleazy lawyers! An outrageous body count! And an intro with a richly glorified cameo from William Frawley just before he hit it big with I Love Lucy!

You have to ask? On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, this movie gets a solid . You won’t want to move from your seat for this one. Believe us, once Cagney & Co. get your nerves pulsating, the only part of you that won’t be moving will be your butt!

Follow our Twitter page @BMovieBoss, use the hashtag #GangstersAllHere to comment on the movie while it’s running, and your Saturday afternoon will be off to a bang! See you at 2:30 p.m. EST this Saturday!

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE Live Tweet movie for Sat., Sept. 12: JOHNNY O’CLOCK (1947)

After the late-1950’s grittiness of our first two Live Tweet entries, BMovieBoss has decided to go back to the land of fedoras and fast-talking hoods, with the 1947 entry Johnny O’Clock.

Former song-and-dance man Dick Powell plays the title role, a high-rolling casino co-manager who is constantly being tailed by cigar-chomping Police Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb, nicely underplaying for a change). Koch has plenty to investigate when Harriet, a hat-check girl who was friendly with Johnny, dies in an apparent suicide. When Harriet’s sister Nancy (Evelyn Keyes) comes to town to try and find out what really happened to Harriet, sparks and motives fly all over the place.

On a scale of 1 to 5 fannies, I rate this movie a 4. This movie has eye-catching settings and stylish dialogue to spare. Directed in best melodramatic style by Robert Rossen (who went on to direct All the King’s Men and The Hustler), you’ll hardly want to budge from your seat in order to see and hear what happens next.

If you’d like to know more about the movie, click here to read Turner Classic Movies’ program notes about the film. Below is a trailer for the movie. See you on Saturday, gangster junkies! twitter.com/BMovieBoss #GangstersAllHere

THE GANGSTERS ALL HERE at Twitter.com, Sat., Aug. 29 at 12 noon EST – Our “debut” movie: Walter Matthau’s GANGSTER STORY

Now that I’ve had a taste of Live Tweeting to old movies, I’m thoroughly addicted. So starting this Saturday, Aug. 29, I’m going to host a weekly Live Tweet on Twitter.com. It’s titled The Gangsters All Here and will be devoted to the kinds of gangster movies that only Ed Wood would have been proud to write and direct.

To keep things simple for this Twitter debut, I’m going with a 1959 movie that’s generically titled Gangster Story. However, you’ll quickly find that it’s anything but routine. Its star and director is none other than Walter Matthau — yes, that Walter Matthau — who reportedly took the directing-acting gig on a dare. Based on the evidence of the final film, it’s a good thing nobody ever dared Matthau to jump off a cliff.

Matthau plays a down-on-his-luck escaped criminal who pulls off a bank heist when he’s desperate for money. The strange thing is how easily he pulls off a bank job that’s so elementary, he makes Woody Allen in Take the Money and Run look like a Mafioso.

The oddities don’t end there. Matthau cast his real-life wife, Carol Bruce, as a shy librarian who inexplicably falls for Matthau when he makes small talk with her in the library one day while trying to escape some hoods who are after him. And the movie’s pseudo-swanky theme song is written by Leonard Barr, whom TV viewers of a certain age (mine, sadly) will remember as a very abrasive comedian who often guested on “The Dean Martin Show” (primarily because he was Martin’s cousin).

Anyway, if you’d like to join the gang(sters) this Saturday, join me at my Twitter page, @MovieMovieBlogB at 12 noon EST. I will provide a link for you to watch the movie online for free via YouTube. If you want to comment about the movie at any point during its viewing, just use the hashtag #GangstersAllHere. I look forward to seeing you there!