Gangster Story

By 1959, Walter Matthau wasn't exactly a hugely established film star. That would come more in the early 1960s with films like Fail Safe, Charade and Lonely Are the Brave, not to mention his pairings with director Billy Wilder. Just the same, he had starred in more than a few feature films and guest starred on several more TV shows. So why then would he not only star, but direct, 1959's Gangster Story? It's an uuuuuultra-low budget flick that is just bad, if entertainingly bad.

Being transported to the Los Angelese airport, bank robber, thief and cop killer Jack Martin (Matthau) pulls off a dangerous escape, but he kills two police officers in the process. Now trying to escape for good, Martin needs some funding to help him hide. He pulls off a daring bank robbery, netting quite the payday in the process. His job has unfortunately caught the attention of the local mob boss, Dawson (Bruce MacFarlane), who rules any criminal undertakings with an iron fist. Martin does manage to hide out, meeting Carol (Carol Grace, the future Mrs. Matthau), a librarian who unknowingly gives him a job at her mismanaged orange/citrus grove. All the while though, Martin worries what Dawson is pursuing him for, and then he finds out. The mobster wants to hire the infamous killer/robber to work with him.

My first thought was that Walter Matthau had been blackmailed into directing and starring in this movie. Low-budget is not necessarily a bad thing when handled right, but this one is awful. It reeks of an almost amateur quality, like a student filmmaker exploring the ins and outs of camerawork, storytelling and soundtrack. The bad, wooden acting is lousy, but when you've got non-actors acting, that's expected. The camera is never centered, shooting off-center so full faces are rarely in frame. Scene-to-scene transitions are jarring and jumpy. The soundtrack -- no composer listed -- is on par with music you'd hear in an elevator. Sad scene? Slow, sad music. Action scene? L-O-U-D blaring music. Boring scene? Music you'd expect out of a Looney Tunes cartoon. Oh, the theme song, 'The Itch to Scratch,' is pretty awful too. Sorry, no iTunes purchase available I can find.

I can embrace a good low-budget film that embraces that cheap quality, giving it an odd, cheap-looking charm. 'Gangster' on the other hand is just bad. It took three different writers to come up with this script? I think my favorite was Martin's "daring" bank robbery. He calls the police department posing as a movie studio "filming a bank robbery," and they need help with a rehearsal. He then calls the bank manager (David Leonard) and tells him his bank is being robbed. The cops -- thinking it's a rehearsal -- tell him upon arrival to go inside. It seems the cops know how stupid it is as they smirk the entire time. The capper? Martin tells them he's locked the manager in the vault because the script called for it. Oh, he's carrying a bag of money too.

There's plenty of moments like that. My vote for a close second in the stupidity department is when Martin finally teams with Dawson and a small crew of thieves to rob a country club housing a well-to-do bookie. They need a distraction so what do they do? Play a round of golf, putt with an iron, piss off the loner playing behind them, miss 238 shots and then club him over the head when he offers help. The bookie, his security guard and mob gunman run from the room with the freaking safe exposed, leaving Martin -- an internationally known killer so how do they not recognize him? -- in the room. Upon finding the passed out golfer, the bookie (Clegg Hoyt) deadpans 'Probably passed out because he got a hole-in-one.' The movie is full of such gems, but those are the brightest and most memorable. I'd like to think Matthau realized he was directing/starring in a stinker and just went for it, but who knows for sure.

Through all the craziness, goofiness and cheapness, I did like this movie for all those reasons. It is a lousy movie. Martin and sexy librarian Carol fall for each other almost instantly, but we never actually see it. Check that, we see him throw an orange her way which she throws back. Ah, true love! The Martin character is a pretty nasty dude, dispatching cops almost at will, but he's not portrayed as a nut or psychopath, just a crook looking for some money. I think it's better because it is so odd in that sense. Here's the main character. He kills cops. That's all, no explanation provided. It's a bomb of a movie, just 65 minutes long, and it's certainly a lot of fun to watch right up until the inevitable ending. Also look for Garry Walberg as Adolph, Dawson's main henchman. Follow the link below to watch the full movie. 

Gangster Story (1959): **/****