Wonderful Movie

the audience applauded

Lack of good storyline.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Barry Sullivan gave a performance lacking total emotion in the film. He shows absolutely no expression as the head of the rackets along with shop owner, Akim Tamiroff. The latter does a fine job of acting as a man caught up in the rackets even though he constantly talks of his wife and home life.John Ireland is quite good as the CPA caught up in gambling addiction which leads him to an unspeakable act and the ultimate downfall of Sullivan as Sheldon Leonard and his crew try to take over the operation.Belita is charming as the woman Sullivan loved, but yet he is insanely jealous and suspicious of her, which leads to her ultimate betrayal of him.Two years after her Oscar nominated turn as the vicious young lady in "The Corn is Green," Joan Lorring is rather subdued her until her outburst directed at Sullivan towards the end of the film.For a supposed gangster, Sullivan shows a sheepish side,especially when he is cornered.For a film with this name, you would think there would be much more violent action.

***SPOILERS*** Odd kind of crime flick that has a director Fritz Lang "M" movie like look to it about a small time racketeer Shubunka, Barry Sullivan, who's about to be put out of business not by the law but his fellow criminals. With crime boss Connell, Sheldon Leonard, muscling in on Shubunka's territory in the Neptune Beach section of Brooklyn he's given a choice in joining the party, Cornell's mob, as a $80.00 a week collector or check out of town for good. But before Shubunka makes his exit Cornell want's him to hand over a list of those businesses on the beach who pay him off for protection.Determined to hold on to his criminal enterprise Shubunka tried to recruit outside mob members, from Detroit Cleveland & Chicago, to keep Cornell and his mobster off his back but doesn't have the funds or cash to do it. As it turns out one of Shubunka's costumers and good friend ice cream and soda shop owner Nick Jammey, Akim Tamikoff, starts to crack under the pressure of the Cornell Mob and soon is forced, in order to save his life, to join them. Everything starts to fall apart for Shubunka's attempt to hold on to power and the final domino to fall is his girlfriend showgirl Nancy Starr, Belita. It's Nancy who after trying to get Shubunka to quit the crime business joined his bitter rival Cornell just to get away from the now paranoid and self destructive hood.****SPOILERS**** What was the final nail in Shubunka's coffin was something that he was totally innocent of the brutal murder of his friend soda & ice cream owner Nick Jammey. It was accountant Karty, John Ireland, who embezzled his brother in law's business whom he worked for by fixing the books who went first to Shubunka, who turned him down cold, then to Jammey for cash to prevent from getting his legs broken. In a crazed and mindless assault on Jammey, who also refused to give him the money, Karty bash his head in and killed Jammey with a frying pan. With Cornell thinking that it was Shubunka who did in Jammey for joining his outfit he out a hit on him not realizing that Shubunka was totally innocent of his murder. By now Shubunka didn't care what happened to him and with the skies opening up and the rain pouring down on him he just meekly walked out on the dark and rain soaked streets of Neptune Beach to meet what fate has in store for him and thus get his final reward.

After the 1946 success of their million dollar musical noir SUSPENSE Monogram and their A grade production name ALLIED ARTISTS repeated their Barry Sullivan and Belita pairing plus many excellent sets and camera angles in a truly strange crime drama THE GANGSTER. Typical of their urban style and effort to make socially arresting films (BLACK GOLD, HIGH TIDE, and later PHENIX CITY STORY)I find I am quite haunted by this grim and emotional portrayal of a doomed big shot draining mentally and emotionally in his seaside square mile of crummy crim competition. It is almost as if everyone in this film acts as though he is sure they are trying to cause him to have a mental breakdown. Sullivan is a career criminal on the very edge of insanity brought on by just a plain lousy life of struggle, arguing and ratty behavior. His affair with the incredibly gorgeous Belita (of skating fame) is racked with his paranoia and melancholy at best. It is as if his falling in love with her is causing his mind to unravel and local thugs know it. THE GANGSTER is a very well made film and genuinely emotionally interesting. It is NOT as the title suggests, a 'gangster film' however it is quite a sad and tortured tale depicting the tragic shattering in slow motion of a big man's heart and mind as he realizes (or just thinks that) his world is crumbling. The scenes at the beach promenade with Belita dressed all in white offer the viewer genuine beauty. She is sublimely dressed and photographed all through this handsome film. In fact she reminded me of a young Gertrude Lawrence: Belita was British and a champion skater at a young age throughout the UK before coming to Monogram when only about 19 years old. She just died, in 2006 at about 82 years old. Barry Sullivan is a revelation. THE GANGSTER is one of the most interesting psychological dramas made, given that it is set within his mind, hence the fake looking world he inhabits (stylised sets etc). He has fallen in love and knows he doesn't deserve it or control it, thus causing emotional fright and mental collapse. What a topic! Good movie, this!

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.