The Gangster

Relatively unseen by most noir-philes, THE GANGSTER made a star of Barry Sullivan who plays the title role and controls gambling, protection and vice in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn. He loses everything he has including his girl played by Belita, a former European ice-skating star snd winds up dead in the gutter, shot by a rival who wants control of the neighborhood. A very realistic B-noir that deserves to be seen. It's VHS mode is long out of print and I had to find it at Amazon.com. It also is the subject of a book I have written on film noir entitledCOMPETING IMAGES:STUDIO IMAGES OF FILM NOIR (1940-1960). THE GANGSTER is the subject of the first chapter since it was produced by Allied Artists and was one of the best noirs produced by that studio in 1947. The book proceeds alphabetically from A to Z with Warner Bros. as its last chapter with discussion of the best noir put out by the particular studio. THE GANGSTER was one of Allied Artists' best and cheapest looking, but dramatically riveting noirs.

What an ordeal to sit through this incompetent clunker. Such poor screenwriting. Such annoying characters. Such breast-beating and scenery-eating. It tells you something that the high point of the film was watching Sheldon Leonard make a Caesar salad. I must admit, though, that Barry Sullivan did a good job of imitating Ray Milland with his eyeballs melting out of their sockets.

saw this pix back in the 90s ..never fotgot it ..looked for it quite a while thanx

good film noir movie,nice quality.

... that is who Shubunka (Barry Sullivan) is in this crime drama/noir that is quite good given that it came from poverty row outfit Allied Artists, previously known as Monogram Pictures. What can you say about a film where time is taken to paint a detailed psychological profile of a gangster and gives the film a fine supporting cast, but there is no time taken to ensure that Shubunka's scar shows up on the same side of his face throughout the film. I saw it change sides at least once! But I digress.Shubunka is in charge of "the rackets" on Neptune Beach in New York City. He makes good money, but he's blown it all on a girl he's infatuated with, night club performer Nancy Starr (Belita). His nervous partner is Nick Jammey, the owner of an ice cream parlor down on the beach. The cast in the ice cream parlor could be a movie all on its own. You have Harry Morgan as a 38 year old soda jerk who wants to get laid in the worst way but has the pedestrian lady's man skills of a 14 year old boy, you have an accountant (John Ireland as Frank Karty) who hangs out in the ice cream parlor hiding from his brothers-in-law. You see, he was in charge of their auto repair shop's books and stole 1300 dollars from them so he could gamble on the horses - ironically one of Shubunka's rackets. His in-laws intend to keep beating him up until he returns the money, and he can't go to the police because, after all, he's the embezzler! The young cashier (Joan Lorring as Dorothy) doesn't say much until the end, and I'll get to that later. Nick Jammey, the owner of the parlor and Shubunka's partner, is the loving husband of a hypochondriac wife and a real tower of jello.The gist of the plot is that another racketeer is trying to muscle in on all of Shubunka's rackets (Sheldon Leonard as Cornell), and although Shubunka is remaining cool about all of this, he is distracted by imaginations that his girlfriend is unfaithful. He's driving her to distraction by following her and accusing her one minute, telling her he loves her and buying her gifts the next.By his own admission to the ice cream parlor cashier, Shubunka's been on his own since age six, working for gangsters at age 9, bootlegging himself at age 14. With nobody to care for him from the earliest age, it is no wonder he has grown up to trust nobody and makes his living any which way he can. The oddest thing about this film is that Shubunka keeps talking about how ruthless he is, yet I never see him do anything that seems the least bit ruthless. He talks tough to other thugs who are ruthless themselves, and the only time he gets physical is with a goofy thug who wants to start something and deserved the slapping Shubunka gave him. And his rackets that are supposed to be "so dirty"? All I can see that is involved is gambling - an activity that requires willing participants.I'm going to spoil this a little for you and talk about the final dialogue in the film. In the end, Shubunka rather owns up to what I've just said about him not really being that ruthless after all - he says his real downfall was not being ruthless enough, for not being a big enough loner, for not believing his instincts that all people are untrustworthy. Who does he speak these words to? In the end he finds himself cornered in the house of the ice cream parlor cashier, the only person he thinks he can trust. Her response, knowing his background, knowing his predicament? She tells him to get out of her house, that he deserves to die for his sins. She's young and untested in life, and unlike Shubunka she's had the benefit of a secure roof over her head, a loving father, and a full stomach her whole life and yet she's completely without empathy for a fellow human being who never had any of these things. In the end I found myself liking the gangster Shubunka far more than I liked this narrow minded youngster.I'm leaving out some key details and ironies in the plot, so even though I have a spoiler warning I think you'll find plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested. This was a fine noir with a bunch of surprisingly gray characters for a production code era film, and I highly recommend it.

"The Gangster" is a 1947 black and white nourish crime drama with an incredible cast of well-known character actors. The film is based on Daniel Fuchs third novel, "Low Company" (1937).Barry Sullivan (1912-94) stars as a small time gangster facing competition from a major syndicate. He's best known as Pat Garrett from the TV series "The Tall Man" (1960-62), although he appeared in nearly 100 films, often as the second male lead.British born ice skating sensation Belita (1923-2005) plays Sullivan's love interest, a reprise pairing from the successful 1946 film noir "Suspense". She continued in films until the mid 50s.Russian born Akim Tamiroff (1899-1972) plays Sullivan's partner in the numbers racket. Tamiroff is best remembered for his role as Uncle Joe in Orson Welles "Touch of Evil" (1958) and twice was nominated for Best Supporting Actor ("For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The General Died at Dawn"). In 1943 Tamiroff won the first Globe ever awarded for Best Supporting Actor.Handsome John Ireland (1914-92) plays a desparate gambler. He was nominated for an Oscar for "All the King's Men" (1949) and won a Golden Boot in 1989 for his many western films like "Red River" (1948), "I Shot Jesse James" (1949), and "Little Big Horn" (1961).Renaissance man Sheldon Leonard (1907-97) appears as Sullivan's nemesis. Producer ("I Spy", "Andy Griffith Show", "Dick Van Dyke Show", "Danny Thomas Show"), director ("The Real McCoys", "Gomer Pyle", "Lassie"), and writer ("Andy Griffith Show") he was a prolific actor who appeared in more than 50 films from 1934 to 1952 at which time he turned to TV. He was nominated for 9 Emmys and won 3 times. Leonard usually played a mobster in films such as "Guys and Dolls" (1955) and "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961).Shelley Winters (1920-2006) appears briefly. Winters was a great actress, nominated 4 times for an Oscar and winning twice ("Diary of Anne Frank", "A Patch of Blue"). She also earned 3 Emmy nominations and 1 win in 1964. She won the Golden Globe for "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972). For people who remember her when she was grossly overweight, the young Shelley Winters was among the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood.Elisha Cook Jr. (1903-1995) has a brief appearance as a mobster. Cook is best known as the "gunsel" from "The Maltese Falcon" (1941). He made nearly 200 films from 1930 to 1987.Harry Morgan (1915) plays a soda jerk. Morgan is best known for his years as Sgt. Bill Gannon on "Dragnet" (1967-70) and his Emmy winning role as Col. Sherman T. Potter on "M*A*S*H" (1975-83).Director Gordon Wiles (1902-50) started as an art director in the 30s and won an Oscar in 1931 for "Transatlantic", transitioning to a director and made 11 films between 1935 and 1947. "The Gangster" was his final film as a director.Though technically not film noir, there are many noir elements in this film, including the night scenes in the rain, off balance photography, a cast of seedy characters, and a femme fatale. Where the film fails to achieve the noir status is in the central character.As a straight crime drama, the film staggers a bit, moving from one melodramatic soap opera situation (the gambler and his wife, the soda jerker who thinks he's a lothario, the candy store owner's wife who keeps going to doctors, etc) to another, and the evil and menace of the syndicate seems very casual and hardly foreboding.Better film noir from this era include "The Big Sleep" (1946), "The Killers" (1946), "The Stranger" (1946), "Born to Kill" (1947), "Crossfire" (1947), "Kiss of Death" (1947), "Out of the Past" (1947), and "The Two Mrs. Carrols" (1947).Better crime dramas from this era include "The Blue Dahlia" (1946), "Force of Evil" (1948), "Key Largo" (1948), and "White Heat" (1949)Bottom line - an unsatisfactory film, failing as noir and as a crime drama, despite the excellent supporting cast.

I thought this was going to be a good dvd ordering it from America I only wish I never bothered. no good acting and slow and dull film

Good movie and quality