The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery

Rating:
Summary: Very good Steve McQueen, surprisingly good movie
Review: The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery is an exciting movie featuring a young Steve McQueen. McQueen plays George Fowler, the getaway driver for a group of three robbers attempting to rob the Southwest Bank in the city of St. Louis. The four men must watch and observe the bank to see when the officers on duty change shifts, the amount of traffic on an average day, and when and where they will make their getaway. This is an exciting movie that I picked up because Steve McQueen was in it, but I enjoyed the whole movie, not just McQueen's performance(only a year after his first starring role in The Blob). This is a good example of film noir also with its dark mood, interesting camera angles/shots, and not so perfect characters. Very entertaining movie as the tension rises all the way until the exciting climactic bank robbery.

Steve McQueen, in his second starring role, is excellent as getaway driver, George Fowler, a naive college student who finds himself wrapped up in the world of crime. Even here in only his second major role, McQueen has already perfected the quiet, loner type. Crahan Denton plays John Egan, the emotionally fragile leader of the bunch who wants this to be his last job. David Clarke plays Gino, the ex-con who refuses to go back to prison. James Dukas stars as Willie, the member of the bunch who takes pleasure in antagonizing the rest of the gang. Molly McCarthy plays Ann, a girl George used to date who gets unwillingly involved with the heist. The DVD contains a small biography about McQueen and the standard presentation of the movie which doesn't look too bad. For a surprisingly good heist movie with an excellent performance from a young Steve McQueen, check out The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery!

Rating:
Summary: Free Willy
Review: Perhaps this film was a little corny. Maybe it has a sorta low budget look. I'll even admit that some of the character's, such as Ann, are not very convincing. But Dammit, it's funny! For instance, Willy. He's not a criminal, he's mentally handicapped. In 1960 this may have been Action, but 40 years later it's a Four Star Comedy in my eyes. Now go take a bath Willy!

Rating:
Summary: Free Willy
Review: Perhaps this film was a little corny. Maybe it has a sorta low budget look. I'll even admit that some of the character's, such as Ann, are not very convincing. But Dammit, it's funny! For instance, Willy. He's not a criminal, he's mentally handicapped. In 1960 this may have been Action, but 40 years later it's a Four Star Comedy in my eyes. Now go take a bath Willy!

Rating:
Summary: As usual, the Roan release is the one to have!
Review: Roan has done a commendable job in restoring this movie, given that the first and last reels of 35mm fine grain were lost, and negatives had to be used for those reels. The picture, while technically widescreen, is a 1.66:1 ratio, so in viewing it on a 16x9 television, the viewer is either left with a slightly trimmed (top and bottom) full frame, or it can be viewed using the "zoom" function, sacrificing small amounts of information at the top and bottom. This is unfortunate, as viewing the movie in the latter manner, the picture appears somewhat soft. The picture is quite dark, until the last reel. However, grain and damage are minimal. Sound is probably the weak point of this release....however, I assume Roan did everything it could with the source materials that remained of the film. This is the only reason I leave them off the hook on this DVD.

If you're interested in seeing early Steve McQueen, this is a great place to start. I actually found him to be more similar in this movie to the persona he would become known for, than in his early role in "The Blob".

Recommended, but with hesitation.

Rating:
Summary: The sordid world of the criminal
Review: Steve McQueen always was involved in bending the law, both on the screen and in his private life. He was born in Missouri; this one takes place in Missouri, and it uses the same policemen in the cast that were there in the original robbery. One thing about McQueen is that he has actor friends that appear in several films with him. It is interesting to see all of them as they get older. If you watch this one a few times, you can appreciate that each of the robbers contributes a significant part to the whole that makes the robbery organized. But a more subtle question is: what did the group of robbers have that caused their downfall ? To contrast this one, early in McQueen's career, see "The Getaway" and "The Thomas Crown Affair." By then, McQueen has discovered that maybe a robbery can be successful !!

Rating:
Summary: The sordid world of the criminal
Review: Steve McQueen always was involved in bending the law, both on the screen and in his private life. He was born in Missouri; this one takes place in Missouri, and it uses the same policemen in the cast that were there in the original robbery. One thing about McQueen is that he has actor friends that appear in several films with him. It is interesting to see all of them as they get older. If you watch this one a few times, you can appreciate that each of the robbers contributes a significant part to the whole that makes the robbery organized. But a more subtle question is: what did the group of robbers have that caused their downfall ? To contrast this one, early in McQueen's career, see "The Getaway" and "The Thomas Crown Affair." By then, McQueen has discovered that maybe a robbery can be successful !!

Rating:
Summary: Early Steve McQueen Performance Barely Worth "Robbery"
Review: The tagline to this film's advertisement boasts "Real as the Screaming Headlines! True as the Bullets that Wrote Them!" These lines promise more that the film can fulfill. In this "true crime" drama, the actual St. Louis policemen involved in the "Great St. Louis Bank Robbery" played the same roles they did on that fateful day, when three desperate men (plus the getaway driver) attempted the broad-daylight robbery of the Southwest Bank. A young Steve McQueen, very early in his film career, is George Fowler, the youngest of the hold-up men. His relationship with a partner's sister stood to endanger the whole plan, and hardened criminal John Egan (Crahan Denton) must make sure everything goes as planned. This created a tension between the men that may derail the job. This all sounds better than what is actually in the film. The low budget black & white look of the film can't even muster a semi-documentary feel to the "true-life" events. The actors all gave lackluster performances, either overplaying, underplaying, or just not playing. The addition of the "real-life" policemen added nothing to the proceedings: anyone could have portrayed them, for all the importance they play in the film. If anything, they may have posed the question of whether or not the situation was handled properly. McQueen is the only saving grace, playing George as a young man caught up in events beyond his control. McQueen worked hard, giving George a shot of teenage angst so popular at the time, and displayed a hint of the acting prowess that would serve him well in the better films to come. All in all, a "caper" film that, at once, seems very short (88 minutes), and too long.