Grissom Gang

Rating:
Summary: Grisly gangster saga with blazing machine guns....
Review: Adapted from the 1939 novel "No Orchids for Miss Blandish", Robert Aldrich's 1971 gangster flick is violent and punishing in it's nature. Set in the poor and barren Mid-Western region of the US during the Depression, the film immerses the viewer in a world of poverty, greed & lust.

Kim Darby plays snotty society girl Barbara Blandish, the product of her boorish and society climbing parents who is kidnapped by a group of petty thugs....however they in turn are ambushed by a more professional crew of hoodlums. Irene Dailey plays Ma Grissom, the cold blooded leader of the small time gang....Scot Wilson is the simple-minded and lovestruck thug, Slim Grissom....Connie Stevens portrays the air headed blonde gangster moll, Anna....and Tony Musante is the oily and vicious, Eddie Hagan.

Whilst definitely not a gangster classic, "The Grissom Gang" is an over looked addition to the genre that's not without it's redeeming qualities. Aldrich had a flair for directing hard edged films that explored the more violent side, and the underbelly of human nature....and this film does all that !!

Rating:
Summary: GANG BANG ( BANG )
Review: Another superb DVD has just been released by Anchor Bay : Robert Aldrich's THE GRISSOM GANG, adapted from James Hadley Chase's "No Orchids for Miss Blandish". Excellent movie but only the choice between the standard and the widescreen version and a scene access as bonus features. Extra meager. Sound and images more than OK for me.

Robert Aldrich is more known as a successful director of action movies like THE DIRTY DOZEN than as a sensitive observer of psychological dramas but with THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE, released in 1968 and THE GRISSOM GANG, Big Bob showed that a golden heart was beating under his elephant skin.

Don't get me wrong ! THE GRISSOM GANG is also a gangster movies loaded with machine guns duels and vicious killings but what's more interesting is the description of the relationship between Slim, the psychotic killer, and Barbara Blandish, the spoiled heiress. This unusual couple has to face a collection of secondary characters one will not forget so easily. For instance, Ma Grissom, played by Irene Dailey, a criminal genius and an overprotective mother, or Eddie - Tony Musante - Hagan, the archetype of the gangster of the 30's, so seductive but ready to kill anything that moves, even women, if necessary.

In the good guys section of the movie, there is someone who, in spite of his millions, could have been part of the Grissom gang : Wesley Addy, Barbara's father and often present in Aldrich's films, his attitude is one of the most disturbing seen in a movie.

All in all, an excellent addition to your library.

A DVD zone Bonnie and Clyde.

Rating:
Summary: INTENSE DRAMA INTENDED AS BLACK COMEDY?
Review: The psychotic kiler. The young heiress. The kidnapping that becomes a love story.

This violent, over-the-top Robert ("DIRTY DOZEN") Aldrich directed thriller is a remake of the 1948 British film "NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH" which was in turn adapted from the once banned-as-pornographic novel of the same name.

It's the 1920s. Kim Darby is the beautiful young heiress Barbara Blandish who is kidnaped by the brutal Grissom gang. Their plan is simple and savage: keep the ransom and kill the hostage. Unfortunately (for the gang) dimwit Slim Grissom (Scott Wilson) falls in love with Barbara. And the even more unfortunate Barbara is forced into a relationship -- as the poster says -- of "violence and desire."

Finally, when the police close in and the gang comes apart, the question becomes: Who will survive the final frenzy of love and bullets?

Tony Musante, Ralph Waite, Robert Lansing and Connie Stevens co-star in this still shocking, extremely vicious gangster thriller. The tense screenplay is by Leon Griffiths and the edgy, very 70s score is by Gerald Fried.

Those who knew director Aldrich, who was also responsible for "KISS ME DEADLY" and "THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE," say this film was intended as a black comedy and was a reflection of his bizarre, almost sadistic, sense of humor. He said, "if it makes you laugh or cringe or both is more about who you are..." ...