Best movie of this year hands down!

best movie i've ever seen.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

"Guns, Girls, and Gangsters" not only has a great title, but this inexpensively made film works well for lovers of film noir. While it doesn't have all the great lighting and camera angles of some of the best noir, it does have a cold, nasty edge to it that makes it a standout picture.When the film begins, Chuck Wheeler (Gerald Mohr) boldly approaches the nightclub singer, Vi Victor (Mamie Van Doren*) and insists she introduce him to her boss...a sophisticated hood. When I say insists, I pretty much mean he forces her with threats and intimidation. Why would Chuck take his life in his hands this way? After all, this boss ALSO is sweet on Vi. Well, it seems that Chuck and his cellmate in prison came up with a great plan to steal $2,000,000 and if they keep their heads, they'll all be rich.Unfortunately, like almost all film noir movies, there is a glitch that gets in the way of this can't miss plan...that cellmate, Mike Bennett (Lee Van Cleef) escapes from prison. Mike is a sociopath and is mostly concerned with killing anyone who is involved with Vi- -even though she divorced him long ago. Without even bothering to find out what was going on, he starts killing folks! In fact, killing people is like eating potato chips with this guy...he can't stop at just one! So what is the clear-thinking and slick Chuck going to do? And, will this great plan STILL work?I appreciated a lot about the film. Despite Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr and Lee Van Cleef all being B or C-list actors, they are all excellent and very convincing. Additionally, the script is very tough and gritty. An exciting little film...one not to be missed by noir nuts like me!*I have no idea HOW she's done it, but I've seen recent pictures of Miss Van Doren. Despite her age, she is incredibly sexy and not the least bit apprehensive about posing in the nude. Heck, most 30 year-olds would be thrilled to have a body like hers....and I can only assume she has some sort of Dorian Gray sort of pact with the Devil that allows her to be so timeless.

"Eat, drink, be merry, and play the slot machines, everybody, because tomorrow, they could set off another bomb at Frenchman's Flats and blow Las Vegas off into a state where they don't allow gambling!" So quips that brilliant songstress, Miss Van Doren, after singing a fairly decent (if tacky) "Anything Your Heart Desires" as a Vegas showgirl that Elizabeth Hurley would envy. After getting a message from her jailbird husband's ex-cell-mate (Gerald Mohr), Van Doren emotes in a way that was absolutely no threat to Monroe, Mansfield, Dors (Diana) or half the other blonde bombshells who invaded the cinema in the 1950's. Mohr's message is a simple slap which is so phony looking on film that it looks like it had the impact of a kiss. The script has such fabulously bad "B" movie lines such as "Take it easy baby, No fuss, no muss" and "I hope they feed you to the fish!", spoken so dramatically that you'd think that the actors believed that they were quoting Shakespeare.While this really isn't a full musical (2 Vegas numbers) and only has minor elements of film noir, it is definitely one of those deliciously bad "B" movies that sometimes gets classified as noir but is one of the type that true noir aficionados argue over. With the already campy name of "Vi Victor", Mansfield seems to grin every time she has to spout one of those deliciously bad lines. Perhaps she was thinking of the oh, so dramatic narration over the action, the narrator sounding like the newscaster from "Gilligan's Island". If you took a sip of a drink every time that "Vi Victor" was mentioned by the narrator, you'd be drunk after 2 or 3 reels! The film also adds in a holiday spirit with such lines as "Drunk all year, and Santa Claus on Christmas!" as it plays Christmas carols in the background.This is a plot line that's been utilized over and over again, the robbery of an armored car truck, and this one surrounds casino money, a plot device also used, and certainly much better. "Vi Victor" is used as a lookout, and it all seems to be going well until "Vi Victor's" jailbird husband (Lee Van Cleef no less!) escapes from prison (on New Year's Eve no less!) and threatens to louse up the whole scheme! I have to categorize this as one of those films that so bad that it's good, the films that drive-ins clamored for and probably never had a sit-down theater showing outside the second run or theaters desperate for a booking. "Make plenty of room. I take deep breaths!", Mansfield shouts to her drunken audience as she breaks into her second number, "Meet Me Half Way". It's just too bad that she lacks the sensuality of Monroe and Mansfield (and certainly their natural ability to be funny), and in her efforts to be sexy just comes up an empty bottle of peroxide.And remember, "There can't be a tomorrow for those who only live for today!" Truer words were never more badly acted.

Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)** 1/2 (out of 4)Chuck Wheeler (Gerald Mohr) gets released from prison and decides to hold up an armor truck outside of Las Vegas. He gets involved with his cell mates former squeeze (Mamie Van Doren) but everything gets messed up when that guy (Lee Van Cleef) breaks out of prison and wants in on the action. The best thing about GUNS, GIRLS AND GANGSTERS is the rather catchy title and while nothing new is done for the crime genre, overall this here is a pretty fun "B" movie as long as you don't take it too serious or expect any sort of masterpiece. A lot of the film's entertainment value must be given to the cast who manage to fit their roles nicely and they help keep the film moving. I thought Mohr did a nice job in the role as the baddie as he had no problem being tough but you could also like him. It was fun seeing Van Cleef in a film long before he hit that image of the Sergio Leone films. He too manages to do a nice job in the role of the real villain without any redeeming factors. Mrs. Mamie Van Doren certainly is a looker and she manages to fit the role nicely but I will freely admit that her singing numbers were rather painful and should have been cut out all together. Director Edward L. Cahn manages to build up some nice drama at the end during the finale, which also includes some excellent gun fights and a rather violent conclusion. The narration that runs throughout the picture is certainly something very weak and just wait until you hear that closing line! I'm sure it was meant to be tough or raw yet it comes off hilariously bad. GUNS, GIRLS AND GANGSTERS should appeal to those who enjoy "B" pictures.

I watch this movie every two years. It's a great classic grade B thriller, perhaps the greatest of the 50's; and the best picture shot by Edward L Cahn. The director usually gives us sleepy flicks, always built on the same frame, except his first ones, the 30's ones, as "Law and order". He lost his soul during the 50's and early 60's, till his death.A little masterpiece. Mamie Van Doren, Lee Van Cleef contribute much for it.A fast paced and pretty shot little thriller. If you are a caper movie lover as I am, DON'T MISS IT.I would put it on the same scale as "Plunder Road".