Gangster Story has the distinction of being the first film Walter Matthau ever starred in and the only film he ever directed. And for him personally he wedded his leading lady Carol Grace aka Carol Marcus. She became the second Mrs. Matthau.
It has a lot of similarities to one of Matthau's better serious roles Charley Varrick which was directed by Don Siegel after Matthau became a star. Unfortunately this one was shot on a dental floss budget and Matthau the actor did not get any great performances out of his cast.
Matthau plays a bank robber who has just escaped police custody and goes right to work and pulls off a nice bank robbery which comes to the attention of a local crime boss. He gets Matthau in his organization and they pull a big score, but the getaway was a bloody mess.
Matthau also has taken up with a local librarian who is intrigued by him even before she learns he's a professional criminal. The chance to leave her humdrum life as a librarian to become possibly Bonnie Parker is also intriguing, but up to a point.
As for the ending, no surprises but it doesn't end like Charley Varrick. Think of the film Heat from Robert DeNiro's point of view.
The only other person in the cast of note is Garry Walberg who plays one Matthau's henchmen from the big score who proves to be a loyal friend.
The whole affair in noir black and white looks like it was shot with a Kodak home movie camera. Matthau makes it interesting, but Ed Wood had bigger budgets.
It has a lot of similarities to one of Matthau's better serious roles Charley Varrick which was directed by Don Siegel after Matthau became a star. Unfortunately this one was shot on a dental floss budget and Matthau the actor did not get any great performances out of his cast.
Matthau plays a bank robber who has just escaped police custody and goes right to work and pulls off a nice bank robbery which comes to the attention of a local crime boss. He gets Matthau in his organization and they pull a big score, but the getaway was a bloody mess.
Matthau also has taken up with a local librarian who is intrigued by him even before she learns he's a professional criminal. The chance to leave her humdrum life as a librarian to become possibly Bonnie Parker is also intriguing, but up to a point.
As for the ending, no surprises but it doesn't end like Charley Varrick. Think of the film Heat from Robert DeNiro's point of view.
The only other person in the cast of note is Garry Walberg who plays one Matthau's henchmen from the big score who proves to be a loyal friend.
The whole affair in noir black and white looks like it was shot with a Kodak home movie camera. Matthau makes it interesting, but Ed Wood had bigger budgets.