T-Bird Gang

It is an interesting coincidence that I watched "What Price Crime?" about a week before watching "T-Bird Gang" because this second movie turns out to be a remake of the earlier film. "What Price Crime?" is a dandy low-budget film and in the case of "T-Bird Gang", it's an even lower budgeted film. And, while this remake isn't bad, the original is better for several reasons.

"T-Bird Gang" begins with the beating death of a night watchman. The son of the watchman finds him just before he dies and all he can say is that the killers were in a white Ford Thunderbird (also nicknamed a 'T-Bird'). So, this young man decides to try to locate the gang and exact his revenge. However, a level-headed cop discovers the guy's plan and gets him to agree to work with them to bring the gang to justice. However, this gang isn't the trusting sort and it takes him some time to gain their confidence—and the viewer isn't sure if the gang will be stopped before this infiltrator is discovered and liquidated.

Apart from a few small changes, the two plots in the two films are nearly identical. However, "What Price Crime?" is a better film because it is more subtle and at least has a soundtrack that seemed professional. "T-Bird Gang", on the other hand, has one of the crappiest soundtracks—often consisting of someone banging on bongos or a small combo playing free-form jazz. 95% of the folks watching this will probably hate the music—I know I did. However, if you can ignore this and just take the film for what it is (a cheap B-movie), then it's not bad and is a decent time-passer. Not great but enjoyable because the basic plot is still decent.

The T-Bird Gang, a Fifties masterpiece, is one of my all-time guilty pleasure classics. I watch it at least once a month and have never stopped discovering new aspects of its scope and grandeur. Vic Tayback is outstanding in a minor role.

This is without a doubt one of the finest movies I've seen, a real period classic. It's obscure, but well worth the time it would take to find a copy. Vic Tayback is especially good -- in a small role, admittedly, but displaying early hints of the greatness he achieved in later roles.

In a film which features Coleman Francis ("Red Zone Cuba" and "The Beast of Yucca Flats"), I wasn't expecting much. But this little movie really moves. About an hour in length, the film is cut well, and given obvious limited budget, surprisingly succeeds. I like the way they left some of the obvious character clichés at the door. Ed Nelson is a bit over the top, but quite effective in his portrayal as a gang leader who plays chess and listens to classical music. And Raymond, the henchman, isn't glaringly sadistic. The story may be predictable, but the execution is good, and the characterization was refreshing. After ten minutes, I was hooked! Vic Tayback in a cameo just adds to the fun!

About all I can say is that the Ford Thunderbird got a lot of free publicity from this that looks like it was shot with my father'd old Bell&Howell home movie camera.

John Brinkley who authored this mess is our hero looking for the gang who murdered his father during a heist at a warehouse where dad was working as a nightwatchman. Dad retired from the police and Brinkley successfully infiltrates the gang headed by Ed Nelson. Other than Nelson the only other name you might know is Vic Tayback playing a cop.

T-Bird Gang also has a loud, obnoxious jazz score which really adds nothing to the film.

Skip this one by.