Gang Busters

... the series of shorts at MGM during the 30s and 40s, comes this B crime feature derived from early television, featuring not one but two introductory hosts. The first tells us that we shouldn't consider the star of the film to be a hero, the second telling us just how interesting said anti-hero is. Somewhat conflicting messages, are they not?

This is roughly - and I mean very roughly - the story of John Omar Pinson, a desperate criminal for sure, an escapee from Oregon State Prison for sure. The rest - I'm not so sure. In this film he escapes from prison twice, is buried in a grave only to later have the grave found empty, and is idolized by an incompetent but sociopathic hood named Wayne Long - he actually did exist - who is released from prison and commits daring cold blooded crimes on the off chance that Pinson is not dead, will read about the crimes, and contact him so he can be his partner in crime.

If any of this is true, Oregon should have redone how it assigns past escapees to jobs in the prison where they can easily escape yet again. Because it just keeps happening! Also, apparently Pinson DID kill a cop when he escaped the first time. Why was he not executed for that? I'm guessing that there was no concrete proof that could tie Pinson to the crime, but it was assumed he did it, so it is in the film.

One distinguishing feature is that there are no female cast members, no romance whatsoever. But the movie poster shows Pinson, in disguise, grabbing a screaming scantily clad young woman, as though there is some kind of female involvement. That is merely a still from the movie where Pinson steals a car from a couple parked on lover's lane and lasts about ten seconds, probably meant to mislead moviegoers into buying a ticket.

This has a spartan and semi-documentary style to it, and it is very engaging and for sure a memorable story. Myron Healy plays Pinson as a cool clever criminal. Sam Edwards plays Long as the whiny devoted but incompetent follower. The actual Pinson was paroled some time before 1975, died a free man in 1997, and actually expressed regret for his crimes at the end of his life. Not the end you'd expect for the guy portrayed in the film.