I Mobster (1959) User Reviews

The Life of a Gangster!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 16 May 2014]

I Mobster is directed by Roger Corman and adapted to screenplay by Steve Fisher from the novel written by Joseph Hilton Smyth. It stars Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss, Celia Lovsky and John Brinkley. A CinemaScope production, music is by Gerald Fried and Edward L. Alperson Junior and cinematography by Floyd Crosby.

Roger Corman was late in coming to the film noir/crime splinter of film making, but in 1958 he manufactured two very accomplished gangster pictures. Machine Gun Kelly starring Charles Bronson was something of a success, so it was hardly surprising to see Corman serve up another helping of gangster cinema with I Mobster.

Pic charts the rise of Joe Sante (Cochran), from a boy running bets for a local hood, to being the leader of all illegal and violent operations in the city. There's nothing remotely new here as per the genre scheme of things, it is what it is, a straight forward tale of a bad man who finds himself getting deeper in the mire the higher up the hoodlum ladder he gets. On the side of this normal trajectory is how his climb affects those closest to him, notably the two ladies of his life, Ma Sante and Teresa Porter.

Come the resolution of the tale, Joe Sante is hit with the stark realisation of the life he has led. But is it too late for him? Along the way there's some sexy sizzle by way of a show put on by burlesque queen Lili St. Cyr, while Corman even inserts a sex metaphor that's so unsubtle that Hitchcock himself would doubtless have approved.

Corman re-teams from "Kelly" with Crosby and Fried, who once again provide crisp black and white images and furious jazz strains respectively. He is well served by his cast, Cochran is too old for the role as written, but he has a magnetic presence. Milan impacts strongly as the one time honest girl turned moll in the name of love, while Lovsky as Joe's weary mother is hugely effective in conveying a parent with a broken heart. Best of the bunch is Strauss as Black Frankie, he's a larger than life henchman and with the writers affording the character some telling passages in the play, Strauss responds in kind.

Recommended fare for genre fans after a quick fix of gangster shenanigans. 7/10

Bargain Basement Gangster Film!

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 16 August 2019]

"I Mobster" was bottom of the barrel gangster film starring fading actor Steve Cochran and directed by Roger Corman. The ever cost conscious Corman Brothers followed their pattern of hiring largely over the hill actors to play in their films. .This one is no exception.

Cochran plays Joe Sante who is an ambitious wannabe gangster. We follow his rise from a street wise 12 year old through his teen age years to adulthood. With the exception of the 12 year old, Cochran plays each stage of his life looking the same 40 year old actor. His parents, his long suffering mother (Celia Lovsky) who begs him to live a normal life and his father (John Mylong) who despises his life style look to be way too old to play the young Sante's parents. In spite of all of this, Joe rises within the mob to become the boss of his former mentor Black Frankie Udino (Robert Strauss).

Joe is attracted to the virginal Teresa Porter (Lita Milan) who also tries to reform him. Her brother Ernie (John Brinkley) is given a job by Joe but takes to the high life and drugs. Joe is forced to kill the rebellious Ernie during a confrontation. Joe gains the approval of mob boss Paul Moran (Grant Withers - in his final film) and becomes a big man. Teresa, distraught over her brother's death, throws up her hands and becomes Joe's moll.

Frankie tells Joe that Moran has put out a hit on him and that he has been given the job. Frankie advises Joe to hit Moran first...which he does. Later, when Joe is called before a bargain basement Congressional committee, the mob bosses become nervous. Joe and Teresa try to flee but are cornered by "Cherry Nose" Sirago, a rival since boyhood and are unable to escape. Returning to his apartment he meets Frankie who had supposedly set up Joe's escape and....................................................

Lili St. Cyr who was a famous stripper in the 50s gives a "G" rated performance during a nightclub scene. It was hard to get a sense of a large criminal syndicate from this film or of Joe's meteoric rise to power. I guess that was due to the limited budget. Steve Cochran's career was on the decline mostly because of his high living and womanizing but turns in a creditable performance nonetheless. Lita Milan's thick accent gets in the way of her performance. Robert Strauss steals the picture in my opinion, as the life long gangster Frankie.

Too many holes in the story.

Nothing amazing but a good, competent gangster pic.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 25 February 2019]

"I Mobster" was directed and co-produced by Roger Corman. This means that the production was done very economically and it made money...and would probably be very entertaining!

Steve Cochran plays Joe Sante, a thug who's worked his way up from a kid running numbers to a leader of the mob. The film shows his life from start to finish and shows both the good (just a bit) and the bad (there's a whole lotta bad). The acting, direction and script are all very good...though nothing so outstanding that it will leave a long and lasting impression. Just a decent gangster film.

A Historically significant film... maybe

[c532c · 15 November 2005]

I, MOBSTER may have some historical significance, of a sort. This may be the first film based on a paperback original. When I say "paperback original" I'm referring to the flood of two-bit (literally, they sold for a quarter) paperback books that were NOT reprints: these books, published by Dell, Gold Medal (Fawcett) Lion and others had a boom after World war II, taking over the newsstands, drug store racks, etc. and hastening the demise of the pulp magazines. Writers like Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, Jim Thompson and Charles Williams got their start in the paperback originals, and established writers like David Goodis and Cornell Woolrich turned to them for quick money.

Many of these books have now been filmed by the likes of Truffaut (SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER from Goodis' DOWN THERE) Cornfield (THE 3RD VOICE from Williams' ALL THE WAY) and others -- Jim Thompson most frequently --but as far as I can tell, Roger Corman's I, MOBSTER was the first, from an "anonymous" Gold Medal Original, I, MOBSTER, published in 1951.

Can anyone find an earlier?

Good on All Accounts Telling of Mobster Life

[actionstar-89625 · 7/10 · 19 February 2021]

This is the second Roger Corman gangster flick I have seen, the other being MACHINE GUN KELLY and I got what I expected. A well made, involving, well acted gangster picture. Here we get the life and times of Joe Sante (Steve Cochran in a real good performance) starting with being a youngster, his promotion from Black Frankie Udino (Robert Strauss), meeting and falling in love with Teresa Porter (Lita Milan) and his promise to himself that he would not go back to the slammer.

Personally, I can see similarities to the big boys on the block THE GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS. Just don't expect it to be that great. Supposedly this was Corman biggest film to date with a budget of $500,000, which for Corman was astronomical and distributed by 20th Century Fox.

That's when I fell for, the leader of the mob

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 December 2016]

Although shot on about 50 cents as a lot of Roger Corman projects were back in the day, Roger Corman if not gold, may have struck a bit of mineable copper with I, Mobster. Steve Cochran who played many a hood most effectively, is more than just effective, he's positively outstanding as a gangster who rises to the top of his profession from the slums.

Cochran has two women in his life, one is his mother who too late realizes what she raised. She's beautifully played by Celia Lovsky. The second is Lita Milan who loves him despite the fact that Cochran kills her brother. To be sure by the way a brother played by John Brinkley who was hardly a noble character.

The film is about 90% in flashback, as it opens we see Cochran before Senator Robert Shayne's subcommittee on Labor Racketeering repeating his 5th amendment right to deny his answers on the grounds of self incrimination. But as the camera focuses on Cochran doing that, Cochran in his mind narrates his life story for the committee. He tells of his rise from doing errands for the local boss, to becoming the local boss.

Back in 1959 the McClellan Committee on Labor Racketeering was in full sway so Corman knew the film would have a timely impact. My only question was why didn't Shayne use a southern accent the way McClellan and earlier Estes Kefauver spoke?

Cochran is mesmerizing and charismatic. He has to be for Lita Milan to fall for him. Then again Steve Cochran's bad boys on the big screen always were.

He's the main reason and a good reason to check out I, Mobster.

I Cheapskate

[angelsunchained · 5/10 · 31 May 2020]

Extremely low budget film with fake sets and backgrounds and typical movie sterotyping. Over the top acting makes it almost laughable. Since I am a fan of Steve C. And Lita I gave this nothing much flick a five.

Lowbrow Gangster Saga

[telegonus · 8/10 · 27 October 2002]

Roger Corman directed this 1958 story of the rise and fall of a hoodlum, on what was for him a generous budget. There's an exploitation feeling to this one, which was one of many inexpensive, somewhat backward looking crime films of the late fifties. Steve Cochran, in the title role, is a little too old but still holds the screen with his unique brand of sleazy charisma, showing once again that with the right vehicle he might have become a major star. His performance is sympathetic, and helps make the movie more interesting than it might have been with a cooler actor (Ralph Meeker, say). The script isn't much, and the other actors are no more than adequate. If one has a taste for lowbrow crime films, this one's pretty good, as it evokes its paperback and men's magazine era nicely, and has about it the whiff of an old-time barbershop.

Routine gangster movie posing as Film Noir

[Tom G. · 25 May 2000]

This film is classified as Film Noir, but on close examination is a routine 50s gangster movie and a cheap one at that. Joey Sante is a wiseacre, rebellious kid of 11 who runs numbers for the local bookies. Joey's father disapproves of his disrespect and arrogance but his mother convinces him he will someday be a great man. Suddenly the scene changes and while the other characters age slightly (if at all), adolescent Joey is now 41 year old Steve Cochran playing a younger age. The rest of the film focuses on Joe Sante's organized crime career, rising through the ranks to eventually running his own organization. But after breaking with the big boss Paul Moran (Grant Withers in his final role), he suddenly becomes the object of a Senate probe and marks himself for extinction.

Sante's constant companion is Blackie (the affable Robert Strauss whose aging is suggested by hair frosting), first Joe's mentor while a boy, then his immediate superior, then his immediate subordinate and finally his trusted friend who does him in. Strauss had his chance to shore up if not carry the film, but his lackluster role got in the way due in great measure to uninspired direction.

The film assumes an air of self-importance, epic and biographical in concept and presented in Cinemascope, but never rises above a low grade "B" picture in any aspect. While it pretends to be a fascinating study of a hoodlum's life, it plods along like a routine stage drama. The only Noir element is Joe's seemingly conflicted character headed toward a fatalistic end. Joe is represented as a decent sort, supporting his mother (who accepts his largesse and then ultimately disowns him), keeping needy acquaintances on the payroll and even turning down gratuitous trysts with wanton floozies. He never betrays a friend, and kills people only when he absolutely must. We would be persuaded that Joe is really not a bad guy.

Corman's direction shows his simplistic style, but without the sight gags or wacky characters found in "Little Shop of Horrors" or "Bucket of Blood". The plot is forced, the script flat and the same blaring jazz soundtrack later used in "Shop" and "Bucket" is offered for suspense. Completely devoid of imagination, suspense, humor, interesting camera work or real empathy for any of the characters, the story lopes along until its inevitable, predictable conclusion.

Sorry Roger, suspense and schlock are two different concepts. You were in way over your head on this one.

Excellent Steve Cochran vehicle

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 7 November 2021]

If you are a fan of his, then you wont be deceived, no way. It also proves that Roger Corman was a very good director, not only the film maker of cheap crap flicks, in horror genre. He also could give westerns and film noirsas this one. Remember ST VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE, THE INTRUDER or VON RICHTOFFEN AND BROWN, not grade B movies but excellent major ones. This film, that I comment now, offers the usual and predictable rise and fall of a gangster, his loves, his fights and the rest.... Nothing special but splendidly done and pulled by the best actor for this kind of stuff. Enjoy.

Decent Gangster Pic But Too Familiar

[Michael_Elliott · 22 March 2011]

I Mobster (1958)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) grew up poor as a child due to his immigrant parents but he plans on much bigger things. He ends up working for a gangster as a young age and quickly rises to the top but once on the top he realizes that there's only one place left to go. This Corman production will never be confused with the greatest gangster pictures out there but there are enough nice touches to make it worth viewing. What I enjoyed most was the style of the film, which might cause some to think of Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS because both films start off with a young kid and we see him through the ups and downs of the business. I thought this film did a very good job at showing how some of these lower-level thugs worked and Corman certainly handled the material with ease. Some of the best moments happens towards the start of the picture as Joe starts to get more and more money, which doesn't sit well with his father because he knows what has to be going on in order to get this type of money. This continues with a very good sequence of Joe getting out of prison and being made an official member but first he must commit a crime to prove his loyalty. Corman gives the film a very fast and easy feel and some of this is due to the terrific score by Edward L. Alperson, Jr. and Gerald Fried. The Jazz music really adds a lot of heat and this is especially true during an extremely sexual striptease. Cochran makes for a good lead as he has no trouble making you believe he's this tough guy who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Lita Milan steals the film as the woman he loves. She has a wide range of emotions to go through and she nails them perfectly. Also good are Robert Strauss as the man who brings Joe in and Celia Lovsky is good as his mother. Lili St. Cyr appears as herself and bombshell Yvette Vickers (ATTACK OF THE 50FT WOMAN) has a brief role. At 81-minutes the film has a pretty good pace from start to finish and as you can see the cast are in fine form. The biggest problem is that the screenplay really isn't doing anything we haven't seen countless times before and if you've at least seen one gangster flick in your life then you should see all the trappings here. With that said, I MOBSTER is a decent little "B" picture that fans of Corman will want to check out.

"Sometimes you gotta kill to live."

[alminator1 · 8/10 · 4 November 2018]

Growing up around the mob, Joe turns to the syndicate early in life & quickly gains respect, jobs, & a great deal of money. And despite his mother's & his girlfriend's attempts to persuade him to stay out of organized crime, he works his way up the ladder to the top. But there's bound to be some competition to head the syndicate. Who can you trust?

This is a great early mob film with very good acting, a great story with a beautiful love story built in featuring the stunning Lita Milan. Not terribly suspenseful, but overall a good flick.