Gang Busters (1955)

Director:

Bill Karn

Writers:

Bill Karn (writer)
Phillips Lord (writer)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Hardened criminal repeatedly breaks out of Oregon State Prison, eluding police for prolonged periods afterwards. |

Plot Keywords:

Police | Convict | Jail Break | Detective

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Myron Healey	...	John Omar Pinson (archive footage)
Don C. Harvey	...	Det. Lt. Walsh (archive footage) (as Don Harvey)
Sam Edwards	...	Wayne Long (archive footage)
Frank Gerstle	...	Det. Fuller (archive footage)
Frank Richards	...	Slug Bennett (archive footage)
Kate MacKenna	...	Landlady (archive footage)
Rusty Wescoatt	...	Mike Denike (archive footage)
William Justine	...	Louie Feth (archive footage)
Allan Ray	...	Larry Ogilvie (archive footage)
William Fawcett	...	Truck Driver (archive footage)
Ed Colbrook	...	Pool Hall Operator (archive footage)
Charles Victor	...	Police Officer Rondeau (archive footage)
Robert Carson	...	Dr. Hall (archive footage) (as Bob Carson)
Joyce Jameson	...	Girl in Car (archive footage)
Holly Bane	...	Police Officer (archive footage) (as Mike Ragan)

Also Known As:

Gangbusters (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16

Company:

Film Division of General Teleradio

Trivia:

A composite of three re-edited episodes of the 1952 television series of the same name, and released theatrically in 1954 as a feature film. Guns Don't Argue (1957) was a similar effort.

Movie Connections:

Edited from "Gang Busters" (1952)

A low-down grungy B movie that gets under the skin.

At first glance this mid-fifties prison potboiler (itself a spin off of a syndicated television series and, prior to that a long-running radio series) seems like just another sub-par crime melodrama replete with every conventional cliché the genre has to offer. But look again. There's a musty, gritty quality to this film that gets under the skin, offering up a raft of disturbingly unique images and plot strands. At the center of it all is John Omar Pinson, Public Enemy #4 (!) slimily played by B-movie veteran Myron Healy. Pinson is in and out of Oregon prisons, escaping and being caught and sent back a number of times. Along the way he acquires a band of prison cronies who either assist or hinder his progress. Among them is Sam Edwards, a dreary B-actor who plays loser Wayne Long, a two-bit con who worships Pinson and eventually sacrifices his own life in order to make an impression on him. Long's demise in the prison's electric chair (shown in silhouette) is an eerily haunting image. Much of the acting is marginal and the overall production is pretty shoddy, but it contributes to that woozy, middle of the night dream-like quality that only a bona fide B movie can provide. If you're a fan of grungy B- films, and in particular grungy prison films, then Gangbusters just might fill your bill. Me, I'm a big fan of it.