Gang Busters

Put together from three installments of a TV show, a master escape artist keeps slipping out of prison, keeping the cops busy trying to catch up.

I figure the movie was stitched together on the heels of the successfully similar Dragnet feature (1954). Here, however the cheapo production values and no-name cast were probably left to remote drive-ins. Still, the combined narrative has lots of action and never drags, even if the story is full of holes. For example, how does Pinson breathe while buried, or how is it the prison guards are consistently such terrible shots. Nonetheless, the unusual central puzzle is an intriguing one that distinguishes the movie as a whole. Then too, Healy's (Pinson) a familiar face from that period and does a good job as the wickedly brilliant escape artist. But what's with the two official prologues with two dull guys saying something or other. I figure that was added on to make the movie look more official, like the currently popular Dragnet series. Anyway, as long as you don't examine the narrative too closely, the movie's a decent time-passer.