Gangster Story

Earth-mother, Tamaki Yasuoka, under her alias Tomomi Nagamine, has a part in the new multi-actress DVD 寝バック素股は危険ヤデ 裏切りのスマタバスター３部作完結編 (WZA-06). At right a couple of lads share a Tamaki sandwich in the DVD, released by JAMS in Japan today.


Last night's film was Gangster Story (1959), directed by and starring Walter Matthau. It was apparently brought to public attention through a showing on Turner Classic Movies (one of the rare aspects of current U.S. TV which makes me consider getting cable. But then I remember the commercials, the crawls, the bugs, the voice-over ads, etc., and I come back to my senses. U.S. TV was never great, but after about 1985 it went straight to Hell.) According to TCM, Matthau directed this on a dare. Upon completion, he recognized that he had no talent for directing, and never helmed another. This film bears the distinction not only of being both the only film Matthau ever directed, it is also the only film in which he appeared in with his wife, Carol Grace. Though it has some pretty obvious draw-backs-- mostly related to the skimpy budget-- Matthau and Grace have (understandably) very good chemistry, and their odd love story is what makes this film bearable. The acting is not bad-- Matthau is his usual, likably cantankerous self-- and the story, if a bit preposterous (though the poster claims it is based on a true story), is entertaining enough. I'm not literate enough in film technique to say exactly why Matthau's direction is bad, but, yes, bad it is. The post-synced soundtrack doesn't do the film any favors as far as polish, but it does give a bit of a home-made charm to it-- Post-syncing is one of the things that gives Pink films their own odd charm. "Charm" in spite of technical deficiencies is something I got out of this film too. The film's editor was Radley Metzger later founder of Audubon Films (importer of the early Pink Film classic Madame O, and the Pinkly-advertised (though not actually Pink) The Warped Ones, 1960) and a respected director of erotica in his own right. Anyway, Matthau's effort here gets a Six out of Ten from me.