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I, Mobster

I, Mobster is a well-turned-out melodrama with Steve Cochran in title role delivering a slick characterization of the rise and fall of a mobsman.

I, Mobster is a well-turned-out melodrama with Steve Cochran in title role delivering a slick characterization of the rise and fall of a mobsman.

Steve Fisher screenplay utilizes the flashback technique, opening with Cochran, who heads the national crime syndicate, invoking the Fifth Amendment as he appears before the Senate Rackets Committee in Washington. Narrative dips back to his youth, when he collected horse race bets for a local hoodlum, Robert Strauss; then spans his whole career in crime as he becomes involved in dope traffic, later his hard-hitting entry into strike-breaking and ‘protection’ of strike-breaking unions.

Under Roger Corman’s knowhow direction action unfolds smoothly and swiftly. Through very creditable performances, Corman manages to capture the gangster feeling and in addition to Cochran outstanding portrayals are contributed by Lita Milan, as his sweetheart; Strauss, socking over his henchman role after Cochran rises above him; and Celia Lovsky, as Cochran’s sorely tried mother.

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I, Mobster

  • Production: 20th Century-Fox. Director Roger Corman; Producer Edward L. Alperson, Roger Corman, Gene Corman; Screenplay Steve Fisher; Camera Floyd Crosby; Editor William B. Murphy; Music Gerald Fried, Edward L. Alperson Jr; Art Director Daniel Haller
  • Crew: (B&W) Widescreen. Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1958. Running time: 80 MIN.
  • With: Steve Cochran Lita Milan Robert Strauss Celia Lovsky Lili St Cyr

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Larita Shotwell

Update: 2024-02-07

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