This gripping 'lost' gangster movie (finally being released on DVD, having never been theatrically released in the U.S.) was filmed in Paris by acclaimed noir director Frank Tuttle (THIS GUN FOR HIRE, THE GLASS KEY). It stars Dane Clark as U.S. army deserter-turned-gangster Eddy Roback who is sprung from a police van by his criminal cohorts whilst being transported to the courthouse. Wounded in the gun battle, Eddy looks up former flame Denise Vernon (Simone Signoret), in the hope that she will obtain the necessary cash for a flight across the border. However, with the dogged police and Denise's new beau, a crime reporter named Frank Clinton, on his trail, time is running out for Eddy as he attempts to rely on his former criminal network and moll to secure his passage to freedom. Shot on authentic locations by noted cinematographer Eugen Schufftan (EYES WITHOUT A FACE, THE HUSTLER), this is a gripping man-on-the-run crime movie, and rattles along at a fair clip, aided in no small part by the performances; especially Signoret as the tragic moll and Clark as the pitiless hard-boiled criminal. The Gallic setting lends an effective air of authenticity and doomed romanticism to an oft-told tale, and this previously rarely-seen genre movie is well-worth seeking out.
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noir guy4 June 2002
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Bunuel197611 October 2007As had been the case with STRANGE ILLUSION (1945), I kept postponing my purchase of this film's All Day Entertainment DVD ever since its 2002 release; then, it surprisingly turned up not too long ago on late-night Italian TV (in English with forced Italian subtitles) which I decided to tape and have now taken this opportunity i.e. my unfortunately erratic month-long "Film Noir" marathon to finally check out GUNMAN IN THE STREETS.
Being uniquely a French production shot in English (though, supposedly, there's a simultaneously-made French-language version directed by one Boris Lewin!) and involving talent of mixed nationality on both sides of the camera, this overlooked gem is justly celebrated by connoisseurs now as a 'lost' genre classic. Gritty and uncompromising, it's bookended like THE WILD BUNCH (1969)! by a couple of exciting and elaborately staged shootouts of startling violence to which, I'd say, contemporary American cinema had no equivalent: the opener (involving gangster Dane Clark's daring daylight escape from police custody) taking place in crowded streets and the finale in the gang's warehouse hideout (which the police approach as if it were a military operation).
Clark is a compelling presence here (see also my review of PAID TO KILL [1954] for comparison): edgy yet bold and with a decidedly mean streak about him, he evokes memories of James Cagney in WHITE HEAT (1949) check out his final enraged assertion that he doesn't need anyone a' la Cody Jarrett going berserk at the "top of the world" and, like that film, this is really a 1930s gangster picture brought up to date. Of the French actors, the ones who come off best are those most at ease with the "foreign" language both Simone Signoret and Fernand Gravet had appeared in English-speaking roles before; she excels as the quintessential gangster's moll, young but obviously seasoned and whose death scene achieves a near-poetic quality, while he brings a quiet determination (concealed under an air of old-style sophistication) to his Police Commissioner role. Clark manages to remain one step ahead of the law till the very end though he nearly escapes getting caught in a department store and in a police raid on his former headquarters; for a long part of the duration, he holes up in the apartment of a sleazy photographer (with an amiable but ill-treated white feline as a pet) who ratted on him.
American director Tuttle is best-known for THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942), the noir classic which made a star of Alan Ladd and with whom he would soon reteam for another gangster flick HELL ON FRISCO BAY (1955). Eugen Shufftan's camera-work throughout is dazzling, vividly capturing the essential realism of the French locations; Joe Hajos' moody score is also notable. If there's a quibble I have with the film, it's that we never learn what kind of racket Clark is involved in because of this, it loses some steam during the last act (where he meets up with his anonymous-looking criminal associates) but picks up the pace again with the afore-mentioned climactic bout of nihilism. By the way, some reviewers mention a 1975 film called LA TRAQUE (with Mimsy Farmer and Michel Lonsdale) as a remake of this one but, from what I read on the IMDb, it seems to have a totally different plot line! -
bkoganbing8 January 2014American expatriates actor Dane Clark and director Frank Tuttle shot this gripping noir film which does not for one split second let up in the tension department. From the second American criminal Clark escapes police custody and becomes a fugitive you're held to your seats be it the theater or your living room couch.
Unlike films where the man on the run is romanticized, not so in Gunman In The Streets. Clark is one dangerous man, at one point when he's trapped in a department store in Paris, he grabs up a small boy and uses him to shield his identity, the gendarmes not thinking that their quarry would have a child. The tension is pretty rough there as you wonder if someone will recognize Clark and bullets start flying.
Simone Signoret plays the gangster's moll as tough in France as they are in America. She's moved on to another American, newspaper reporter Robert Duke. Duke loves Simone, but loves a story more as he agrees to help Clark escape. In the end Simone can't stay away from Clark.
Two more roles of note, Fernand Gravey plays the determined police inspector pulling out all the stops to get Clark and Michel Andre who plays a part Peter Lorre would have had here on this side of the pond, the man looking to sell out all.
Gunman In The Streets is a gripping noir thriller and the climax very much similar to White Heat. -
kapelusznik1815 January 2014***SPOILERS*** Known to US audiences as "An American Gangster in Paris" the film "Gunman in the Streets" is about this US Army deserter Eddy Roback, Dane Clark, who after escaping from the police in a wild shoot out by his fellow gang members on the way to the Paris Hall of Justice lays low or on the lamb in his girlfriend's Denise Vernon, Simone Signoret, pad. Roback is waiting for the heat, police, to blow over and make his escape to natural, where he isn't wanted, Belgium. This effort on Roback's part becomes somewhat complicated with Denise's new boyfriend American reporter Frank Clinton,Robert Duke, comes on the scene.
Things get even more hairy with Robeck tracking down that greasy, with what was at least a full tube of Brillcreme rubbed into his scalp, magazine photographer Max Salva, Michel Andre, who in fact ratted him out to the police when he was at large. Needing quick cash, at least 300,000 francs, to make his escape that money is provided, through a second party, by Frank Clinton who feel he owes it to Roback. Since it was his award winning expose of the fleeing mobster that made him famous.
The film has a number of hair raising escapes from the law by Roback but in the end his arrogance and women beating ,in how he mistreats Denise, gets the best of him. There was a horrifying scene where Roback after knocking out Max puts his head on the gas stove and, after closing all the windows in the room, attempted to gas him to death. This may have been one reason that the movie was held from release from the American public for almost 50 years! In it showing an American, hoodlum that he was, acting like a Nazi concentration camp commandant! This some five years after the end of WWII.
It's just when Roback reaches the Belgium border that he luck runs out with what looked like a full company of French solders and police waiting for him. With the brutally treated by him Denise by his side Roback makes his last stand and gets blasted to pieces in a hail of pistol rifle and machine-gun fire. As for Clinton he was left out in the cold or the train station with the women he loved , Denise, opting to stay with the crazed and murderous Eddy Roback and end up with the same fate, a slab in the morgue, that he ended up with. -
kalbimassey17 August 2023Unless the initial impact of a movie, which opens with a full-on action packed sequence is maintained, it soon begins to sag like an old, discarded mattress left out in the rain. This is especially pertinent when, as on this occasion, the plot is fairly simplistic.
Following an ultra close range shoot out, U. S. Army deserter, robber and supreme opportunist, Dane Clark escapes from a police van and puts his gotta-get-to-Belgium.... PRONTO!, plan into action, staying one step ahead of the cops, with the help of ex-lover, Simone Signoret and man of many faces, Michel Andre.
For much of the next hour, the movie is hamstrung by some stiff, stilted acting and workmanlike dialogue, punctuated by the not for the squeamish, removal of a bullet from Clark's shoulder, who insists on a record from the jukebox to drown his agonized whelps 'n' yelps. This was 1950. Decades later, Blood Sweat and Tears or Bullet Lavolta would have provided a fitting backdrop to his painful ordeal.
Set in Paris, it looks French and radiates the vibe of European cinema. With director, Frank (This Gun for Hire) Tuttle on board as 'Gunman' gathers momentum and spews out some sharper lines, it increasingly takes on the complexion of American noir. Simone Signoret is a dazzling temptress, leaving the rather anonymous Clark choking on her exhaust fumes, in the on-screen charisma stakes. The film's dual personality is further underlined by the existence of 'Le Traque', an alternative language version, directed by Borys Lewin, released the same year.
It's certainly an intriguing and unusual find. A lost gem? Not quite. 'Gunman' never really comes together into a cohesive, fully realized work, remaining a curious objet d'art, an oddity, a strangely off kilter artefact from the vintage noir era. -
adrianovasconcelos27 April 2023Director Frank Tuttle, to me better known for spilling the beans on Jules Dassin and other fellow Americans to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), masterminded by Senator McCarthy, directs rather inconsistently this 1950 movie set in France, and with an obviously French atmosphere.
Inevitably, as happened to most baddies in French flicks of the time, Dane Clark pays the ultimate price for breaking from jail and committing all manner of crime - but, before then, he meets up with former lover Denise, superbly played by Simone Signoret, one of the truly greatest actresses ever to grace any screen and at the peak of her unique beauty in 1950, and he is selfish enough to want her to accompany him in his flight to another country.
The chiaroscuro photography renders the film obsessively dark, giving it a pessimistic mood, and the fact that the main leads believe in the stars and their tragic omens, does not portend well.
Neither does film's 90 minutes, which seem far longer.
Signoret and Clark save GUNMAN to some extent, but I doubt I will ever sit through it again. -
planktonrules28 November 2016In post-war America, audiences were eager to see crime in a whole new light--both literally and figuratively. Instead of the old gangster films of the 1930s with their rather conventional characters, the film noir films of the post-war era featured darker characters, heightened realism, unusual and dark camera work as well as a certain fatalism that set them apart from previous gangster films. Not surprisingly, these noir sensibilities soon made their way abroad. The French, in particular, made some dandy noir pictures....and "Gunman in the Streets" is a sort of hybrid. It's a film with an American star and and international cast...set in France.
While Dane Clark was never a top-tier star in the States, he was excellent at playing cold-hearted characters...and here he's about as cold and vicious as they come. While his character is awaiting trial for other crimes, he makes a daring but failed attack on an armored car with his gang....and he alone escapes. The film is about this thug's attempt to escape with the aid of his girlfriend (Simon Signoret) and some unexpected help from a dumb sap who is also in love with the girl!
The bottom line is that although the camera-work is not classic noir, the nastiness of the leading character certainly is...as is the very downbeat ending. Remember...noir films are NOT intended to follow formulae nor are they intended to leave the audience happy...and this film succeeds on both accounts! Well worth seeing...particularly just to watch Clark do what he does best...play nasty and vicious thugs. -
kc132811 January 2014Based on other reviews I was looking forward to seeing this "lost" film. It was disappointing. The plot was simplistic even by B movie standards. The main protagonist Eddy Roback is in no way romanticized, there is not much character development or background or back-story which means he is just a vicious thug. The director built tension well; there were some interesting scenes such as the scene in the dept store where he temporarily abducts a kid for cover, adding sociopath to this thugs character. Dane Clark added little more than brooding and visceral reaction with minimal dialogue, he brought little to this role, definitely not a leading Man. This is a unique film noir in that its set in Paris in English but that's about the only reason to watch this movie.
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clanciai20 February 2023The best thing about this film is the music by Joe Hajos, a name I've never seen before in any film, but his music adds the perfect touch to this very French story of a desperate fugitive, an American deserter in Paris turned into a gangster and murderer, and although the music isn't French, it strikes the right tone and adds French genuineness to the whole film by providing the right atmosphere. The problem here is the inextricability of Simone Signoret's attachment to the desperado, she actually does everything wrong and constantly acts against all common sense, while you would think a woman should think more of herself and at least of taking care of herself, while she persistently does the opposite. Is Dane Clark then such a charming and irresistible gangster that it would be worth sacrificing herself for him? It does not make sense. Simone Signoret was expert at such dubious roles and made them her specialty. Dane Clark is nothing but a brutal reckless hoodlum of a bad soldier turned the worst kind of gangster, who will kill anyone who does not serve him without flinching. Robert Duke as the other American, a neutral journalist on the watch for a good story, on the other hand is his opposite, quite frank and honest, and he loves her with all the sincerity she deserves, and yet she prefers the brutal villain.
This is the question mark of the film, while the music saves it and at least adds to its definite character as a supreme and very French noir. -
An American deserter and black marketeer is on the run from the French police. He seeks the help and comfort of his beautiful French girlfriend, who knows that he spells trouble but cannot free herself...
This black-and-white movie takes a long, a very long time to get going. Watching the beginning is very similar to attending a grand air balloon festival where the time schedule was badly conceived and where bored participants stand around in the drizzle, mumbling cursewords and drinking hastily-provided tea. However, after half an hour or so the movie gains life and movement. Gradually it turns into a watchable and vaguely enjoyable crime movie about a nasty piece of work trying to outrun the French police. It's got its charms but it is only a tiny chick compared to the fierce falcon that is "The Third Man". There's a good joke involving the crossing of the French-Belgian border, part of which - at least if my grandparents' tales were to be believed - used to be notoriously porous.
"Gunman" is also notable for the presence of a very very young Simone Signoret, who had this hugely individual face with long, narrow eyes under strong brows. It's the kind of face one associates with a barbarian queen. You'll notice that the movie finds a way in which to show off her celebrated shining locks... -
LeonLouisRicci9 January 2014Long Lost Foreign Film-Noir that wasn't available for Viewing in the US until 2001, it finally arrived and was well Received by Critics and Favorably Reviewed by Film-Noir Enthusiasts.
It could be called a Cinematographers Movie because it is Literally Drenched in Fog, Shadows, Rain, and Darkness. Almost all of the Movie takes place at Night except the Beginning and the End.
Cigarettes dangle from Luscious Lips, smoke and fog swirl as the Title Character is on the Lam after Escaping the Clutches of the Law that is only a Step Behind. Things weave in and out of Dingy Establishments, such as a Bi-Sexual Smut Peddler's claustrophobic Apartment loaded with Girly Photos on the Wall and a Fluffy White Cat who turns out to be a real Friend to this Pathetic Person.
The two Leads, Dane Clark and Simone Signoret are Fantastic and the Supporting Players are all just Fine, but it is the Ambiance and the Gritty Tone that makes this a Joy to Watch.
Ironically it was the French Film Critics that noticed and Coined the term Film-Noir, and here there Brainchild came Home to Roost. It was Welcomed with this Allied Collaboration and Delivered one of its own, True to Form for the Genre and added a Fine Entry for the Pantheon. -
edwagreen12 January 2014Predictable crime thriller with Dane Clark escaping from a court appearance in this 1950 film.
He has his dedicated girlfriend Simone Signoret aiding him in trying to raise money so that he can flee to Belgium. By the way, who was the hair stylist for Miss Signoret in this film? When her hair was long, she looked all right. When it was set in a bun-like way, she looked like one of your nosy neighbors from the Bronx.
Clark plays the gangster role in the tradition of Humphrey Bogart or Edward G. Robinson, ruthless to the core.
He gets the money thanks to a male friend of Signoret, a reporter who willingly becomes his hostage.
Fernand Gravey plays the head of the police in hot pursuit of Clark. Wasn't Gravey in "The Great Waltz" of the 1930s?
The film shows that love goes all the way with tragedy resulting.