I, Mobster Film Review

I thought I was watching one of those True Crime movies about the rise and fall of a gangster, but it turned out to be a fairly good imitation of one from Roger Corman. This is pretty conventional story-telling without any swirls or twirls - shot in black and white and on the cheap. At the time Corman was all over the genre map doling out anything that he thought was popular and could make a buck. There were a bunch of True Crime films being made and he jumped into it with Machine Gun Kelly in 1958 with Charles Bronson and then this one. This focuses though on the drama of the gangster's life and his relationship with three people - his mother, his business partner and his girlfriend - and keeps the violence very low-key. A few more rub-outs would have been welcome.

In front of a Congressional Committee investigating the mobs, Joe Sante reflects to himself about what brought him here as he takes the Fifth. He was a lousy punk kid who collected betting debts and in the American way worked his way up the ladder. His mother (Celia Lovsky) can believe no wrong of him while his father knows exactly what he is. He initially works for Black Frankie (Robert Strauss) but within a few years Frankie is working for him as he starts up a protection racket with the unions. Above them is an even bigger boss (Grant Withers). Sante is played by tough guy Steve Cochran who could be a convincing heavy and on occasion the hero. He has a girlfriend - an innocent Italian girl who makes the mistake of loving him.

Played by Lita Milan who has oodles of oomph going for her. Even as the innocent girl, sexuality pours out of every pore. You don't know exactly why, but it is there. Well, she is a Brooklyn girl so that is natural. Her career was just getting going when she goes off and marries the son of the Dominican Republic's leader - Rafael Trujillo who was a merciless dictator. When he was assassinated in 1961, the son took over for a short time before he had to vamoose to Europe. With a lot of money that Lita inherited when he died.

As a note, when Sante visits a nightclub, the woman performing the strip tease is Lili St. Cyr, a real-life burlesque dancer who was a big star on the circuit in the 1940s and 50s. As well- known back then as Gypsy Rose Lee. She appeared in a number of films, most which you have never likely seen unless you visited sleazy theaters back in the 50s - where you could have seen Striporama, Varietease, Teasrama and of course the classic Buxom Beautease.