In The Gangster (1947), minor crime lord Shubunka (Barry Sullivan) rules Brooklyn’s Neptune Beach, a noir setting if ever there was one – a sketchy beachfront boardwalk area near subway tracks. It may be a only Coney Island for bottom feeders, but Shubunka enjoys being its master. Then another gangster (Sheldon Leonard) tries to move in on his territory…
Shubunka has two weaknesses. First, he is distracted – he’s so hung up on his night club singer girlfriend (Belita) that he stalks her, radiating insecurity. Not only would his over-possessiveness creep out any gal, but anyone can see that she is playing him. Second, he underestimates his opponent (and, in noir, anyone who underestimates a Sheldon Leonard character does so at his peril).
Much like Marshall Will Kane in High Noon, Shubunka finds out how few acquaintances will help him in a crunch. Barry Sullivan is excellent as a guy who is at first blind to his vulnerabilities, and then increasingly desperate. It’s difficult to be a tough guy when you’re wearing your romantic obsession like a ball and chain. As a thunderstorm hits the seedy neighborhood, his empire crumbles.
The Gangster’s Neptune Beach is filled with colorful denizens brought to life by our favorite noir character actors. Harry Morgan is a cynical would-be lady’s man – a legend in his own mind who puts the jerk in soda jerk. Akim Tamiroff, without his usual menace, is a Nervous Nelly business owner. John Ireland is a disgraced CPA with a gambling addiction. Charles McGraw, always a tough guy even by noir standards, is one of the invading hoods. Plus there’s Leif Erickson and Elisha Cook, Jr. Watch for an uncredited Shelly Winters as Hazel, the cashier.
There are plenty of wonderfully noir moments in The Gangster, such as the shot of the CPA and his wife sitting at neighboring tables, both disconsolate as lights are turned off in the soda joint. One character delivers a monologue while framed against a checkerboard ceiling, and then walks out over checkerboard floor tiles. And there are shadows, shadows and more shadows.
Unfortunately, The Gangster was clearly shot on a studio back lot instead of on location. And the British figure skater Belita is unremarkable as the lovelorn Shubunka’s chanteuse.
Nonetheless, The Gangster is a fine character-driven noir, a portrait of a tragic flaw. After being very hard to find for years, The Gangster can be streaed on Amazon and AppleTV, and it plays every so often on Turner Classic Movies.
