gordonl56
This is the second time i've caught this one, but the first time with a nice DVD print.Four young men rob the local boxing arena of the day's receipts. As they make their get away they run into a pair of foot patrol cops. There is an exchange of gunfire with the Police. One of the cops is killed and one of the four men is captured after being wounded.It only takes the police a few hours before they have all four in custody. The four are played by, Frank Sutton, Larry Green, James Franciscus and William Hinnant. The D.A., Otto Hulett, has they all in a room where he tells them they are all for "the chair". But he will give three of them life in prison if the fourth admits to killing the policeman. He will of course get the chair.The D.A. says he will leave them alone for one hour. They can discuss it among the four of them.Through a series of flashbacks, we find out just what had caused their involvement in the crime. The first, Larry Green, has been dumped by his girl for a high roller. He wanted some cash in order win her back. The second, Frank Sutton, was a numbers runner for the local mob. He has been dipping into the till in order to impress his girl. His boss, mobster Robert Dryden, caught him. Sutton needs cash to pay back the mob. The third, James Franciscus, has a pregnant wife and needs cash for upcoming hospital bills. The fourth fellow, William Hinnant, is just a hanger on who thought it would make for a fun night.The four had set up a neighborhood dance in order to make the cash. The event is a big hit and it seems their money problems are over. That is till Sutton's Mob boss, Robert Dryden, sends several of his boys to take the night's revenue. "Interest" on what Sutton took is the line.Sutton still owes the mob and the others are still broke. What to do? They decide to knock over a cab driver for a few bucks. That works so the next day they decide to hit the local boxing club after the Friday night card. Needless to say that did not go over well.The four start by blaming each other for the mess they are in. It is Sutton's fault for getting the dance robbed. Then it is Green's fault for having the gun and so on and so on. Then they try to force the hanger on, Hinnant to take the fall. When that does not work they roll a set of dice to decide. There is some real intense back and forth between them before the D.A. returns.When Hulett asks what have they decided, they all claim to be the gunman. The D.A. shakes his head and says it means the chair for all of them.Life or death, a real intense little b film well worth catching.Others in the cast include Frank Campanella, Anne Seymour, Patricia Bosworth, Ned Glass and Patricia Sloan.The screenplay is by Philip Yordan and Leo Townsend from a novel by Willard Wiener. The director was B- film vet, William Berke. His films include, SHOOT TO KILL, HIGHWAY 13, ARSON INC, DANGER ZONE, THE MUGGER, FBI GIRL, PIER 23 and TREASURE OF MONTE CRISTO. The d of P was J. Burgi Contner, who worked on, THE MUGGER, COP HATER and THE NAKED CITY TV series. (b/w)
ewilgus
I saw this film as an adolescent, among many I saw those years in my small mid-west home-city. This was a "great" film for me in that, as a naive (and I still consider myself such), even I discovered that there was such a thing as BAD film. This realization developed in later years into the idea that each movie-going is a gamble, in which I stake my money & time on the prospect of a good entertainment experience. And naturally, sometimes I lose. This realization put the onus on me for my own experience. I oughtn't be angry with the film for being bad. Put another way, as surely as there are great films, there HAVE to be duds. I'm almost tempted enough to rent FBAAG again, a)to see Jas. Franciscus, and b)to see if it really was all that bad. Tho, upon reflection, I'm fairly sure that it was.
