Sign In / Sign Up

I, Mobster

I, Mobster
Release date: 1959-02-01
Rating: 6.5
Votes: 6
Genres: Crime, Drama
The rise and fall of gang lord Joe Sante. A crime boss appears before a Senate subcommittee. A flashbacks tell his story.

Reviews

John Chard

John Chard

The Life of a Gangster! I Mobster is directed by Roger Corman and adapted to screenplay by Steve Fisher from the novel written by Joseph Hilton Smyth. It stars Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss, Celia Lovsky and John Brinkley. A CinemaScope production, music is by Gerald Fried and Edward L. Alperson Junior and cinematography by Floyd Crosby. Roger Corman was late in coming to the film noir/crime splinter of film making, but in 1958 he manufactured two very accomplished gangster pictures. Machine Gun Kelly starring Charles Bronson was something of a success, so it was hardly surprising to see Corman serve up another helping of gangster cinema with I Mobster. Pic charts the rise of Joe Sante (Cochran), from a boy running bets for a local hood, to being the leader of all illegal and violent operations in the city. There’s nothing remotely new here as per the genre scheme of things, it is what it is, a straight forward tale of a bad man who finds himself getting deeper in the mire the higher up the hoodlum ladder he gets. On the side of this normal trajectory is how his climb affects those closest to him, notably the two ladies of his life, Ma Sante and Teresa Porter. Come the resolution of the tale, Joe Sante is hit with the stark realisation of the life he has led. But is it too late for him? Along the way there’s some sexy sizzle by way of a show put on by burlesque queen Lili St. Cyr, while Corman even inserts a sex metaphor that’s so unsubtle that Hitchcock himself would doubtless have approved. Corman re-teams from “Kelly” with Crosby and Fried, who once again provide crisp black and white images and furious jazz strains respectively. He is well served by his cast, Cochran is too old for the role as written, but he has a magnetic presence. Milan impacts strongly as the one time honest girl turned moll in the name of love, while Lovsky as Joe’s weary mother is hugely effective in conveying a parent with a broken heart. Best of the bunch is Strauss as Black Frankie, he’s a larger than life henchman and with the writers affording the character some telling passages in the play, Strauss responds in kind. Recommended fare for genre fans after a quick fix of gangster shenanigans. 7/10

Movie Recommendation

  • Bionic
    Bionic
    2024-05-28
    When the progress of robotics makes Paralympic athletes the new sports stars, Maria dreams of competing against her sister. For that, she will have to enter a world of crime and violence.
    More...
  • Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021
    Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021
    2022-03-04
    One day during summer vacation, a palm-sized alien named Papi appears from a small rocket that Nobita picks up. He is the president of Pirika, a small planet in outer space, and has come to Earth to escape the rebels. Doraemon and his friends are puzzled by Papi’s small size, but as they play together using the secret tool “Small Light”, they gradually become friends. However, a whale-shaped space battleship comes to earth and attacks Doraemon, Nobita and the others in order to capture Papi. Feeling responsible for getting everyone involved, Papi tries to stand up to the rebels. Doraemon and his friends leave for the planet Pirika to protect their dear friend and his home.
    More...
  • Dune
    Dune
    2020-06-15
    Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.
    More...
  • Eye for an Eye 2
    Eye for an Eye 2
    2024-07-21
    The blind swordsman, skilled in martial arts, named Cheng Xiazi (Xie Miao), accidentally saves Zhang Xiaoyu (Yang Enyou), who has suffered from the destruction of his family. Under the persuasion of the orphan Xiaoyu, Cheng reluctantly keeps him by his side and teaches him skills. Xiaoyu also waits for the opportunity to seek revenge.
    More...
  • Sword Art Online the Movie – Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night
    Sword Art Online the Movie – Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night
    2021-10-30
    One month after Kayaba Akihiko's game of death began, the death toll continues to rise, two thousand players having already lost their lives to the ultra-difficult VRMMO world of Sword Art Online. On the day of the strategy meeting to plan out the first-floor boss battle, Kirito, a solo player who vows to fight alone to get stronger, runs into a rare, high-level female player. She gracefully dispatches powerful monsters with a single rapier that flashes like a shooting star in the night...
    More...
  • The Benetón Family
    The Benetón Family
    2024-03-22
    Toni, a grumpy in his fifties, avoids children at all costs. His life changes when he suddenly has to take care of his sister's five adopted children, each from a different country. Toni will have to deal with new parenthood and cultural differences.
    More...
  • The Botanical Avatar of Mademoiselle Flora
    The Botanical Avatar of Mademoiselle Flora
    1965-05-05
    A young woman lives sadly in a small garrison town with a soldier. Little by little, won over by boredom, sadness, total inaction, she develops a relationship with plants and starts talking to plants.
    More...
  • Magnum Opus
    Magnum Opus
    2022-07-18
    Groot sets out to paint a family portrait of himself and the Guardians, only to discover just how messy the artistic process can be.
    More...
  • The Latin Explosion: A New America
    The Latin Explosion: A New America
    2015-11-16
    With more than 50 million Latinos now living in the United States, Latinos are taking their seat at the table as the new American power brokers in the world of entertainment, business, politics and the arts. As Latinos’ influence in American society has soared, they have entered mainstream American culture, and the proof is in the music. Executive produced by legendary music mogul Tommy Mottola, THE LATIN EXPLOSION: A NEW AMERICA features a dazzling array of artists at the center of Latino cultural power and influence, including Marc Anthony, Emilio Estefan Jr., Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano, Eva Longoria, George Lopez, Jennifer Lopez, Los Lobos, Cheech Marin, Ricky Martin, Rita Moreno, Pitbull, Romeo Santos, Shakira, Thalía and Sofía Vergara. Narrated by John Leguizamo.
    More...
  • Society of the Snow: Who Were We on the Mountain?
    Society of the Snow: Who Were We on the Mountain?
    2024-01-23
    An in-depth look at the creative process behind "Society of the Snow," featuring cast, crew, director J.A. Bayona and even real-life survivors.
    More...
  • Avatar
    Avatar
    2006-04-11
    Tension mounts between a quadraplegic man and his wife as she prepares a bath for him.
    More...
  • Darkland: The Return
    Darkland: The Return
    2023-04-13
    Seven years ago, Zaid went to war against the Copenhagen underworld to avenge his dead brother. His identity as a respected doctor of cardiology and life as a family man is but a fading dream, and in prison Zaid suffers the loss of his son Noah, whom he barely knows. When a police agent approaches Zaid and offers him a deal to be released in exchange for infiltrating the Copenhagen underworld, he sees his chance to reclaim the remnants of the family life he left behind. But everything has a price, and Zaid realizes that he has now seriously endangered his son's life. After all, once you become part of the underworld, is there any way out?
    More...
  • The King's Avatar: For the Glory
    The King's Avatar: For the Glory
    2019-08-16
    In this prequel to the animated series The King's Avatar, Ye Xiu enters into the pro gaming world of Glory, and competes in the first Pro League series tournament.
    More...
  • Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora
    Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora
    2010-02-07
    The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
    More...
  • J.R.R. Tolkien and the Birth of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"
    J.R.R. Tolkien and the Birth of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"
    2004-12-31
    In a house in Oxford lived a remarkable man called J.R.R. Tolkien who told stories that thrilled the world. To this very day readers and film audiences are enjoying his magnificent epics “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” and “The Hobbit” – adapted to the big screen by producer, Peter Jackson. Although everybody has heard of Tolkien’s writing, very few people could tell you much about the man responsible for creating the best loved magical creatures that have become household names. This program will give you a real insight into the man behind the legends of “THE LORD OF THE RINGS,” and the people and places that shaped his unique literary genius. From the rolling English countryside to the sooty streets of Industrial Birmingham, the dreaming spires of Oxford to the World War I trenches of the blood soaked Somme; this is the story of the quintessential English College Professor who made epic mythology and legend accessible to one and all.
    More...
  • Return
    Return
    1985-10-31
    After reading an article about hypnotic regression, a woman whose maternal grandfather died when she was only three years old contacts the hypnotic subject named in the article believing that he is the reincarnation of her grandfather, and hoping that she can learn the truth about how he died.
    More...
  • Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
    Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
    2021-03-26
    Hopkins’ career has spanned several decades, which is why we will also use many interviews that he gave throughout his life, allowing us to put him back into the context of each period and will be helpful in understanding his role in the history of cinema, because he was far from following the trends. He never belonged to any film movement; he is a chameleon that has always preferred natural acting, ‘non-acting’ when method acting was the fashion.
    More...
  • Kathleen Madigan: Madigan Again
    Kathleen Madigan: Madigan Again
    2013-09-11
    Kathleen Madigan drops in on Detroit to deliver material derived from time spent with her Irish Catholic Midwest family, eating random pills out of her mother's purse, touring Afghanistan, and her love of John Denver and the Lunesta butterfly.
    More...
  • Rate Me
    Rate Me
    2015-05-22
    A portrait of teen escort, 'Coco'.
    More...

Similar Movies