THE HOODLUM
US, 1951, 61 minutes, Black and white.
Lawrence Tierney, Allene Roberts, Marjorie Riordan, Edward Tierney, Lisa Golm.
Directed by Max Nossek.
The Hoodlum is a brief supporting feature, a star vehicle for Lawrence Tierney who had been directed by Max Nossek in his portrayal of Dillinger as well as Kill or be Killed. Tierney’s younger brother Edward appears with him. Was also the brother of Scott Brady. In real life, Lawrence Tierney was a rabble-rowser, a brawler – but appeared in films from the mid-40s to 2000, including a role in Reservoir Dogs.
He plays Vincent, a prisoner released by the parole board after a tearful plea from his mother. He is in no way rehabilitated and resents having to work for his younger brother in a service station. He also seduces his brother’s girlfriend who is pregnant and kills herself. He also chats up a woman who works at the bank and gets information from her as well as wanting to hide out with her.
Across the road from the service station is a bank and Vincent studies the transfer of money, the guards, gets his old prison friends together and they perform the robbery, hampered by a sudden return by Johnny to the service station. However, they have arranged the getaway in this, having obtained a body and set up with the funeral director the exact time for the ceremony so that they can make their getaway.
Commentators have noted a similarity with White Heat with James Cagney and Margaret Wycherley, as gangster son and mother, their being a dying scene here with the mother, Lisa Golm, disgusted with her son.
Brief but very effective in its way.
1. Brief gangster film? The director and his other gangster films? Lawrence Tierney, gangster films and his working with this director, especially for Dillinger and Kill or be Killed?
2. Black-and-white photography, prisons, homes, garages, banks, funeral homes? The elaborate bank robbery and the aftermath? The musical score?
3. The title, the tone, gangster films in the 30s and 40s, the naming of the gangsters as hoodlums? Big time, small time?
4. The parole board, the discussions, the plea for Vincent to be released, his mother’s special plea – and her guarantee, her living to regret this, finally challenging Vincent, her death?
5. Vincent, getting out, his past story, always in trouble, robberies, prison? Coming home, his mother and her welcome? Interactions with Johnny?
6. His work in the garage, the impatience, treatment of people, prone to violence? The clashes with Johnny and his conscientiousness? The interactions with Rosa, kissing her, using her, her pregnancy, her suicide? His meeting with Eileen, information about the bank, the transfers? His watching the bank from across the street, the armoured car in the guards? Beginning to form a plan, getting in touch with his old friends?
7. The plan, the details, the idea of the funeral, getting the body, going to the funeral parlour, setting up the funeral for a particular time, allegedly when the deceased was born? The role of each of the members of the gang? The robbery, the timing, the mistakes, Johnny coming back, the pursuit, the shootings and death? The escape with the money?
8. The criminals, the characters, in themselves? Past prison life, plans together, trust and mistrust, their participation in the crime, shooting, deaths?
9. Rose, seduced by Vincent, her love for Johnny, talking with Vincent, her pregnancy, her death, Vincent’s mother and her reaction, the funeral? The effect on Johnny?
10. Mother, her disappointment with Vincent, her blaming herself of the evil that he did, her illness, Vincent talking with her, her death?
11. The aftermath of the robbery, the police pursuit, Vincent driving with Johnny, confrontations, Vincent’s loneliness and his death?
