GUNS GIRLS AND GANGSTERS

Mamie Van Doren goes into her dance

GUNS GIRLS AND GANGSTERS (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn. Colorized. 

When Chuck Wheeler (Gerald Mohr of Angry Red Planet) gets out of prison, he makes a beeline for Las Vegas and his cellmate Mike's (Lee Van Cleef of Machete) estranged wife, Vi (Mamie Van Doren), who wants nothing to do with either of them. But the sleazy Chuck needs Vi's help in a two million dollar armored car robbery that he's planning, and he also enlists her boss and current lover, Joe Darren (Grant Richards). Everything is going according to plan -- Vi and Chuck are also inexplicably falling in love -- but the whole business is threatened when an angry Mike breaks out of jail three months ahead of schedule. Now it's a question if the robbery can go off and if either Vi or Chuck will survive the jealous Mike's wrath ...  

Grant Richards and Gerald Mohr

The generically-titled Guns Girls and Gangsters is a snappy and well-acted crime thriller that moves at a breathless pace, especially in the final quarter detailing the robbery and its aftermath. Although it's hard to fathom why Vi would ever fall for a cruddy and unattractive character like Chuck, the actors do the best they can to make their romance convincing -- Van Doren is better in this than usual. As the mad dog Mike Lee Van Cleef is a bit disappointing, adding no nuance to his character and just spitting out his lines as if he was fed them five minutes earlier. Richards is effective as Joe and there is a very good fight  scene between him and Van Cleef in an automobile. John Baer and Elaine Edwards are fine as a married couple who run the motel/cabins where Vi stays as she waits for the big day to come and where the armored car will wind up after a bullet strikes its tire, courtesy of Chuck and his rifle. Van Doren proves that she can put over a song in this (although I suspect she's dubbed) and does it twice. The narration threatens to become intrusive but doesn't ruin the film. Edward L. Cahn also directed You Have to Run Fast -- among numerous other films -- which co-starred Richards and Edwards. 

Verdict: Suspenseful, tense, action-packed crime drama. ***.