The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959)

“Look, Mr Egan, I don’t know what Gino told you about me but I didn’t come here to be a petty thief.” – George

Number of Times Seen – 1 (8 Feb 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A group of thieves plan a bank heist and do all they can to keep the idea a secret until the actual event.

My Take on it – While trying to get through the filmography of Steve McQueen, I came across this film that I had never even heard of beforehand.

The idea seems pretty good and the fact that it is largely based on a true event also raises it up a few notches yet the story itself comes across as being just an average bank heist film.

Nothing really happens here that would make it stand out among the hundreds of other films in this particular genre.

McQueen was on his way up the Hollywood ladder at the time and he is really the only recognizable actor in this film.

The story itself moves along pretty slowly and the ways that they try to make things seem more thriller just doesn’t work well enough.

The one thing they get right here tho is in the way that they develop the characters and we get to understand the motivations behind each of their personalities which helps make things more palatable.

Bottom Line – This is a pretty average heist film. Nothing really happens that stands out from other films of this genre. The cast is ok and due to his future fame, McQueen is fine as the lead here.  The story moves along a bit too slowly yet they do a fine job of getting us to understand the motivations of the various characters.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Policeman Mel Stein, a hero for shooting a bank robber and saving a woman hostage, only just died in 2016 at the age of 102. He retired to St. Louis County near Creve Coeur where he took long walks each morning and enjoyed martinis reminiscing with their neighbors including of his WWII experiences in the Pacific as a Marine, which contributed to his ability to remain cool under fire the day of the bank robbery. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)

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