Highway 301 (film)

Highway 301 is an American 1950 film noir written and directed by Andrew L. Stone, and starring Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby André and Edmon Ryan.[2]

Highway 301
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew L. Stone
Written byAndrew L. Stone
Produced byBryan Foy
StarringSteve Cochran
Virginia Grey
Narrated byEdmon Ryan
CinematographyCarl Guthrie
Edited byOwen Marks
Music byWilliam Lava
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • December 1, 1950 (1950-12-01) (United States)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$530,000[1]
Box office$1,604,000[1]

Plot

A gang of career criminals, modeled on the real life Tri-State Gang, are terrorizing and robbing banks and payrolls in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. George, the gang's leader, is a cold killer who does not distinguish between armed guards and any of the group's molls that cross him. The film starts with comments from then-governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland about how crime doesn't pay.

By the film's end, all five of the gang members and two of their three molls are depicted as dead, with the last moll arrested while impersonating a reporter during an attempt to aid George and Bobby in killing a moll who could incriminate them all.

Cast

Reception

Box office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $759,000 in the U.S. and $845,000 in other markets.[1]

Critical response

When the film was first released, The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther caustically panned it, writing "The most disturbing and depressing of the many depressing things about the Strand's current Warner Brothers' shocker, Highway 301, is the fact that governors in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina endorse this cheap gangster melodrama as an effective deterrent to crime. In forewords which are personally delivered by Maryland's lame-duck Governor Lane and by Virginia's and North Carolina's Governors Battle and Scott, respectively, these eminent and honorable officials convey the solemn idea that what you are about to see is something that will prove to you how profitless crime is...However, the whole thing, concocted and directed by Andrew L. Stone, is a straight exercise in low sadism. And the reactions at the Strand yesterday among the early audience, made up mainly of muscular youths, might have shocked and considerably embarrassed the governors mentioned above."[3]

Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a positive review in 2011, writing "Andrew Stone (Julie/Cry Terror!/The Steel Trap) effectively directs this enjoyable action-filled B film crime drama that wants us to know that 'crime doesn't pay.'"[4]

References
  1. Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 31 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  2. Highway 301 at the TCM Movie Database.
  3. Crowther, Bosley (December 9, 1950). "THE SCREEN; Standard Crime Film". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  4. Schwartz, Dennis (February 3, 2011). "Enjoyable action-filled B film crime drama that wants us to know that 'crime doesn't pay.'". Ozus' World Movie Reviews. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
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