Platinum Disc Collection of 16 Mobster Movies is a Great Bargain

Quality of Movies Range from Classic to Weird

Are you a fan of old gangster movies? Cagney, Bogey, Edward G? The gangster, or mobster, movie has been a staple of Hollywood since Prohibition, arguably the longest lasting and most successful genre in film history. Because of this, many great gangster movies haven't made it to DVD yet; at least not in single-film form.

If you've been out shopping recently at discount stores like Ross for Less, you may have noticed a boxed set of 16 movies going under the title Mobster Movies and selling for about $15.00. That's less than a dollar per film and as Bart Simpson once said, that ain't not bad. You may have picked this item up out curiosity, noticing that such old-school stars as Peter Lorre and Alan Ladd are featured on the cover. Then you looked at the back and saw that you didn't recognize any of the movies and so you put it down.

Big mistake. This is one Platinum Disc release that's worth twice its price. Few movies in this boxed set can accurately be called classics, but there are a few. In addition, you can find several films that are way more interesting than anything in the theatres this week. (And I don't care what week you're actually reading this!)

At the top of the heap are The Big Combo, The Chase, and Crime Inc. I have already written a full review of the first film elsewhere on this site, but the other two deserve a little detail. The Chase in particular is a fascinating film. Starring Robert Cummings cast away against type as a simple soldier getting caught up with a mobster's girl, this is a movie that is almost two movies in one. Steve Cochran is brilliant as the gangster who tracks down Cummings and the girl after they make a getaway to Havana. Or do they? After she gets stabbed in a nightclub and the murder is pinned on Cummings, he suddenly wakes up in a hospital back in Florida being told he never went to Cuba. At which the movie starts again and goes off on a different path to the very same direction. Crazy, but irresistible.