Clevercell Very disappointing...

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Richard Chatten After ten years directing musicals and comedies, Andrew Stone with 'Highway 301' turned to making the thrillers for which he remains most fondly remembered. The distinctive 'documentary' style of his later films like 'The Steel Trap' (1952) and 'The Last Voyage' (1960) - using natural sound and authentic locations - is hinted at in the opening robbery sequence, but much that follows resembles a conventional studio-shot gangster film. In their enormous, immaculate suits Steve Cochran and the rest of his gang at all times look as if they're about to go to a wedding in those big black cars they're driving. Described by Bosley Crowther at the time as "a straight exercise in low sadism", its a far more brutal film than Stone's later thrillers, which tend to take a more benign view of humanity and have more upbeat endings.

lchadbou-326-26592 The HD copy of Highway 301 currently available through Warner Archive is a special treat for those who appreciate noir cinematography. The picture starts off with location footage of Winston Salem, North Carolina, one of the three states in which our gang of robbers moves back and forth. (In the intro which precedes the opening bank heist, the real governors at the time of North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia attest to the ominousness of these fact-based exploits, one of them even describing them as "criminal terrorism.") But after another heist, this one of a railway express truck where the stolen money turns out to be cut - gang leader Steve Cochran later describes it as "shredded wheat"- the last part of the film turns into more of a studio bound, moodily photographed exercise in noir style. The first such scene shows Cochran trying to escape from cops, after his partner has been shot, through the dark, wet streets. The second, especially exciting scene shows the French-Canadian wife (Gaby Andre) of one of the other crooks (Robert Webber) fleeing through a park at night,to escape Cochran who she suspects will kill her because she knows too much- she lands up getting into a cab which turns out to be driven by Cochran! The film climaxes in a tense hospital episode where another of the gang women (especially well played by the underrated Virginia Grey) pretends to be a reporter, so she can scope out the setup where Andre, shot earlier by Cochran, is hidden and the gang can finish the victim off, she almost fools the police sergeant. Carl Guthrie's lensing of these three sequences along with Andrew Stone's writing and direction make of this seemingly ordinary crime picture something memorable.

Brian Camp I had high hopes for HIGHWAY 301 (1950). It's a Warner Bros. crime picture produced a year after WB's classic, WHITE HEAT, with two of the same cast (Steve Cochran and Wally Cassell), and it's based on the true story of the Tri-State Gang. It starts out well with semi-documentary sequences, including speeches by three Southern governors (from Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina) warning us that crime doesn't pay and hoping this film will reinforce that message. There are establishing shots of Winston-Salem, NC, before the film reverts to Southern California locations for the first caper in the film, a well-planned bank robbery by the five members of the gang. The next caper, still within the film's first half-hour, is the disastrous robbery of an armored truck, filmed on location in L.A. (but taking place in Virginia). Eventually the cops close in and the gang goes on the run, taking with them Lee Fontaine (Gaby Andre), the French-Canadian girlfriend of a now-dead gang member, and holding her captive after she's finally figured out that these guys aren't women's apparel salesmen after all. She comes off as astoundingly naive, so it's hard to feel sympathy for her.After all the location footage in the first half-hour, the rest of the film is shot entirely on Warner Bros. soundstages and the studio's generic urban backlot. This part is supposed to take place in Richmond, Virginia, but there isn't a single element of southern flavor nor a southern accent to be heard anywhere. (Nor do we ever see Highway 301.) There are no more robberies as the film becomes a standard gangster picture as Fontaine tries to escape the gang at various points. In one scene she's stalked by Cochran at night through deserted streets, parks, and back alleys which create a nice noir-ish effect that would have meant something if the film had managed to generate any suspense. It all culminates in a hospital stand-off and a no-budget car chase staged entirely via rear screen projection. This was during a year when location-filmed car chases were attracting attention in films like Gordon Douglas's BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN and Anthony Mann's SIDE STREET, so it's hard to excuse the shoddy work in this film.Two members of the gang, played by Richard Egan and Edward Norris, disappear for long stretches of the film even though they're all supposed to be on the run. Robert Webber, in his film debut, plays the boyfriend of Fontaine and the one who told her they were a team of salesmen. (The oldest film of Webber's I'd seen previously was TWELVE ANGRY MEN, 1957.) As many of these movies as I've seen, and as many books about real-life crime gangs as I've read, I don't recall coming across any major instance where the gang lets a woman into their inner circle who doesn't already know—and accept—what they do. Fontaine's presence, as well as that of Cochran's ill-fated girlfriend seen earlier in the film (played by the pretty Aline Towne), violate a key precept of the genre and the tacit allowance of it by Cochran's hardened gang leader made it difficult for me to suspend my disbelief. Virginia Grey plays Cassell's girl, the only remotely believable female character in the film, although her addiction to soap operas heard on the portable radio she carries around seems like a screenwriter's construction designed to give her a "quirk." Her attempt to impersonate a reporter at the hospital is pretty funny, though.Cochran (Big Ed in WHITE HEAT) snarled with the best of them and does it throughout this film in a portrayal he could have pulled off in his sleep. He's quite menacing to the women in the film, who spend a lot of time sneaking down stairways to avoid and escape him. (In real life it was quite the reverse, or so I've heard.) Cochran was an excellent actor, but he suffered from typecasting, especially in a film like this, where he's given no characterization at all. Wally Cassell (Cotton Valetti in WHITE HEAT and also seen in THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA) plays Cochran's closest sidekick and it's the biggest part I've seen him in. He's very good, but it's strictly a standard-issue role.Edmon Ryan co-stars as Sergeant Truscott, a mild-mannered Washington DC police officer who leads the investigation and also narrates the film. One of his final lines to the audience is quite memorable: "You can't be kind to congenital criminals like these."

melvelvit-1 HIGHWAY 301 is a rip-roaring Warner Brothers return to their hard-hitting early 1930s gangster cycle complete with a "Crime Does Not Pay" prologue delivered by the governors of the three states the events take place in. Filmed in a semi-documentary style with sporadic voice-over narration, the tale is based on "cold, hard fact" and is surprisingly sadistic -which could be the reason why I never saw it on TV growing up. Like many good crime melodramas, H301 opens with a bank robbery and follows the gang and their molls as they live life on the run and I was reminded of 1967's BONNIE & CLYDE in its depiction of a "family" of outlaws contending with pressures from within as they're relentlessly pursued by the long arm of the law. The brutally handsome Steve Cochran dominates his surroundings as the flint-eyed, heartless, "take-no-prisoners" leader of the "Tri-State Gang" who can calmly kill at the drop of a fedora and Robert Webber and newcomer Gaby Andre (whatever happened to her?) are believable as a young con and his naive bride in over their heads. Familiar face Virginia Grey scores as a radio-addicted dame who knows the score and the reliable Eddie Norris and Richard Egan are also on hand in small roles. The director, Andrew Stone, wrote the never-a-dull-moment script and, in addition to the solid direction and "A" production values only a major studio can provide, the violence directed at women and the high body count made this fast-paced police procedural a slick "shocker" for its day and it still packs a punch. Warners also made WHITE HEAT, KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE (both with James Cagney), and THE DAMNED DON'T CRY (again with bad boy Cochran) around the same time. Highly recommended for fans of this type of film -and you know who you are."Several good suspense sequences, some good comic observation, and many pleasing visual moments of the wet-streets-at-night category." -"Punch"