Highway 301 (1950)

A gang of well-dressed armed robbers, unimaginatively dubbed the Tri-State Outfit by police, go on a crime spree across three states. The opening bit with the real governors of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina giving speeches about law & order will have you rolling your eyes. But stay with this one because it does get better. Steve Cochran is great as the cold-blooded leader of the gang. Robert Webber, Wally Cassell, and Richard Egan are among the other familiar faces in the cast. Lovely actresses Virginia Grey, Gaby André, and Aline Towne pretty things up as molls. Grey's character is a radio junkie, which leads to some funny moments. I liked the location scenery and the cars, fashions, and architecture of the period. It's a well-paced B crime picture with lots of grit and some atmosphere. Cheesy at times and never anything deep but it is solid entertainment. Were it not for the corny "crime does not pay" messages, this one would probably be more well-known and liked.

The criminal exploits of a small group of gangsters working in the Maryland/Virginia/North Carolina area. The docudrama subgenre of noir tends to produce few masterpieces and a lot of mediocrities. This one is closer to mediocrity, but has a few worthwhile assets. The intro, with "crime does not pay" lectures by the governors of the three states, sets the self-righteous, judgemental tone for the film's narration and messages. The story follows a standard formula, with early successes by the gang followed by the net of the law gradually closing around them and forcing their hand. The characterizations are fun but one-note. Steve Cochran in the lead has an edgy brutality but not much else. However, the action sequences are well done, and there is one nail-biting, suspenseful scene as one of the gangster's gals tries to escape. The photography is quite nice as well, at least during the gloomy night scenes.

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"

The heart sinks when Highway 301 opens as the governors of three states bore us blind with pompous crime-does-not-pay speeches, one after the other. (It was 1950, and before we had a good time we had to be morally reassured.) Luckily, things pick up quickly in this modest but very well done look at life on the lam. A gang of bank-and-payroll robbers is terrorizing North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland; its leader (Steve Cochran) is especially vicious, and seems to take particular delight in bumping off women who cross him. One of them (Virginia Grey) gets bumped off much too early, as her sassy mouth is one of the best things in the movie. Another is the French-Canadian girlfriend (Gaby Andre) of another gangster, who only slowly comes to realize that she's fallen in with a den a theives ("duh?"). The tensest sequence in the movie occurs when Cochran is stalking her, by night, in the streets of Richmond, Virginia. The concluding scene, in a hospital, is almost as good. Again, by no means a vital installment in the noir canon, but quite professional and engaging.