HIGHWAY 301 (1950)

This patented Warner Bros. gangster/actioner features Steve Cochran (eternal Elvis Precursor) as George Legenza, brutal leader of the Tri State Gang of bank robbers (Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia), killing everyone and anyone who could identify him or them. The gang's molls, Virginia Grey and Gaby Andre, provide the interesting subplot--Gray as tough and stand-up for the mobsters, Andre as delicate, fearful, wanting out of the criminal scene and being pursued, relentlessly and lethally by Legenza. The cast is very good--Robert Webber, Wally Cassell, Richard Egan and Edward Norris as Legenza's sidekicks-in-crime, Edmon Ryan as the detective sergeant out to get them. Cochran is, as ever, unsubtle but forceful, and has an appealingly edgy nuance to his otherwise thuggishness. The action and suspense are quite good most of the time but the film slows down in a couple of places and loses pace. The real-life governors of the three states provide a boring sanctimonious intro.