European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes Friday september 27, 1985 today s  gangsters dirty rats make comeback by Russell Baker the movie scene is pure Bliss these Days if you re gangster fan. Not since Warner Brothers packed Barton machine away in Mothballs have there been so Many Tough cookies looking daggers at each other so much mayhem and snarling so Many Guys named Vito and red pumping so Many Tommy gun bullets into sound stage reprint auctions of the old Warner Brothers Edward g. Robinson set. J write the name cd want g. Robinson with reverence for am a connoisseur of gangster dying style-., and Edward g. Robinson set the Standard by which All others must be measured. What Einstein was to physics what babe Ruth was o Home runs what i mily Post was to table manner that s what Edwardg. Robinson was to dying like a Lousy rat. In August to Check up on How the new crowd com pared with the old master. I spent a week watching up to Date gangster movies. The arc All in color now. The two godfathers started that trend which i consider unhappy for two reasons. One Cost helically speaking dying ought to be done in Black and White i is simply not a colourful activity. Two filming in color tempts movie people to cover the dead and dying with a Bright photogenic red sauce which 1 Lake to be Ketchup. It s hard to be awed by the death of a Lousy rat when he s covered with Ketchup. You keep thinking irrelevant thoughts such As Why Don t the throw on some onions and Pickle Edward g. Robinson did t have to be gussied up like a Barbecue to die impressively. When the Bulluc went into him he did t have to spurt All Over the camera to make you realize he was hurting. He just winced and you knew that those bullets had gone through the in credible densities of his overcoat and those huge lapels on his suit and had lodged right there where he was clutching the Midriff with his Cigar hand and the wince told you everything so he never had to say them bul lets hurts me so. Robinson never toppled like an axed tree. Although he was full of Lead he kept moving. If they shot him at the fool of the Church Steps he kept fighting his Way up the Church Steps despite unbearable pain so he could die at the Church door. If they shot him at the top of the Church Steps he always made it All the Way to the Bottom so he could die in the Gutter. People who say James Cagney was the better Man when gunned by the Law arc doubtless too Young to remember Robinson. Cagney could dance rings around fim Itilio Edwird g. Robinson As Little a eur fhe Picolo Marlon Brando in his portrayal of the godfather Robinson i d give you that but he could t die inthe same league. Remember the godfather they had to resort to Ketchup to help those kid actors persuade you they were really dead did t they and what about Marlon bran do the great Brando i concede he is great no argument there but you noticed i Hope that he chose not to try to outdid Edward g. Robinson. When Brando s time came How did he go did he choose to get shot at the top of the Church Steps or at the Bottom of the Church Steps either Choice would have Given him a great Chance to make gangster fandom forget Edward g. Robinson forever. And he could have done it any Way he wanted. He i Brando. Brando Dies the Way Brando wants to die. If Brando says build me some Church Steps i am going to show the world what a Ham and Egger Eddie Robinson was they will build the Church Steps. So How did Brando choose to die a heart attack in a vegetable Garden. I could t believe i was seeing it. The great Brando playing his greatest gangster and he Dies of a coronary thrombosis under a Tomato Plant. Well what can you expect of a gangster movie they have to photograph in color you do Donald Duck in Cuylor. The wizard of  and now All the gangster flicks. It s sad but it can produce some Good moments As in prizzi s Honor a really elegant so Dup of gangster shows. If you re going to do gangsters in color what do they deserve except Send ups after prizzi s Honor though the week i spent watching gangster movies was very mediocre. In movie after movie i saw nobody die with style. In the Pope of Greenwich Village one Hood killed another by put Ting Lye in his Coffee thus producing some thrashing around on the coffeehouse floor and a dash through cardboard Wall. That is a no class Way for a gangster to go. The same obtains for dutch Schulz s demise in the Cotton  machine gunned at a Saloon Uri Ruil dutch seems for a moment in the mood to stagger out in search of a Church with a Long flight of Steps but he barely gets out of the men s room before folding on Aback room table. The most disgusting dying i saw was in once upon a time in America. Edward g. Robinson would never have died disgustingly. Cagney either. Not even Barton Maclane. Could t take it. Walked out. Gangsters should t put you off your feel even though they have to do it to each other. C How York time turn by Eugene Sheffer across1 society girl short4 Drifting 8 knee protectors 12 or s assn.13 pod items 14 frenzied15 prepare to go out17 big rig18 Legal wrong19 German City 20 used up22 civil rights org.24 on this spot25 lifts As a steam shovel 29 Ohio campus30 relay need31 nil player 32 happened nex pectedly34 Cereal 35 harvest36 had the capacity to 37 poultry item 40 French Bench 41 crooked42 Pitcher s trick 46 Llama shome 47 soccer great 48 exploit49 ooze 60 symmetry lines is Loo for Gold down1 Little smear 2 Casso wary s kin3 baseball try4 left at sea 5 remitted6 de cologne7 Viper 8 forgo9 Iowa town10 Rotunda top11 Pelt 16 music sound avg. Rotation time 25 min 9-rr aim. 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