First great McQueen role
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 01/19/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"While it's true that Steve McQueen's first movie lead role was in the not-very-scary fright film, THE BLOB (1958), it was in his very next picture that Steve proved he was star material.
In THE GREAT ST. LOUIS BANK ROBBERY (1959), McQueen hires out as "wheel man" to a small gang. In this true story, the bank heist quickly devolves into a hostage situation that ends disastrously. Shot on the actual location using non-actors who were both victims of and respondents to the crime, this picture has a realism that makes it worth seeing.
Also recommended:
Steve McQueen took his TV western experience with him when he appeared in the John Sturges classic, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960). He co-stars here with Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn and James Coburn.
Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.
(5.9) The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) - Steve McQueen/Crahan Denton/David Clarke/Molly McCarthy/Martha Gable/Larry Gerst/Boyd Williams/Frank Novotny"