For fans of intelligent heist movies, this is one you should enjoy. Four well-developed characters come together in order to try and knock off a quiet small-town bank. They all have backstories that make the characters' success or failure interesting to the viewer. They take their job seriously and this draws in the viewer and holds our attention.The acting is not aided by the most interesting writing, and among the actors Crahan Denton deserves the most credit, and the character who doesn't want to go back to prison is also quite good. A young Steve McQueen is astonishingly bland. The script is not particularly imaginative, but the characters are interesting enough and the direction is competent. If you like straight forward heist movies, this is one you'll enjoy.

A very realistic heist film that is based on an actual crime and uses as a location the bank where the robbery took place.The makers of this film were very professional and did a good job. The only downside to the movie is that it is so sombre; the characters aren't charismatic, witty, or cheerful, and they aren't in the habit of saying things like "Do you feel lucky?" or "Make my day." (On the other hand, that fact adds to the realism.)Steve McQueen performs well, and he's not trying to be Marlon Brando. His character is a young, inexperienced man just out of college who's not too sure of himself and who is trying not to become a habitual criminal.Since the film is in the public domain, a high-resolution copy can be downloaded here: http://www.archive.org/details/Saint_Louis_Bank_Robbery

Six years after beginning his movie career, Steve McQueen put himself in the driver's seat with this early film. Watch it closely and you'll see this true life story has him playing the 'wheel man' during the St. Louis bank robbery. Having watched this movie icon, grow and mature over the years, you can almost notice as McQueen chafes under the director's yoke and script constrains of this black and white film. Observe if you will his natural body language silently wish he could break out of the character's mold and do his on screen magic. However, this story is based on an actual incident and once you're in, we can only sit and watch as McQueen does his best to fill in the role of the by-gone athletic hero gone bad. The men he joins lack cohesiveness and each brings his own problem to a crime, fraught with pitfalls. But each needs their $20,000 share, so to hell with the dangers. Any fan of the late McQueen can readily see the 'diamond-in-the-rough' the young star is and realize what an exceptional gem, he will become. Unlike the movie itself which left much to be desired on nearly every level, Steve McQueen rises above it and we almost wish we could follow him to a sequel of this story. ***

The decent degree of realism plus one of Steve McQueen's earlier starring movie roles help make this crime feature worth watching. The story has some pretty interesting aspects, and it adds to the realism with the well-publicized inclusion of many of the actual police officers who were involved in the original events on which the movie is based. On the other hand, the rest of the cast does not come up to McQueen's stature as performers, and at times some potentially powerful scenes lack a little something as a result.The setup has McQueen's character hired as the getaway driver for a gang of bank robbers. Their careful planning is thrown into complications by an old girlfriend of George's (McQueen), whose brother is also part of the gang. The resulting tensions, plus the various unexpected developments as they carry out their plan, add some interest to the basic story. Many of the scenes are written and filmed rather well, although at times the movie expends some screen time on less interesting material.McQueen does a good job with an unsympathetic character, and the supporting cast is mostly solid. Molly McCarthy is believable and generally sympathetic as Ann, but she does not always give her character a lot of depth. Crahan Denton gives the gang's boss a good, solid persona at the beginning, but afterward the character remains rather one-dimensional even when there are chances to bring out some interesting characteristics.The straightforward, almost documentary style cinematography works pretty well, and makes a good combination with the downbeat story. Despite a few things that could have been better, this is not bad at all for its genre, and it is certainly worth seeing.