Vitals

Gerald Mohr as Chuck Wheeler, slick armed robber and ex-convict

December 1958 to January 1959, Nevada/California state line

Film: Guns, Girls, and Gangsters
Release Date: January 1959
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Men’s Costumes: Einar Bourman

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

“Noirvember” continues with a post from the lean and lurid 1959 noir Guns, Girls, and Gangsters starring Gerald Mohr, a prolific mid-century actor who died 58 years ago today on November 9, 1968. Despite a relatively brief career, Mohr’s acting credits include more than a hundred half-hour radio plays as Raymond Chandler’s iconic private eye Philip Marlowe. Also starring Mamie Van Doren and Lee Van Cleef, Guns, Girls, and Gangsters pits Mohr on the other side of the law as Chuck Wheeler, described by the film’s insipid narration as “known to the police as a slick and ingenious crook.”

Working out of a trailer outside Las Vegas with the petty crook Lou Largo (Paul Fix), Chuck plans the $2-million heist of an armored car hauling casino proceeds to Los Angeles banks, recruiting the reluctant help of voluptuous torch singer Vi Victor (Van Doren, of course) to bring her big-time crime boss boyfriend Joe Darren (Grant Richards) into the plot—though Chuck and his confederates don’t anticipate needing to contend with Vi’s violent and vengeful husband, the “trigger-happy con” Mike Bennett (Van Cleef), who escapes from prison upon learning that Vi filed for a divorce.

Though actually filmed in April 1958, Guns, Girls, and Gangsters is set through the Christmas and New Year holidays—from Chuck shooting out Joe’s tire on December 19th to the robbery itself on Tuesday, January 2nd. The concept of a multi-million dollar heist during the holidays in 1950s Sin City would be more comically depicted by the Rat Pack in Ocean’s Eleven the following year.

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What’d He Wear?

When not clad in a suit or sports coat, Chuck Wheeler dresses for heavy work in a dark leather blouson that closely follows the design of the seal-brown A-2 flight jackets issued to U.S. Army Air Forces pilots through the 1930s and early years of World War II, lacking only the true A-2’s snap-down collar.

Chuck’s horsehide jacket has a straight-zip front, covered by a storm flap that snaps closed at the neck and waist hem. The hem itself is ribbed in a dark knitted wool, matching the cuffs. Epaulet straps are sewn onto the shoulders. The patch pockets over the hips are covered with slightly pointed single-snap flaps.

Chuck always wears light-colored oxford-cloth cotton shirts, styled with widely spread button-down collars, front plackets, and double (French) cuffs. The seemingly incongruous combination of formal French cuffs with sportier button-down collars was more common than some may expect, with Cary Grant among this configuration’s champions. Chuck always keeps his collar buttoned down when wearing a tie, though he often wears it undone when paired under his leather jacket sans tie.

When he shoots out Joe Darren’s tire on December 19th, Chuck wears double reverse-pleated worsted wool trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and button-through back pockets. Several weeks later for the heist itself on January 2nd, he now wears flannel flat-front trousers that also have belt loops, “quarter-top” slanted side pockets, and button-through back pockets, though the left pocket closes with a single button through a pointed tab. These latter trousers are particularly distinguished by their back-cinch strap, an old-fashioned detail that Jesse Siegel revived on wool and cotton chino “Ivy-Alls” in the early 1950s—revived for its fashion rather than its function.

A costume-related continuity error depicts a flashier striped web belt holding up these trousers as Chuck unloads the armored car, though he canonically wears a thin black leather belt that closes through a rectangular metal single-prong buckle.

The legs of these trousers taper to bottoms finished with turn-ups (cuffs), breaking over the tops of his mid-brown calfskin leather apron-toe two-eyelet derby shoes, worn with dark (likely black) socks.

Chuck wears a chain-link ID bracelet on his right wrist and a diamond pinky ring on the smallest finger of his right hand.

Bulova evidently had a hand in product placement for Guns, Girls, and Gangsters, as we get multiple extreme close-ups of the respective Bulova watches worn by Chuck, Vi, and Mike, as well as the branded wall clock that the Stage Coach Inn patrons eagerly watch for midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Chuck wears a Bulova Ashford, a manual-winding gentleman’s model produced through the 1950s and distinguished by the pairs of decorative “knot-design” lugs flanking each side of the round 29mm rolled 10-karat yellow-gold case. The two-toned “pie-pan” dial features a sunken white outer ring with applied gold Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock encircling a cream or silver-toned inner dial and gold-toned dauphine-style hands, all protected by a low-dome acrylic crystal. Based only partially on the AS 1200 base movement, its high-grade Bulova Caliber 10BT movement boasts a 45-hour power reserve and beats at 18,000 A/h, with a smoothly operating sub-seconds register slightly recessed at 6 o’clock. Chuck secures it to his left wrist on its original gold-filled stainless Bretton “scissor-flex” expanding stretch bracelet.

After attacking the armored car guards, Chuck swaps out his leather jacket to pull on the dark Ike jacket and matching peaked cap from one of the guards’ uniforms.

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The Car

Chuck drives a two-toned 1952 Ford Customline four-door sedan. Ford introduced the full-size Customline for the 1952 model year as a mid-range offering between the entry-level Mainline and high-end Crestline. The Customline was initially available in several two- and four-door configurations from the Club Coupe to the Country Station wagon, with more than 400,000 produced across all body styles for the 1952 model year alone.

The first two model years were offered with either a 215 cubic-inch inline-six engine or a 239 cubic-inch V8 generating up to 110 horsepower; the V8 badging on Chuck’s ’52 Customline informs that he drives the latter, evidently mated to the three-speed Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission rather than the three- or four-speed manual options.

The Customline was slightly redesigned for the 1955 model year—which also broke the wagons out into their own models—and discontinued after the 1956 model year after more than two million were produced across five years.

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The Gun

“The weapons had to be as ready now as the men who would use them,” describes the narration on the morning of the heist as Chuck unpacks the semi-automatic M1A1 Carbine he’s been using as a sniper rifle to shoot out tires on the highway—first on Joe Darren’s Lincoln and then ultimately on the United armored car they rob. The narrator describes “his high-powered rifle” but it does appear to be the folding-stock M1A1 variation of the M1 Carbine developed for airborne troops during World War II.

The M1A1 was designed in May 1942, not long after the base M1 Carbine was launched, distinguished by its straight pistol grip and spring-loaded side-folding stock, but otherwise operationally similar to the gas-operated M1 with its 18-inch barrel. Approximately 140,000 M1A1 Carbines were manufactured through late 1944, primarily in two main production runs by the Inland division of General Motors.

This weapon is a curiously inspired choice for Chuck, offering both the long-range capabilities he needs for that part of the heist while also packing enough firepower to ably defend himself should the police close in on his team, self-loading from a 15-round magazine loaded with the M1’s proprietary .30 Carbine rimless rounds.

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What to Imbibe

“Hey, Steve, how’s the Scotch situation? Vi wants to catch up with us,” Chuck quips with one of the Stage Coach Inn proprietors while drinking with Vi during the motel’s New Year’s Eve party. Steve pours them each some Old Smuggler, which we also saw Chuck’s associate Lou Largo (Paul Fix) drinking when Mike busted into his trailer.

Now owned by the Campari Group, Old Smuggler touts itself as a “Scotch with a history,” dating back to 1835 when James and George Stodart founded their Glasglow distillery. Though the company briefly went into voluntary liquidation during the 1920s, it ultimately survived Prohibition and moved operations to Dumbarton in the late 1930s.

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How to Get the Look

From his leather flight jacket and suppressed M1A1 carbine to his pinky ring and gold watch, Chuck Wheeler layers military precision and a touch of the underworld to his otherwise nondescript ’50s casual-wear of a button-down shirt and cinch-back slacks.

• Dark-brown horsehide leather civilian flight jacket with collar, sewn-down shoulder epaulets, straight-zip front with snap-reinforced storm fly, two patch hip pockets with single-snap flaps, and ribbed-knit cuffs and hem
• Off-white oxford-cloth cotton shirt with button-down collar, front placket, and double/French cuffs
• Woolen flannel flat-front trousers with belt loops, quarter-top slanted side pockets, button-through back pockets, back-cinch strap, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black smooth leather belt with rectangular metal single-prong buckle
• Brown calfskin leather apron-toe 2-eyelet derby shoes
• Black socks
• Chain-link ID bracelet
• Diamond pinky ring
• Bulova Ashford manual-winding 17-jewel watch with “knot”-lugged 10-karat yellow-gold 29mm round case, two-toned pie-pan dial with 6 o’clock sub-seconds register and gold-toned dauphine hands, and gold-filled stainless “scissor-flex” expanding band

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, streaming free on Prime but also included among a Mamie Van Doren Film Noir Blu-ray box set.

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The Quote

Just remember that tomorrow always takes care of itself.