The 1953 Great St. Louis Bank Robbery

On Friday, April 24, 1953, three men and a getaway driver tried to rob the Southwest Bank on the corner of Southwest Avenue and S. Kingshighway Boulevard in St. Louis, MO. The St. Louis Police foiled the robbery, which became the focus of a 1959 movie, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. The film is now in the public domain.

Fred William Bowerman from FBI Most Wanted List – Public Domain

Fred W. Bowerman, an experienced bank robber, led the robbery crew. Bowerman was 60 years old, while his crew were all in their twenties. Bowerman expected to get in and out of the bank quickly, but the robbery quickly went awry. One of the bank employees triggered a bank alarm notifying the local district officers, who arrived before they had even gathered up all the money.

The driver, Glenn Chernick, who had been a star college football player, left when Chernick saw all the police arriving. One of the robbers, Frank Vito, who was already facing other criminal charges from past offenses, committed suicide. St. Louis police officers shot the last member of the crew, William Scholl, while Scholl tried to escape with a hostage.

Still from The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery – Courtesy of Creative Commons

Bowerman tried the same tactic but Officer Mel Stein, who was standing just outside the entrance to the bank, shot Bowerman. Stein said as the hostage was well clear and Bowerman’s side came into view, he squeezed the trigger. The impact knocked Bowerman to the ground, where St. Louis police officers disarmed Bowerman.

Bowerman died in a local hospital on May 2, 1953. The court sentenced both Scholl and Chernick to 25 years in prison for their parts in the robbery. Glass caused a handful of bystanders’ minor injuries.

Living St. Louis recorded the actual events of the robbery on one of their episodes. Tim O’Neil also wrote a great pictorial article on the robbery in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on July 25, 2012.

In 1959, Charles Guggenheim shot a film noir about the robbery and filmed it in St. Louis using locations such at the bank, Tower Grove Park, and the old South City Famous-Barr store parking lot. Guggenheim changed Chernick’s name to George Fowler played by a young Steve McQueen. Guggenheim changed Bowerman’s name to John Egan, played by Crahan Denton. Guggenheim did not change the other people’s names. Guggenheim used a couple of the police officers, including Mel Stein, and bank employees in the film.