You could also most swear this was a 1930s gangster film, but it was made in 1957 by legendary director
Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Hound-Dog Man, The Killers, Dirty Harry); Siegel had a knack for limited budget projects into movie gems. His low-key documentary style on Baby Face Nelson would be mirrored two years late on the hit television series The Untouchables.
Mickey Rooney stars (and gives a credible performance) as sociopath Lester Gillis, who would become known as Baby Face Nelson, a remorseless and unforgiving killer who would climb to the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list. Carolyn Jones (who had appeared a year before in Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and would later endear herself to all of us as Morticia Addams) turns in a bravura performance as Nelson's gun moll Sue. The two are backed up by a remarkable cast of actors including Leo Gordon (who had been featured in Siegel's Riot in Cell Block 11, and played the heavy in numerous television shows and films) as John Dillinger. (Gordon, BTW, was the real deal: he had served five years in Folsom Prison for armed robbery and had been shot by point-blank several times by police, and survived. He was also a talented writer, penning many episodes of episodic television -- often westerns, as well as such movies as The Wasp Woman, Attack of the Giant Leeches, Tower of London, and Tobruk.) Others in the cast were Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Jack Elam, John Hoyt, Ted de Corsia, Elisha cook Jr., Dabs Greer, and Anthony Caruso. Many in the cast were easily recognized for their roles in other classic gangster and crime films.
The screenplay was written by Irving Shulman and Daniel Mainwaring. Shulman was the best-selling author of The Amboy Dukes, Cry Tough!, Platinum High School (remember? Mickey Rooney played a tough ex-marine in the film version), and Harlow; he also wrote the novelization of West Side Story, and wrote the early film treatment for Rebel Without aCause, which he later novelized. (According to IMDB, Shulman came up with the story for the movie with Robert Adler, who was not credited; IMDB had no other information about Adler, nor have I been able to find anything about him through a casual look on the internet.) Shulman's co-author on the script was Daniel Mainwaring, who was also mystery novelist "Geoffrey Homes." Among Mainwaring's many film credits were Dangerous Passage, Tokyo Rose, Big Town, Out of the Past, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Woman Who Wouldn't Die, and Against All Odds.
Because it was 1957, the film played homage to J. Edgar Hoover in its opening sequences, touting Hoover and his FBI as protectors of the nation:
"A Tribute to the F.B.I.
"Under J. Edgar Hoover, its director for thirty-five year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been forged into America's most formidable weapon against all crimes.
"To these Special Agents -- living and killed in the line of duty, TO THESE MEN WHO SACRIFICE THEMSELVES TO HELP SMASH THE CITADELS OF CRIME, WE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE THIS MOTION PICTURE!"
To whet you appetite, here's the film's tagline: "More vicous than Little Caesar! More savage than Scarface! More brutal than Dillinger! The 'baby-face butcher' who lined 'em up -- chopped 'em down -- and terrorized a nation!"
Enjoy this well-crafted film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4qQ80rlwos
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