La ley de las armas

Let us get one thing straight. If you watch this movie to understand the story about the kidnapping of Oklahoma oil magnate Charlie Urchell in 1933 by George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his gang, you are going to be disappointed. The Urchell case made headlines across the nation that year because of the size of the ransom demand (over $100,000 - quite a sum in Depression America), and because in 1933 every kidnapping resurrected the hurt felt (at that time) that nobody had been arrested and made to pay for the kidnap murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. in March 1932. The newly revamped F.B.I. under J. Edgar Hoover went after the kidnappers, and actually captured Kelly and his gang (and Urchell was not hurt). But aside for one moment at the tail end of this movie where an F.B.I. man summarizes Kelly correctly (he calls him "Pop Gun" for his lack of real courage) this film is totally wrong about the story - it basically jettisons it.

That isn't necessarily bad. Hoover and his men had a fairly simple time catching the inept Kelly. Here we are watching the rise and fall of a criminal legend, played well by Charles Bronson, and directed with some restraint by Roger Corman. We see that he is fixated on being a mean, violent man, who is trying to impress his girlfriend Flo (Susan Cabot). In reality Flo was able to manipulate George, and was whatever brains the organization actually had. But the role to watch in this film is that of Morey Amsterdam as Fandango. Amsterdam, a great one liner comic in the Henny Youngman tradition, is best recalled for his regular role as "Buddy Sorrell" in THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW in the 1960s, especially when confronting his bete noir Richard Deacon as producer "Mel Cooley". Here he plays a petty criminal who is injured on the way up by Kelly, and helps bring him down. Given acceptance of Corman's production value limits and the script's, Amsterdam's Fandango is a really vicious character, and a welcome surprise to people who just recall the marvelous comic performer. For him and Bronson's performance I'll give this a "7".

Most Bronson fans will fudge their way through his mid to late 80's flicks in search of more classic badaxx Bronson before finding this lost classic. Save your time and bucks by going straight to this excellent crime thriller.

See Bronson create the screen persona that would stay with him the rest of his long career. Bronson shines as the notorious and tough as nails Machine Gun Kelly. He plays a ruthless and mean spirited criminal with no love for anyone and a great fear of death. Great direction and pacing, great action and stylistic photography make for an enjoyable 80 minute diversion into the world of crime in early America. I'm not sure how accurate this was to the real life of Machine Gun, but Bronson brings to life his character in a way that grabbed the attention of a young Hollywood.

If you love the tough guy Bronson and are trying to add to your collection, skip most of his later films (Assasination, 10 to Midnight, Kinjite, Messenger...)and go straight for Machine Gun Kelly. I promise you'll get the mean mutha' Bronson that you're looking for!! Time to put this one on DVD....The Stone Killer and Telefon too for that matter

A unique crime story -- a small-time thief (Bronson) is turned into a legend by his tough-as-nails moll (Cabot). "Machine Gun" robs a chain of banks and finally turns his ambitions to kidnapping -- hounded all the way by a compulsive fear of death. The photography by Crosby is elegant, the acting of the lead pair and the supporting cast are all pretty much dead-on. A tight, efficient telling of a memorable tale, peopled with all sorts of interesting characters (the gas station owner/accomplice who keeps a deadly menagerie behind the garage, Cabot's mom who keeps telling Kelly what a disappointment he is because he hasn't broken into the "big time", etc.).

Interestingly, this film takes the gangster genre beyond film noir (finally, after 3 decades) by making his characters not only self-loathing but WORTHY of self-loathing!

One of Corman's very best films as a director.

Another drive-in special from the guy who really knew how to make them, the ever resourceful Roger Corman. No 1958 teen-ager in the back row, front, or in-between really cared about subtleties of plot, characterization, or other adult stuff like historical accuracy. Just make the big screen go fast, tough, and sexy, especially for the hot-and-heavy back row who probably didn't care if it was Doris Day as long as they had a place to park in the dark. Seeing the movie 50 years later, I now know that Bronson can smile and squint at the same time. Actually, he's more animated here than the Mt. Rushmore super-star he later turned into. I doubt younger viewers can appreciate just how different he was from the pretty-boy 1950's dominated by the likes of Tab, Troy, and Rock. Once you saw that Bronson mug, you didn't forget.

Other reviewers are right. It's colorful characters here that count and there's a good bunch of them, especially the tough-as-nails old bordello madam. You know it's a drive-in special when the producers don't even try to disguise the cat-house with a dance hall cosmetic. And where did they get that really exotic idea of the mountain lion. My guess is that Corman stopped somewhere in the desert where gas stations of old used roadside zoos as a hyped- up come-on. I thought they would use the critter to kill off one of the characters, especially the oily Amsterdam. My favorite scene is where tough guys Jack Lambert and Bronson square off in a hard-eye squinting contest. I doubt that you could pass a laser beam between them. Anyway, the movie was not exactly Oscar bait in 1958, but even now it's still a lot more tacky fun than a lot of the prestige productions of that year.

Many people have a certain degree of affection for Roger Corman's schlock classics, "Little Shop of Horrors," and "Bucket of Blood." "Machine Gun Kelly" was slightly earlier than those two, and it has a more conventional genre structure. It appears that Corman was attempting to make a more coherent movie than his usual churn it out in two days pictures. This is certainly not a very good movie, but a certain amount of care is taken to make it convincing. None of us would think of Charles Bronson as a great actor, but he was a step up from Corman's usual stock company. Supporting roles are well cast, especially Morey Amsterdam as "Fandango," Connie Gilchrest as Flo's mother, and Frank DeKova as the tall tale spouting but cowardly gas station owner. Of course there are Corman regulars in the cast, such as Barboura Morris, Wally Campo, and one time Universal starlet, Susan Cabot (who overacts as usual). Despite a weak ending the movie is a generally fun. The silent opening robbery sequence is well staged. No doubt veteran cameraman Floyd Crosby ("High Noon," "Oklahoma," and uncredited co-DP on "From Here to Eternity") deserves much of the credit for this and the decent night photography. But this is not a movie to be taken too seriously. My favorite bit is when Flo and Kelly go to hide out at Flo's mother's bordello. One of the working girls asks Flo's mother if Flo is, "The new girl." "Watch you mouth," Flo's mom replies, "this is my daughter!" Working girl: "Yeah, ain't we all."