Mitraillette Kelly

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".

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."

Machine Gun Kelly (1958)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Low budget gangster film has Charles Bronson playing the title character, a harden criminal who always has his Thompson machine gun in hand but he also has a fear of being killed. This Roger Corman quickie is pretty good throughout, although the film really doesn't offer anything new the to the genre. The movie moves at a pretty fast pace and contains plenty of action to keep fans entertained. The most interesting thing about watching this movie today is seeing the young Bronson give a performance, which he certainly wouldn't give after becoming a star. If you've only seen Bronson's later day stuff then you're in for a treat as we see a different type of Bronson here. A fast talker, one that smiles and even one who flirts with the ladies. This adds a little more charm to the film that I'm sure it didn't have back when it was originally released. Susan Cabot is very good as Bronson's girlfriend, a dirty little girl who doesn't mind looking at other men. The action is very good throughout and the film has a great music score but I wish it had tried something a little different every once in a while. The best moments in the film are the ones with Bronson messing with a caged lion.

The clothes and cars are of the 1930s, but sometimes the score sounds like something from the 30s, and other times, with bongos, it sounds like the soundtrack of a beatnik movie of the early 60s and late 50s. Even stranger, the actors talk like Beatniks lots of times. There is little bank robbery action here. Roger Corman did not have the same budget Warren Beatty had with "Bonny and Clyde" over at Warner Brothers, so he had to make do with this largely being a relationship and character study picture with scenes that could be staged on cheaply dressed sets.

This is notable and worthwhile for several reasons. It is an early role for Charles Bronson in the title role. In this highly fictional biopic Kelly is afraid of things that remind him of death - coffins and skulls for example. His fear of coffins plays heavily in one botched bank robbery when he encounters a funeral procession and is feet from the coffin and ends up being a no show for the job. Also, Susan Cabot, often remembered for playing the lead in Wasp Woman, is a dragon lady as Kelly's girlfriend. She seems to be much bolder and more bloodthirsty than Kelly is. In fact, Kelly had a wife that encouraged him in his life of crime and got him into machine guns. But the biggest reason to watch this - Morey Amsterdam. If you only remember him as Buddy Sorrell on the Dick Van Dyke Show in the 60s, and the bane of the existence of yes man Mel Cooley, then this performance is a revelation. He is a wacko but cowardly comrade of Kelly's that Kelly "teaches a lesson" to in a most unique way. This does not improve his overall mood, and though he has only a supporting role it is memorable.

Machine Gun Kelly and his wife were actually taken alive as shown in the film. For all of his bravado Kelly didn't want to die. Kelly died in prison in 1954. His wife was paroled in 1958, the same year this film was released. I wonder if she ever saw it?

Just one more thing - Connie Gilchrest plays Ma Becker here, Kelly's girlfriend's hard boiled brothel running mother. I kept thinking that if this picture had been made ten years later, Shelley Winters could have done a lot with this part, maybe even stolen the picture. I guess Corman and I were on the same page, because in 1970 he cast Winters as Ma Barker in "Bloody Mama" in a very similar kind of role.

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.