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Machine-Gun Kelly
Machine-Gun Kelly
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roger Corman
Screenplay by	R. Wright Campbell
Produced by	Roger Corman
Starring	Charles Bronson; Susan Cabot; Morey Amsterdam; Richard Devon; Jack Lambert
Cinematography	Floyd Crosby
Edited by	Ronald Sinclair
Music by	Gerald Fried
Production; company	El Monte Productions
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date	May 1958;
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100,000
Box office	138,293 admissions (France)

Machine-Gun Kelly is a 1958 film noir directed by Roger Corman that chronicles the criminal activities of the real-life gangster George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Despite its small budget, the film received positive critical reviews.^[4]

Charles Bronson's lead role in Machine-Gun Kelly was his first in a feature film. Corman called the film "a major turning point in my career," because it was the first for which he had received serious critical attention.^[5]

American International Pictures released the film as a double feature with The Bonnie Parker Story.^[6]

Plot

George Kelly, dubbed "Machine Gun" by his partner in crime Flo Becker because of his obsession with Thompson submachine guns, robs a bank and eventually becomes public enemy #1. Discord grows among his inner circle, and Kelly, afraid of being jailed or killed, is dominated and ridiculed by the tough-talking Flo.

A botched robbery causes their partner Michael Fandango to lose an arm. Kelly, goaded by Flo, kidnaps the daughter of a wealthy businessman for ransom. Fandango identifies him to the police but is killed by one of Kelly's gang as the house is surrounded.

Kelly intends to surrender, if only to receive a more lenient sentence and avoid execution. Flo again questions his nerve, and Kelly slugs her. Both are taken to jail.

Cast

Charles Bronson as George R. "Machine Gun" Kelly
Susan Cabot as Florence "Flo" Becker
Morey Amsterdam as Michael Fandango
Richard Devon as Apple
Jack Lambert as Howard
Frank DeKova as Harry
Connie Gilchrist as "Ma" Becker
Wally Campo as Maize
Barboura Morris as Lynn Grayson
Lori Martin as Sherryl Vito (as Dawn Menzer)
George Archambeault as Frank
Robert Griffin as Mr. Andrew Vito
Michael Fox as Detective Clinton
Larry Thor as Detective Drummond
Shirley Falls as Martha

Production

Roger Corman said he had been attracted to Kelly's story because of how the gangster had meekly surrendered. Corman hired Robert Wright Campbell as screenwriter and said that Campbell "wrote a very good script with strong, well-sketched characters," based a great deal on the facts.^[7] Corman had hired Campbell on the strength of his previous work, especially Five Guns West.^[8]

The film was announced in December 1957. It was intended to replace The Land of Prehistoric Women on Corman's schedule. Dick Miller was originally announced as the star,^[9] and in early January, Susan Cabot was announced as the female lead.^[10] However, Miller withdrew, and was replaced by Charles Bronson, for whom it was his first appearance in a lead role.

Susan Cabot said that the film was the "most satisfactory" of the six that she made with Corman, in part because of what she called the "fun thing going on" between her character and Bronson's and the strength of her relationship with Bronson.^[11]

The film was shot in ten days for $60,000.^[8]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called Machine-Gun Kelly a "sleeper" with "a very good screenplay" in which Bronson makes Kelly "a full, three dimensional human being."^[12]

The film was reasonably successful in the U.S. but fared well in Europe, and Corman's work was examined in journals such as Cahiers du Cinéma.^[8]

References

^ "Two Thunderous Blasts Of Movie Greatness". Denton Record-Chronicle. May 29, 1958. p. 2.
^ Samuel Z. Arkoff and Richard Turbo, Flying Through Hollywood By the Seat of My Pants, Birch Lane Press 1992, p. 77
^ Box office information for Roger Corman films in France at Box Office Story
^ "Machine Gun Kelly: Review".
^ Corman, p. 55
^ Shocker Pioneers Tell How to Make Monsters: Want to Make a Monster? Experts Tell How It's Done, Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 21 Sept. 1958: E1.
^ Corman, p. 54
^ ^a ^b ^c "Interview with Roger Corman". You Tube. 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20.
^ MOVIELAND EVENTS: 'Machine Gun Kelly' New Crime Thriller Los Angeles Times 19 Dec. 1957: B15.
^ Western Set for O'Herlihy: Boyer Sought for 'Image-Makers'; Chevalier Heads Moliere Cast, Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 1 Jan. 1958: B9.
^ Weaver, Tom (2006). Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. McFarland. p. 74. ISBN 9780786428588.
^ 'Kelly' Surprises as New Crime Sleeper, Warren, Geoffrey M. Los Angeles Times 4 July 1958: 12.