I found this film most effective when it was able to give its protagonist 'room to be bad' -- as a depiction of a psychopath on the brink, it holds considerable power (the scene where Sue begs her lover to tell her that he wouldn't have shot two boys who almost discover his presence carries a real impact... because both we, and she, know the true answer). At the beginning, where it appears to be trying to make Baby-Face Nelson out as a standard-issue hero fresh out of jail and trying to go straight, it's rather more generic and rather harder to credit.
The interaction between Nelson and Dillinger, with the latter as the 'brains' of the outfit frustrated by the other man's trigger-happy tendencies, is well shown, and this section felt all too short. But the second half of the film, with the outlaws on the run -- and yet more twists to the tale than we expect -- is an undoubted success, and if only the film had achieved this level throughout I would have rated it easily 8/10, maybe 9.
Short, baby-faced Mickey Rooney is physically ideal for the role and displays considerable acting chops into the bargain. One of the most striking scenes is where the Baby-Face against all precedent actually spares the life of a bank manager (played by the diminutive George E. Stone) who is as short as he is; it seems almost unfair that this uncharacteristic act of mercy is repaid by the man going straight to the police. But it's not an gesture that Nelson is likely to repeat. When the alcoholic, orotund Doc Saunders (Sir Cedric Hardwicke, deploying his classical training) demonstrates an unseemly interest in Sue, we can anticipate from the start what the ultimate result is bound to be; the only question is how long.
And yet the film does achieve the vital but tenuous task of getting the viewer to identify with its out-of-control protagonist, despite his actions, with the result that it manages to sustain the tension: we actually care what happens to him. (It is this, of course, that makes those scenes where he manages to refrain from killing into such powerful ones: we know the knife-edge on which he is balanced.) The final death scene, where the Baby-Face expires conveniently across a moralising grave-stone, undermined somewhat the effectiveness of what had gone before -- if only they could have resisted the requirement to make such a heavy point -- but what remains is at least two-thirds of a very good little picture. Rooney is a revelation and the script holds some very dark corners, along with moments of adrenalin-boosting relief.
The interaction between Nelson and Dillinger, with the latter as the 'brains' of the outfit frustrated by the other man's trigger-happy tendencies, is well shown, and this section felt all too short. But the second half of the film, with the outlaws on the run -- and yet more twists to the tale than we expect -- is an undoubted success, and if only the film had achieved this level throughout I would have rated it easily 8/10, maybe 9.
Short, baby-faced Mickey Rooney is physically ideal for the role and displays considerable acting chops into the bargain. One of the most striking scenes is where the Baby-Face against all precedent actually spares the life of a bank manager (played by the diminutive George E. Stone) who is as short as he is; it seems almost unfair that this uncharacteristic act of mercy is repaid by the man going straight to the police. But it's not an gesture that Nelson is likely to repeat. When the alcoholic, orotund Doc Saunders (Sir Cedric Hardwicke, deploying his classical training) demonstrates an unseemly interest in Sue, we can anticipate from the start what the ultimate result is bound to be; the only question is how long.
And yet the film does achieve the vital but tenuous task of getting the viewer to identify with its out-of-control protagonist, despite his actions, with the result that it manages to sustain the tension: we actually care what happens to him. (It is this, of course, that makes those scenes where he manages to refrain from killing into such powerful ones: we know the knife-edge on which he is balanced.) The final death scene, where the Baby-Face expires conveniently across a moralising grave-stone, undermined somewhat the effectiveness of what had gone before -- if only they could have resisted the requirement to make such a heavy point -- but what remains is at least two-thirds of a very good little picture. Rooney is a revelation and the script holds some very dark corners, along with moments of adrenalin-boosting relief.