Guns Don't Argue
Guns Don't Argue | |
---|---|
Directed by | & Richard Kahn |
Screenplay by | ; Phillips Lord |
Produced by | William Faris |
Starring | Myron Healey Jean Harvey Paul Dubov Sam Edwards Richard Crane Lash LaRue |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | Robert T. Spar |
Music by | Paul Dunlap |
Production company | Visual Drama Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Guns Don't Argue is a 1957 low-budget feature film about the early achievements of the FBI in defeating the most notorious criminals of the 1930s. The film involves dramatizations of the crimes and eventual demise of various gangsters, along with a moralistic narrative. It was edited together from a composite of three episodes from the 1952 TV series Gangbusters.
Production[]
The film was released to theatres in 1957 as a feature produced by , directed by & Richard Kahn.
A similar film, (1954), was also originally based on the dramatic radio program first titled G-Men, which premiered on July 20, 1935. The title was changed to Gang Busters on January 15, 1936.
Plot[]
The film takes the form of a docudrama in which actors who are cast as FBI Special Agents speak to camera about the war on gangsters in the mid-1920s through the late-1930s. Using contacts with gun molls, agents track down criminals. The film dramatizes the crime careers, and final capture or deaths of John Dillinger, the Barker Gang (Ma Barker, Fred Barker, Arthur Barker, Alvin Karpis), Bonnie and Clyde, Homer Van Meter, Doc Barker and Pretty-Boy Floyd. The "docudrama" does not portray events, many situations, or the FBI Special Agents accurately. For instance, the name of the FBI Special Agent who was killed in the Kansas City Massacre on June 17, 1933 was Raymond J. Caffrey, and it was not his first day with the FBI. Names of all FBI Special Agents who have been killed in the line of duty may be found on the FBI Hall of Honor.
Portrayal of events[]
The film is a revisionist docudrama, portraying the war on gangsters in the mid-1920s through the late-1930s from a pro-FBI point of view. Most notable is the portrayal of the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. The scenes show each firing off the first shot, and having ample time to "give themselves up", when in fact they were gunned down in an ambush by the police and Federal agents.
The movie is greatly admired by Martin Scorsese, who has said, "It's an amazing film. It's to be studied, because it shows you how to make a film on a low budget".[1]
Cast[2][]
- Jim Davis as Texas Ranger Captain Stewart/Narrator
- Lyle Talbot as Dr. William Guellfe, plastic surgeon
- Lash LaRue as 'Doc' Barker
- Richard Crane as Homer Van Meter
- Myron Healey as John Dillinger
- as Mildred Jaunce, The Lady in Red
- Sam Edwards as Fred Barker
- Paul Dubov as Alvin Karpis
- as Clyde Barrow
- as Bonnie Parker
- as Hope
- as Adam Richetti
- Jeanne Carmen as Paula
- Aline Towne as Shirley, girl with Karpis
- as 'Pretty Boy' Floyd
- Robert Kendall as Baby Face Nelson
- Jean Harvey as 'Ma' Barker
- Ralph Moody as Arthur 'Pa' Barker
- as FBI Agent Ross Baxter
- Jeanne Bates as Mrs. Ross Baxter
- as Lieutenant Bill Baxter
- as Special Agent Fenton/Narrator
- as Texas Ranger
- Sam Flint as FBI Chief
- Florence Lake as Bessie, the landlady
- as Verne Miller
- as Texas Lady Governor
- Hank Patterson as Scully Wass (Farmer)
- Robert Bice as FBI Agent Tyler
- Percy Helton as pool room proprietor
- Scott Douglas as FBI Agent Clifton
- William Boyett as FBI Agent on pier
- Ray Boyle as Raymond Hamilton
- as Tony Milento
- as Arthur Troser
- as Connie, Dillinger's girl
- as prison trusty
- as Bucher
- as John Hamilton
- as Dillinger's jail guard
- as garage man
- Smoki Whitfield as the bootblack
See also[]
References[]
External links[]
- 1957 films
- English-language films
- American films
- Biographical films about Depression-era gangsters
- Biographical films about John Dillinger
- Biographical films about Bonnie and Clyde
- Biographical films about Ma Barker
- Cultural depictions of Pretty Boy Floyd
- Cultural depictions of Baby Face Nelson
- American black-and-white films
- 1957 crime films
- Films edited from television programs
- Films scored by Paul Dunlap
- Films directed by Richard C. Kahn
- Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation