recommended

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

In the late 1950s and early 60s, 1930s gangsters were the rage. In addition to the TV show "The Untouchables", there were a lot of films that practically made heroes out of Dillinger, Ma Barker and other unsavory jerks of the era. One thing these depictions all had in common...they bore little semblance to the actual criminals! Why? Because their real life exploits weren't all that exciting...so they spiced it up by fictionalizing their lives--much like films of the 1930s and 40s did with cowboys like Billy the Kid and Jesse James. So, if you are looking for a history lesson or documentary about Baby Face Nelson, you should not bother with this movie.If you don't mind that it's almost complete fiction, the film is modestly entertaining. Mickey Rooney's portrayal of the man is much like Jimmy Cagney's portrayal of Cody Jarrett in "White Heat"...completely over the top and more a caricature than realistic portrayal of anyone. This isn't so much a complaint...this is entertaining but it's hard to imagine anyone this antisocial and nasty being a successful gangster or working with any gang. This version of Nelson shoots people right and left, hates EVERYONE and is just plain nuts. The only problem with all this is that there is no room for anyone else in the film...even Dillinger! These other characters are one-dimensional and uninteresting. Overall, a dopey but enjoyable film. It has many faults but still makes for fun viewing if you have very, very modest expectations.

Baby Face Nelson is directed by Don Siegel and co-written by Daniel Mainwaring, Robert Adler and Irving Shulman. It stars Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon, Anthony Caruso and Jack Elam. Story is based on the notorious criminal who became public enemy number one in the first half of the 1930s.Gangsters have always been a profitable source for film makers, with many of them proving to be the basis of classic cinema. The story of Baby Face Nelson is ideal for cinematic treatment.Don Siegel's 57 movie is tight and taut, yet still briskly paced, and in the main as per the characterisation of Nelson, it's pitched right by Siegel and Mickey Rooney. Nelson is seen as a pocket rocket of inferiority complexes, a deluded bully held in the grip of jealousies. He's a trigger-happy punk with anger issues, while Siegel is professional enough to ensure the little thug is not glamorised (the film opens with a written statement pouring praise on the FBI). The recreation of the period is grand, those cars, those guns, the latter of which get a good amount of screen time as Siegel gives us gun play aplenty. While visually (Hal Mohr on cinematography duty) it's lighted for shadows and period starkness. There's even a pitch black noir ending to round it off.The flaws? Rooney never fully convinces in the role of Nelson, where perhaps he is a mere victim of following in the footsteps of greater characterisations in the genre? Or maybe it's just a case of being familiar with him in more airy roles? But with Hardwicke doing fine work as a boozy lecher, Jones appealingly knowing and sexy as Nelson's moll, and Elam and Elisha Cook Jr bolstering the support ranks, film is in capable acting hands. Narrative is a bit scratchy, not quite a complete whole, more a case of a number of great scenes inserted here and there, but it doesn't hurt the picture too much. Overall it gets in and does its job in next to no time, never out staying its welcome, it overcomes its faults and entertains the genre fan with ebullience. 7/10

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.

a decade not over-endowed with great movies this has to be one of the most under-rated and underplayed. Don Siegle even stops Rooney from over-acting. No mean feat. The result is a chilling portrayal that has to rate with Rooney's best. In terms of genre this must rate in the top ten of gangster movies. Why has it never been seen on TV? Good knows they dig deep enough sometimes dredging up the most turgid pap especially for day-time TV. Rooney's portrayal of the murderous psychopath could possibly only have been bettered by Cagney at his best. The dialogue is suitably hard-nosed and cynical. By the time they get to 1933 and the end of prohibition Rooney (Nelson) takes a drink in their hide-out and a colleague remarks 'Hey haven't you heard? It's legal now' to which Rooney replies 'No kiddin. Kinda takes the fun outa drinking it'. Watch it if you get the chance.