A Bullet for Pretty Boy

1970 "Defacing public property is against the law... but so is bank robbing, murder and the kind of women Charlie Floyd loved."
5.1| 1h29m| PG| en
Details

A biography of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a gangster who started his career at a young age after seeking revenge for his father's murder.

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American International Pictures

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Also starring Astrid Warner

Reviews

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
bkoganbing In an effort to recharge his career as his popularity as teenage idol was now well behind him Fabian took the title role of that notorious public enemy of the Thirties Pretty Boy Floyd. It never worked and Fabian was now making his living in nostalgia concerts and an occasional film role in support. He even used his full name of Fabian Forte in the billing for this American-International Release.Charles Arthur Floyd was a child of the 20s in dust bowl Oklahoma where they didn't share in the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties and it got worse than ever in the Depression. The film is hardly an accurate portrayal of his life still Fabian does give a good account of himself as the good looking and heartbreaking bandit who got to the position of Public Enemy Number 1 for a brief spell.With the exception of Adam Roarke who went on to become an acting teacher of some repute as gang member Preacher you'll not have heard of any of the rest of the cast members. In a way that's good because they blend quite nicely into the story and no one takes any attention from the star.Fabian's performance was all right, nothing special, no Oscar material here. A Bullet For Pretty Boy did fail to ignite any great enthusiasm for him as thespian.
Michael O'Keefe A lot of liberties have been taken with the biography of bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Looking past facts in contention, Pretty boy recording artist Fabian from Philly plays the criminal from Oklahoma, "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Floyd breaks out of prison where he was serving time for killing a hometown rival. Outrunning the hounds, Floyd makes it to Kansas City and teams up with a gang of bank robbers. The front pages of newspapers in the 30's heralded the exploits of the bank robber with the baby face. In spite of thinking about his pregnant wife Ruby(Astrid Warner), Floyd is seduced successfully by a beautiful 'working girl' named Betty(Jocelyn Lane). Government agent Hossler(Robert Glenn)getting closer and closer to capturing Floyd, manages to ambush and gun down the gangster, who was already in the mood to end the chase. The musical score is one of the most horrible you could suffer through. And Fabian is not even singing. Grab a few snacks and a lot of 'cold ones', and this flick isn't really that bad. It may even provoke you into seeking out one of the good "Pretty Boy" Floyd bios at the library. I have to give props to Fabian for actually doing a decent job. Miss Lane is absolutely fetching; but not the stone cold fox she played in the Elvis Presley flick TICKLE ME. Others in the cast: Adam Roarke, Jeff Alexander, Desmond Dhooge and Camilla Carr.
udar55 This one follows the exploits of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Fabian) and his gang as they rob banks through out Midwestern states (although it was entirely shot in Texas). It is pretty obvious that director Larry Buchanan is cashing in on the success of BONNIE & CLYDE (1967); for the second time actually as he made a B&C ripoff in 1968. For a low budget picture, they capture the small town feel pretty well. But reading any quick online bio for Floyd will show you the filmmakers are playing fast and loose with the truth. Floyd here - perhaps thanks to Woody Guthrie's song - is a romanticized, modern day Robin Hood-type with plenty of love for the ladies. Fabian acquits himself well in the lead role and the gorgeous Jocelyn Lane plays his love interest Betty. Adam Roarke has a small role as the character Preacher. An amazing amount of the supporting cast (Annabelle Weenick, Camilla Carr, Hugh Feagin, Gene Ross) later showed up in the horror works of S.F. Brownrigg.
shepardjessica This COMPLETELY, low budget, exploitation flick of the early 70's manages to capture nothing except the loss of innocence in those creepy gangster 30's movies (although some of the cars are from the 40's; nobody noticed). Fabian, a pop singer from the late 50's, early 60's stars as Pretty Boy Floyd, an actual rural "good" bank robber in the mid-west during the depression, acting a misunderstood youth who conveniently finds the pretty "good" girl and the pretty "bad girl" in a TOTALLY FICTIONAL rendtion of this "folk hero" in an exploitation film (WHAT A GREAT POSTER, THOUGH)! SPOILERS** (COMING UP)Jocelyn Lane (from one or two Elvis films; before this) was intriguely gorgeous, while wearing the sheerest of black slips, giving Fabian BAD ADVICE about how to deal with the COPPERS (farm boys) while the innocent blonde girlfriend (sweet, honest, church-going, dullard) tries to sway him to stay a poor dirt farmer and live on love and go frog-gigging. I can't remember this actress' name, and she was fine (Astrid something; I could look it up, but what's the point?). Pretty Boy Floyd's destiny was already mapped out (even in the Oklahoma Hills where he was Robin Hood) because this flick isn't interested in the subtleties of Art in this time period. Not as good as Killers Three (starring Robert Walker, Jr., Diane Varsi, and Dick Clark OR The Grissom Gang starring Scott Wilson, Kim Darby, and Tony Musante - similary exploitive rural gangster flicks trying to make some change post-Bonne and Clyde), but worth checking out if you want to see consistnet bad acting, no directing or script, music from other films, but at least Fabian used his last name. There is hope! I like this movie, even though it's drive-in junk.I think I forgot to mention the Jocelyn Lane factor (babe-ism) in a very negligee way (with the wrong hairstyle for the time, but...). It's there; probably not on DVD EVER or possibly video, but you can find it.