"THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" (1975) Review

 

"THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" (1975) Review

Following the release of the 1967 movie, "BONNIE AND CLYDE", Hollywood release a spurt of biopics - for the theaters and television - about Midwestern and Southern-born gangsters (mainly bank robbers and kidnappers) during the Depression-era. Mind you, Hollywood had waited a few years before releasing or airing these films in earnest. One of these productions happened to be the 1975 television movie, "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE".

The 1975 film, directed by Dan Curtis (producer and director of the 1983 miniseries, "THE WINDS OF WAR"), "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" is a spin-off of the 1974 television movie, "MELVIN PURVIS: G-MAN". The latter was a fictionalized account of F.B.I. Special Agent Melvin Purvis's hunt for gangster/kidnapper Machine Gun Kelly. In "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE", Purvis hunts down Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Adam Richetti and Frank "Jelly" Nash; following their robbery of an Oklahoma bank. This hunt eventually leads to a famous shootout involving local gangsters, lawmen and the F.B.I. at the Kansas City Union Station in June 1933, which is set a year earlier than the 1974 production.

The movie begins with Floyd and Richetti helping Nash escape from a prison chain gang. Following Nash's escape, the trio robs a bank in Enid, Oklahoma; where they encounter fellow Depression-era gangsters. A who's-who's list of these gangsters - including John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter and Lester "Baby Face" Nelson - converge at the Floyd homestead to discuss the money laundering of their heists. Purvis' efforts to capture all or most of them at Floyd's home is ruined by an ambitious state trooper with an itchy trigger finger. Purvis' pursuit and the trio's efforts to evade him and get their money laundered eventually put them in the crosshairs of the Kansas City crime and political scenes of local gangster/club owner Verne Miller, organized crime figure John Lazia and local city commissioner Herbert Tucker McElwaine; along with the infamous shootout at Kansas City's Union Station.

Many were right to regard "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" as a spin-off of 1974's "MELVIN PURVIS: G-MAN". Granted, both telecasts featured Dale Robertson as the famous F.B.I. special agent. Also, both productions are set during the Depression era of the early-to-mid 1930s and featured actors Harris Yulin and John Karlen. However, Yulin and Karlen ended up portraying different characters in "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" from the ones they had portrayed in "MELVIN PURVIS: G-MAN". So . . . the 1975 movie was definitely not a prequel. Like "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" and many other historical dramas, this 1975 docudrama is a mixture of fact and fiction. The narrative used Dale Robertson's voiceover to give historical gravitas to the production, especially in the movie's introductions to the infamous criminals that appear. But yes, "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" is just as much fiction as fact. One, Melvin Purvis never played a direct role in the Kansas City shootout. Historians are not certain if Kansas City gangster John Lazia had played a role in what happened at Union Station. Some believe he may have informed Pretty Boy Floyd and Adam Richetti about the plot to rescue Nash from the F.B.I. But the movie would have you believe he had personally recruited Verne Miller to appear at Union Station with a handful of gunmen . . . to kill Nash, instead of rescuing him. As for Nash, he had escaped from prison earlier than 1933. Honestly, there are many aspects of the film's narrative I would regard with a wary eye. And that includes most of the characters wearing long or heavy coats, despite the movie's setting of April-June 1933. Did these inaccuracies limit my enjoyment of the movie? Well . . .

Who am I kidding? Inaccurate or not, I cannot deny that "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" was an entertaining television production. One, the televised movie featured some interesting action sequences. For me, the best included the shootout at Floyd's farm early in the story, the actual massacre at the Kansas City Union Station and what I regard as the pièce de résistance, Floyd and Richetti's confrontation against Miller, with Purvis and the F.B.I. arriving at the last minute. Two, I have to give kudos to television movie's production values. With the contribution of Paul Lohmann's cinematography, Charles Pierce's set decorations, the Art Department coordinated by William M. Bell and John S. Perry's costume supervision; Dan Curtis managed to recreate the Midwest and Southwest of the early 1930s. Granted, I found the hairstyles worn by some of actresses in this production seemed to be lacking. A few hairstyles looked as if they came straight from the mid-1970s and others, including the one worn by actress Lynn Loring, looked as if they were trying to reflect the early 1930s and failing. There were moments when I actually felt I had traveled back some 90 years in time. As for Curtis, I thought he managed to keep the movie's pacing on track with his energetic pacing. Ironically, his direction seemed a far cry from the slightly ponderous style of the 1983 miniseries, "THE WINDS OF WAR".

I think the best virtue for "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" proved to be its cast. The real Melvin Purvis had been a 29-to-30-year-old South Carolinian during the spring and summer of 1933. Dale Robertson, who had hailed from Oklahoma, was at least 51-to-52 years old, when he shot this movie. Honestly, he should have been the last actor on Earth to portray the Special F.B.I. agent. However, this was his second time at bat as Purvis and as before, he did a stupendous job as the Federal lawman, carrying the movie and allowing his presence to be felt without any real effort. Another first-rate performance came from Bo Hopkins, whose portrayal of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd seemed to be as laconic and skillful as Robertson's. And like the older actor, he managed to effectively allow his presence to be felt. "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACCRE" also featured excellent performances from Matt Clark, who struck me as perfect, as the volatile gangster Verne Miller; and the always excellent Robert Walden, who seemed spot-on as the romantic Adam Richetti. Other first-rate performances came from Mills Watson as the ambitious, yet pragmatic Frank "Jelly" Nash; Scott Brady, who oozed with slimy charm as the corrupt Commissioner Herbert McElwaine; Sally Kirkland as Floyd's long-suffering ex-wife Wilma Floyd; Harris Yulin (a veteran of "MELVIN PURVIS, G-MAN") as the venal gangster John Lazia; John Karlen (another veteran from the 1974 TV-movie) as Purvis's right-hand man, the stalwart Sam Cowley; and Philip Burns as the ambitious and trigger-happy state policeman, Captain Jackson. I especially want to compliment Lynn Loring's performance as Vi Morland. I thought she did a first-rate job conveying the complex and flaky nature of the Kansas City nightclub singer, who seemed to be conflicted between her memories of her past romance with Richetti and her volatile relationship with the unreliable Miller.

Look, "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" is not perfect. The movie seemed a bit too in love with the "Pretty Boy" Floyd character, which explained why it never revealed his fate. Yes, it had its share of historical inaccuries, including questionable hairstyles. Lead actor Dale Robertson was at least 20 years too old to be portraying F.B.I. Agent Melvin Purvis. And the influx of Depression-era gangsters in the film's first 30 minutes had struck me as unnecessary. But I cannot deny that despite its lack of historical accuracies, "THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE" told a first-rate and exciting story, thanks to screenwriters William F. Nolan and Ric Hardman. It also benefited from strong production values, energetic direction from Dan Curtis and some excellent performances from a first-rate cast led by Robertson. It may not be perfect, but I thought it was pretty damn good and entertaining.