Working against the clock with a miniscular budget and a mere seventeen-day shooting schedule that required fifty-five setups on the final day, Don Siegel has turned in a terrific B-movie.
Suffice to say it is more fictional than factual but there is never a dull moment or a still frame and Mickey Rooney's sociopathic, psychotic depiction of the title character is utterly mesmerising. According to the director, working with Mr. Rooney was a less than congenial experience but of course between the words 'action' and 'cut' he delivers the goods which is really all that matters.
Daniel Mainwaring who had collaborated with Siegel on 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', has revised Irving Shulman's original script whilst Hal Mohr is behind the camera and the editing of Leon Barsche guarantees the film's momentum.
As for the rest of the cast the classy Carolyn Jones is a far from typical gangster's moll and Cedric Hardwicke, despite taking a lower salary, relishes his role as a seedy, lecherous, alcoholic doctor. This also confirms the immeasurable contribution made to films of this type by supporting players such as Ted de Corsia, Jack Elam, Leo Gordon, John Hoyt, Tony Caruso and last but not least Elisha Cook Jnr.
Edgar J. Hoover, to whom the film was dedicated, thought that it glamorised criminal behaviour. Considering the sheer viciousness of Rooney's portrayal and his character's violent end, that verdict is mystifying.
