This movie came out in 1959, the same year I was born in Oklahoma. I liked this movie and felt that John Ericson did a decent job playing Pretty Boy, even though he looked more like a Ricky Nelson with a James Dean type of murky frown. Ericson, five years later, would play "Pan" in one of my favorite Tony Randall movies, "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao". Also, in 1965, he played opposite to Ann Francis in "Honey West". Pretty Boy Floyd can be compared to a modern Jesse James. Their home folks and friends help protect and hid them for law enforcement. Their Robin Hood deeds bought them country folk loyalty and legendary status in their respective areas. The movie didn't display this well. This movie could have been better. It left out so much, example being his relationship to his family. I remember a story where he pretended to whip his son in order to appease his wife. Not once in this movie do you hear the name Melvin Purvis, the head G-man under Hoover at the time. Did Purvis and Floyd hold phone conversations ? or did I get that from another Hollywood movie ? It was never proved that Pretty Boy was involved in the Kansas City Massacre. This movie's reenactment looked more like a large alley than a Union Station parking lot. It was rather weak, but what do you expect from a 1959 flick. The best thing about this movie is seeing Barry Newman (the lawyer in "Petrocelli" - 1974 T.V. series) and Al Lewis (grandpa in the "Munsters" T.V. sitcom) in their first screen appearances. It also has Peter Falk (Columbo) in one of his early performances. I think Al Lewis's performance was the best overall. He was very convincing in playing the unstable bad guy.
Review of Pretty Boy Floyd
