Horrible Historical Flick
Added 8/21/2006
Lester Gillis aka George "Baby Face" Nelson was one of the most infamous bank robbers of the 1930's. His exploits were such that an historically accurate movie about him would be most entertaining especially since he was associated at various times with the likes of Al Capone & John Dillinger. However, this was not the path taken by executive producer Roger Corman in the making of 1995's Baby Face Nelson starring C. Thomas Howell as the legendary criminal. This movie twists and distorts Nelson's life story beyond recognition.
The problems with this movie begin with the casting. Martin Kove is cast as the infamous gangster John Dillinger despite the fact that Kove does not look or sound like Dillinger or, for that matter, like any kind of gangster. In this movie, Kove has long red hair with a mustache that is way much too thick to be Dillinger's. Another questionable casting decision is that of F. Murray Abraham as Al Capone. Except for the fact that they both have black hair, Abraham looks nothing like Capone. C. Thomas Howell sports a mustache throughout the entire show as Nelson, yet the real Nelson preferred the clean shaven look. A related problem is that Nelson's friend and accomplice John Paul Chase was renamed in the movie, "Paul Chance." What is is the sense of casting actors who look nothing like the persons who they are supposed to portray?
After a perfunctory scene featuring Nelson as a little kid, the movie begins with Nelson already a bank robber who's enjoying the high life. He meets and romances a dime store clerk named Helen Womack who he eventually marries. Nelson also serves for a time as an enforcer for Al Capone. In real life, Capone and Nelson came to an amicable parting of the ways. In the movie, Capone and Nelson are riding in a car when Capone starts screaming at Nelson, hits him in the mouth twice and then throws him out of the car.
One of the worst aspects of this movie is the way that law enforcement is portrayed. Law enforcement is clearly cast as the real bad guys with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in particular made to look bad. In this movie, FBI agents shoot people for the hell of it while gangsters like Nelson shoot people only for a reason. In this movie, Nelson is a heroic classy killer with his own code of ethics who was superior to the low lifes in the police and FBI. In real life, he was a cold blooded killer who killed for the sheer enjoyment of it. In the movie, Nelson is portrayed as a brave man who is a crack shot. The FBI agents can't hit most anyone they shoot at except Dillinger's girlfriend at the wedding of Baby Face and Helen. The FBI is also pictured as being basically a bunch of cowards who are not cool cats like Nelson and his friends.
The final scene of the movie where Baby Face Nelson finally goes down for the count against the FBI is a particularly bogus job by the film makers. In real life, 2 FBI agents spotted Nelson driving a stolen car with his wife and accomplice Chase with him. Once the agents started chasing him, Nelson pulled over and took out his guns and engaged in a battle with the agents. In the end, both Nelson and the agents died, but the wife and accomplice were able to make their getaway. In the movie, Nelson and friends are in their car headed towards the Canadian border where they are confronted by 10 FBI agents and a Canadian border guard. There is a massive shootout in which Nelson winds up dead and his wife and accomplice captured.
The bottom line is if you want a movie that is about the life and times of George "Baby Face" Nelson then this movie is worthless. To this day, Hollywood has never made a good, historically accurate, movie about Nelson despite the profoundly dramatic, not to mention tragic life he lived.
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"My name's 'Big George Nelson' & I don't mind killin'..."
Added 5/11/2005
"The only thing I love more than dead cops are dead presidents."
You probably never heard of this movie before because as far as I know it was released straight to video with no theatrical release. Although C. Thomas Howell is a little over-the-top and the movie mostly ignores the true story of "Baby Face" Nelson, the great chases and bloody shootouts make this a guilty pleasure for any fan of the gangster genre.
C. Thomas Howell plays a charismatic but cold-blooded "Baby Face" Nelson, who along with a loyal accomplice, Paul Chance (played by Doug Wert) works his way to the top by robbing banks and killing anyone who tries to stop him. He meets Helen Womack (played by Lisa Zane) and they fall for each other and eventually they get married. After being rejected by Al Capone (played by F. Murray Abraham), Baby Face and Paul join forces with John Dillinger, whose gang is very depleted thanks to arrests and shootings by the FBI.
But after one bank robbery ends in bloodshed and no money being stolen, Dillinger splits and Baby Face, George, and Helen are on the run again. While trying to cross the border and reach Canada, they drive right into an ambush set up by the FBI, and an intense gun battle results in which few survive. Bleeding from 17 fatal gun wounds, Nelson grits his teeth, says, "Smile Copper!" and lets loose a final burst from his Tommy Gun before falling. Talk about going out with a bang!
I don't know why the director left out or diliberately altered so many facts about Baby Face Nelson, whose real name was Lester Joseph Gillis. The film makes no mention of the fact that Nelson had two children with Helen and was surprisingly a caring and loving father, or that he had several members of his gang and worked with Dillinger on several, rather than one, bank robberies. And it totally leaves out his days as a car thief and bootlegger, and his several robberies of homes which belonged to very wealthy people. Also, Nelson preferred being called "Jimmie Williams", not "Big George Nelson."
Nelson was mortally wounded in a battle with federal agents at Barrington, Illinois, (not the Canadian border as the film portrays) November 27, 1934, but reached the house of friends where he died within a few hours from the 17 bullet wounds. His accomplice, John Paul Chase (Paul Chance in the film), survived the battle and was given a life sentence at Alcatraz, dying of cancer on October 5, 1973. After Nelson's death, Helen was headlined as the first female Public Enemy Number One, but on November 29, just two days after her husband's death, she surrendered to federal agents. The agents lied to the press and insisted that she had been captured.
Anyway, the point is that with an additional hour of footage, better direction, and more historical accuracy this could have been one of the greatest gangster films of all time. The romance aspect of the film isn't very convincing because C. Thomas Howell and Lisa Zane have very little chemistry. Oh well, despite its flaws "Baby Face Nelson" is a very entertaining, action-packed movie that any fan of the gangster genre should add to their collection. And one more thing, the hilarious comedian Michael McDonald from MadTV has a small role as a reporter and tries to act serious!
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The Best Gangster film Ever !!!
Added 4/20/2004
This is the best performance C.Thomas Howell has ever givened. I loved it, George "Babyface" Nelson is the greatest gangster of all time. This Movie is better than "The Godfather". This is a brilliant, chilling, wonderful, Legendary gangster classic.
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