It was directed by Don Siegel who had made some good movies and would make more. This isn't one of them. It would have taken a magician to make much out of this B-level screenplay that lays out the rise and fall of a minor Midwestern gangster and bank robber, Mickey Rooney.Siegel handled brutality with genuine artistry but this gives him no chance to do much. Unless we have some feeling for the characters one way or another, who cares who gets hurt? There's no humanity in any figure except Carolyn Jones as Rooney's appealingly feminine moll. And how does he treat her? "C'mere, babe, and make like Mrs. Nelson," he snarls from his bed, stubbing out his cigarette.On the plus side, what a supporting cast, most of them over the hill. Few of them get much screen time but you'll recognize many of the faces -- Emil Meyer, Elisha Cook Jr., Tom Gordon as John Dillinger, Jack Elam, and Sir Cedric Hardwicke as a dissolute criminal doctor. John Hoyt is an FBI agent. Hoyt was the Martian with three arms in a "Twilight Zone" episode and he was also Decius Brutus, one of the assassins, in MGM's "Julius Caesar." I wouldn't want to argue that John Hoyt had a lot of range. I can't imagine him in a light-hearted role. But when the part fit him, nobody could carry it off better than John Hoyt.I don't mean to suggest that the screenplay is that bad. It's not laughable. It's just plain pedestrian and lacks any grace notes whatever. Having used that metaphor, I might as well add that Van Alexander's score really sucks, entirely aside from the fact that there's too much of it. If you want to hear how a musical score can add to or subtract from a film's impact, this will provide you with a good bad example -- an abstract big-band playing what must have passed for modern jazz in 1957, full of blaring horns and counterpoint. Not a hint of "Oodles of Noodles" let alone "Sophisticated Lady."

I found this film most effective when it was able to give its protagonist 'room to be bad' -- as a depiction of a psychopath on the brink, it holds considerable power (the scene where Sue begs her lover to tell her that he wouldn't have shot two boys who almost discover his presence carries a real impact... because both we, and she, know the true answer). At the beginning, where it appears to be trying to make Baby-Face Nelson out as a standard-issue hero fresh out of jail and trying to go straight, it's rather more generic and rather harder to credit.The interaction between Nelson and Dillinger, with the latter as the 'brains' of the outfit frustrated by the other man's trigger-happy tendencies, is well shown, and this section felt all too short. But the second half of the film, with the outlaws on the run -- and yet more twists to the tale than we expect -- is an undoubted success, and if only the film had achieved this level throughout I would have rated it easily 8/10, maybe 9.Short, baby-faced Mickey Rooney is physically ideal for the role and displays considerable acting chops into the bargain. One of the most striking scenes is where the Baby-Face against all precedent actually spares the life of a bank manager (played by the diminutive George E. Stone) who is as short as he is; it seems almost unfair that this uncharacteristic act of mercy is repaid by the man going straight to the police. But it's not an gesture that Nelson is likely to repeat. When the alcoholic, orotund Doc Saunders (Sir Cedric Hardwicke, deploying his classical training) demonstrates an unseemly interest in Sue, we can anticipate from the start what the ultimate result is bound to be; the only question is how long.And yet the film does achieve the vital but tenuous task of getting the viewer to identify with its out-of-control protagonist, despite his actions, with the result that it manages to sustain the tension: we actually care what happens to him. (It is this, of course, that makes those scenes where he manages to refrain from killing into such powerful ones: we know the knife-edge on which he is balanced.) The final death scene, where the Baby-Face expires conveniently across a moralising grave-stone, undermined somewhat the effectiveness of what had gone before -- if only they could have resisted the requirement to make such a heavy point -- but what remains is at least two-thirds of a very good little picture. Rooney is a revelation and the script holds some very dark corners, along with moments of adrenalin-boosting relief.

Mickey Rooney gives an energetic ,scary and persuasive performance in this crisp and edgy don Siegal movie.The businesslike script by Irving Shulman and Daniel Mainwaring traces the rise of Nelson from apprentice gunman to Rocca(Ted de Corsia),through his meetings with Dillinger(Leo Gordon), his incarceration and subsequent escape aided by girlfriend Sue(Carolyn Jones)and his rise to the status of Public Enemy Number 1 Little is said about the background to the story-prohibition is scarcely touched on -or about Nelson's personal motivation .Instead it records -even ,disquietingly ,celebrates his achievements and behaviour.The support cast gives Rooney solid backup and special kudos go to Sir Cedric Hardwicke ,Jack Elam and Emile Meyer It looks cheap and low budget but this actually helps the impact of this slick ,anti-social pulp movie

Close your history books, and enjoy Hollywood at its finest in Gangster genre. Like Bugsey was impressed with George Rafts imitation of him; Nelson should have got to see Mickey Rooneys portrayal of him! This movie is hardly outdated, even timeless, entertaining audiences almost any age, of the ruthless outlaws of the thirties. If anyone has time enough to notice something even remotely corny, remember that it is America's favorite vegetable. I only wish that it was availiable on DVD or VHS.