Melvin Purvis: G-Man

John Milius's Dillinger (1973) proved a surprise hit, spawning two made-for-TV spinoffs. Milius himself co-wrote (with William F. Nolan) the first, Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1974), featuring Dale Robertson as the legendary FBI Agent. It's thoroughly unremarkable, cheaply made and indifferently acted, a few good ideas struggling to break through.

George "Machine Gun" Kelly (Harris Yulin) is a spectacularly inept bank robber egged on by ambitious wife Kate (Margaret Blye). They finally hit pay dirt kidnapping young heir Thatcher Covington (Dick Sargent). Crack FBI Agent Melvin Purvis (Dale Robertson) is soon on their case, tracking the elusive outlaw band through the Midwest. Kelly becomes a media celebrity; lacking the charisma of John Dillinger or ruthlessness of Bonnie and Clyde however, his days in the limelight are numbered.

At least Melvin Purvis: G-Man begins with promise. Kelly is a bumbling wimp, with Kate selling a fearsome image to a media eager for anti-establishment heroes. This interpretation's actually historically valid, surprising in a show that otherwise jettisons accuracy. Indeed it seems inclined towards low comedy, whether through Kelly's inept crimes (robbing a bank with no money!) and idiot henchmen or Purvis quoting Ernest Hemingway's aphorism about "the rich." Milius's purple style isn't much in evidence though; there's little quotable dialogue or macho slickness in Purvis's 74 minutes.

Melvin Purvis's main demerit that it's a '70s TV movie. Dan Curtis provides competent staging, but the budget hinders a lot. Period detail is skimpy and Jacques Marquette's photography resembles a bad travelogue. Bob Cobert's irritating, incessant blue grass score renders several scenes nearly unwatchable. Kate gets a decent monologue contrasting Covington's pretty boy lifestyle with her hardscrabble background, the only time Milius and Nolan's scrpt comes to life. And the movie's surprisingly light on action, with only one big set piece, a farmhouse siege resembling Dillinger's Little Bohemia bloodbath. It's a thoroughly unambitious show.

The cast is another weak point. Harris Yulin (Doc) isn't bad, playing Kelly as an overachieving loser. He's balanced though by the thoroughly obnoxious Margaret Blye, whose performance amounts to corn pone teeth-gnashing. Dale Robertson, as Purvis, spends most of the movie stoically gnawing on a cigar. Steve Kanaly, Dillinger's Pretty Boy Floyd, plays Purvis's nondescript sidekick. Matt Clark is dependably solid, but the rest of Kelly's gang makes zero impression. Dick Sargent plays the gang's snotty hostage.

Melvin Purvis: G-Man is about what you'd expect. As an adequate time waster you could do worse, but it rarely transcends its cash-in origins.