bkoganbing
In an effort to recharge his career as his popularity as teenage idol was now well behind him Fabian took the title role of that notorious public enemy of the Thirties Pretty Boy Floyd. It never worked and Fabian was now making his living in nostalgia concerts and an occasional film role in support. He even used his full name of Fabian Forte in the billing for this American-International Release.Charles Arthur Floyd was a child of the 20s in dust bowl Oklahoma where they didn't share in the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties and it got worse than ever in the Depression. The film is hardly an accurate portrayal of his life still Fabian does give a good account of himself as the good looking and heartbreaking bandit who got to the position of Public Enemy Number 1 for a brief spell.With the exception of Adam Roarke who went on to become an acting teacher of some repute as gang member Preacher you'll not have heard of any of the rest of the cast members. In a way that's good because they blend quite nicely into the story and no one takes any attention from the star.Fabian's performance was all right, nothing special, no Oscar material here. A Bullet For Pretty Boy did fail to ignite any great enthusiasm for him as thespian.
gavin6942
The movie tells the biography of the gangster Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Fabian) who started his career young aged when he saw his father die and sought out revenge by killing his murderer during a fight.This film is so historical inaccurate, it almost does not deserve to use the name of Charles Floyd. But then, it is so entertaining, that I think it earned this privilege. And, heck, it is more factual than many uses of Al Capone in movies and books, so in comparison this is a documentary! Seriously, though, it is a pretty good film. Bank robberies, fights, a pretty food food fight scene (my favorite part of the film). What was holding it back? The music. The music was just too 1970s to really be appreciated today, and there was absolutely no need to use the same song four or five times in the movie. If this ever gets a decent DVD release, I hope someone tweaks the soundtrack.That being said, a fine addition to the Larry Buchanan filmography. And you thought he only made cheesy horror and science fiction!
ptb-8
Sorry, I mean Bonnie and Clyde get a re run at American International Pictures. I saw this in first release at our wonderful Sydney Capitol Theatre, home of the changed-weekly drive in double feature except this was a glorious 2500 seat plaster picture palace. A BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY + ERIK THE CONQUEROR was the 70c double feature in 1971 and I was there, with lollies and still had change from $2. Handsome pop dude Fabian made a passable Floyd mainly because he was pretty in his Matt Lattanzi way. The only reason this film was made was because of BONNIE AND CLYDE and AIP was always keen to cash in on a fad. Also they probably had access to the props and cars from BOXCAR BERTHA and BLOODY MAMA made the previous year. I miss the days of AIP, they always made trash and treasure and always entertaining. BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY was exactly like a B grade version of BONNIE AND CLYDE, banjo music and all.
shepardjessica
This COMPLETELY, low budget, exploitation flick of the early 70's manages to capture nothing except the loss of innocence in those creepy gangster 30's movies (although some of the cars are from the 40's; nobody noticed). Fabian, a pop singer from the late 50's, early 60's stars as Pretty Boy Floyd, an actual rural "good" bank robber in the mid-west during the depression, acting a misunderstood youth who conveniently finds the pretty "good" girl and the pretty "bad girl" in a TOTALLY FICTIONAL rendtion of this "folk hero" in an exploitation film (WHAT A GREAT POSTER, THOUGH)! SPOILERS** (COMING UP)Jocelyn Lane (from one or two Elvis films; before this) was intriguely gorgeous, while wearing the sheerest of black slips, giving Fabian BAD ADVICE about how to deal with the COPPERS (farm boys) while the innocent blonde girlfriend (sweet, honest, church-going, dullard) tries to sway him to stay a poor dirt farmer and live on love and go frog-gigging. I can't remember this actress' name, and she was fine (Astrid something; I could look it up, but what's the point?). Pretty Boy Floyd's destiny was already mapped out (even in the Oklahoma Hills where he was Robin Hood) because this flick isn't interested in the subtleties of Art in this time period. Not as good as Killers Three (starring Robert Walker, Jr., Diane Varsi, and Dick Clark OR The Grissom Gang starring Scott Wilson, Kim Darby, and Tony Musante - similary exploitive rural gangster flicks trying to make some change post-Bonne and Clyde), but worth checking out if you want to see consistnet bad acting, no directing or script, music from other films, but at least Fabian used his last name. There is hope! I like this movie, even though it's drive-in junk.I think I forgot to mention the Jocelyn Lane factor (babe-ism) in a very negligee way (with the wrong hairstyle for the time, but...). It's there; probably not on DVD EVER or possibly video, but you can find it.