Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem (2008) (TV)

Directors:

Patrick Leigh-Bell
Jeffrey Woods

Writers:

Matt Edens
Geoffrey Proud (writer)

Release Date:

6 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime

Plot:

John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd... These names have become so iconic...

Plot Keywords:

Machine Gun | Criminal | Reenactment | Gangster | G Man

Cast

Dorian Harewood	...	Narrator
Tony Eugene Stewart	...	Himself - Author: Dillinger - The Hidden Truth (as Tony Stewart)
Claire Potter	...	Herself - Historian
Bryan Burrough	...	Himself - Author: Public Enemies
Paul Maccabee	...	Himself - Author: John Dillinger Slept Here
Rick Mattix	...	Himself - Co-Author: The Complete Public Enemy Almanac
J. Edgar Hoover	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Dillinger	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ellen Poulsen	...	Herself - Author: Don't Call Us Molls
Ken Holmes	...	Himself - Owner: Southwestern Historical Tours
Buddy Barrow	...	Himself - Clyde Barrow's Nephew (as Buddy Williams)
L.J. Hinton	...	Himself - Bonnie and Clyde's Ambush Museum (as L.J. 'Boots' Hinton)
Dixie Lee Sedgwick	...	Herself - Playwright: Bonnie Parker
Jay Basile	...	Himself - Firearms Expert
Tim Garlock	...	Himself - Sergeant: Allen County - Ohio Sheriff's Office
Franklin D. Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
R.D. Morgan	...	Himself - Author
Craig Alton	...	Himself - Owner: Untouchable Tours
Charles A. Lindbergh	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Neal Phillips	...	Himself - Author: Running with Bonnie and Clyde
Marvelle Feller	...	Himself - Eyewitness (as Marvell Feller)
William J. Helmer	...	Himself - Co-Author: The Complete Public Enemy Almanac (as Bill Helmer)
Tom Smusyn	...	Himself - Dillinger Researcher
George Kelly	...	Himself, gangster (archive footage)
Melvin Purvis	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alston Purvis	...	Himself - Son of Melvin Purvis
John Fox	...	Himself - F.B.I. Historian
Emil Wanatka	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Wilson Dillinger	...	Himself - John Dillinger's Father (archive footage)
Anna Sage	...	Herself - Madam (archive footage)
Anna Saqe	...	Herself - Madam / Informant (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clyde Barrow	...	Himself, gangster (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dwight D. Eisenhower	...	Himself (archive footage)
Frank Hamer	...	Himself, Texas Ranger (archive footage)
Lyndon Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bonnie Parker	...	Herself, gangster (archive footage)
Edward G. Robinson Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harry S. Truman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jason Benjamin	...	Machine Gun Kelly (uncredited)
Scott Brooks	...	Melvin Purvis (uncredited)
Lynn Bumgardner	...	John Dillinger (uncredited)
Kate Cagle	...	Katherine Kelly (uncredited)
Chase Campbell	...	Henry Methvin (uncredited)
Don G. Campbell	...	Sgt. Rainey (uncredited)
Amy Eakins Casterline	...	Mary Longnecker (uncredited)
Jimmy Dean	...	Charles Urschel (uncredited)
James P. Hilton	...	Bank Teller (uncredited)
Carey Jones	...	Federal Agent (uncredited)
Jim Lee	...	Zack Coffey (uncredited)
Jason Leith	...	Baby Face Nelson (uncredited)
William J. Mode	...	Buck Barrow (uncredited)
Rachel Moody	...	Bonnie Parker (uncredited)
Wes Murphy	...	Federal Agent (uncredited)
Dan Owenby	...	Jess Sarbers (uncredited)
Preston Proffitt	...	Clyde Barrow (uncredited)
Aaron Pushkar	...	Bank Manager (uncredited)
Richard Rackley	...	Pretty Boy Floyd / Henderson Jordan (Louisiana sheriff) (uncredited)
Sam Sharp	...	Harry 'Pete' Pierpoint (uncredited)
Donald Thorne	...	Frank 'Jelly' Nash (uncredited)
Chris Tucker	...	FBI Agent (uncredited)
Ryan Waller	...	Federal Agent (uncredited)
Ryan Watterson	...	Agent Hollis (uncredited)
Joshua Wells	...	Bank Teller (uncredited)
Marvin West	...	FBI Agent (uncredited)
Rick Wilson	...	W.D. Jones (uncredited)

Directed by
Patrick Leigh-Bell		(recreations director)
Jeffrey Woods		(recreations director)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Matt Edens
Geoffrey Proud		writer

Produced by
Alex Alexander	....	producer
Sara Huddleston	....	post producer
Stephen Land	....	executive producer
Patrick Leigh-Bell	....	producer (as Patrick Leigh Bell)
Brian O'Connor	....	producer
Geoffrey Proud	....	executive producer
Michael Rogers	....	additional field producer
Michael Rogers	....	post producer
Robert Twilley	....	coordinating producer
Zak Weisfeld	....	executive producer
Susan Werbe	....	executive producer: History Channel

Original Music by
Josh Molen
Scott Murphy
Chris Robbins
David Slack

Cinematography by
Dave Huntley

Film Editing by
Ryan Hardison

Production Management
Michelle Weiss	....	production manager
Haven Wertz	....	production manager

Art Department
Cheri Van Bynen	....	props (as Cheri van Bynen)

Sound Department
Tom Backus	....	sound mixer
John Bentley	....	location sound
Scott Buckely	....	location sound
Pete Carty	....	audio mixer
Nick Gotten III	....	post audio mixer (as Nick Gotten)
Paul Green	....	location sound
Scott Griffin	....	location sound
Ivo Hanak	....	location sound
Doug Kochenbach	....	location sound
Marianna LaFollette	....	additional audio (as Marianna Lafollette)
Jim Rogers	....	audio mixer
Russ Tomlinson	....	location sound
Lars Turpen	....	location sound
Eric Vucelich	....	location sound
Lance Wells	....	location sound

Visual Effects by
Jeremy Lowery	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Coatney	....	grip
Jerry Coatney	....	lighting director
James P. Hilton	....	assistant camera
Patrick Leigh-Bell	....	camera
Joe Pedalino	....	additional photography
Jeffrey Woods	....	camera

Animation Department
James P. Hilton	....	animator (as J.P. Hilton)
Byron Sambat	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Susan Bordeau	....	wardrobe
Nancy Jones	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Jimmy Hammond	....	additional editing
Scott W. Lee	....	colorist
John Mecklenborg	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Jessica Bailin	....	production coordinator (as Jessie Bailin)
Buddy Barrow	....	archive provided by
Kate Cagle	....	production assistant
Brandy Downing	....	production assistant
Tim Garlock	....	archive provided by
Shane Ivins	....	production assistant
Malgorzata Karolczak	....	project accountant (as Malgorzata Rydygler-Karolczak)
Stephen Long	....	armorer
Emily MacDowell	....	programming coordinator: History Channel
Elizabeth Mauldin	....	production assistance
Billy Miller	....	production assistant
Rachel Moody	....	production assistance
Tony Eugene Stewart	....	archive provided by (as Tony Stewart)
Sharla Wertz	....	project accountant

Thanks
Buddy Barrow	....	special thanks (as Buddy Williams)
Bryan Burrough	....	special thanks (as Bryan Burroughs)
Jim Hounschell	....	special thanks
Rick Mattix	....	special thanks
Bonnie Rowan	....	special thanks
Robert Rubbs	....	special thanks (as Lieutenant Robert Rubbs)
Tony Eugene Stewart	....	special thanks (as Tony Stewart)

Production Companies

• Jupiter Entertainment

Distributors

• History Channel (2007) (USA) (TV)
• History Channel (2007) (worldwide) (TV)

Other Companies

• Associated Press/Wide World  archives (as Associated Press/World Wide)
• Atmosphere Pictures  graphics
• Beyond Media  additional editing
• Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum  special thanks
• Cascom International Inc.  archives (as CASCOM)
• Coal Creek Armory  special thanks
• Congress Hotel, The  special thanks
• Corbis  archives
• Dallas Public Library  archives
• Efootage  archives
• Getty Images  archives
• Historic Films  archives
• Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, The  special thanks (as The Roosevelt Hotel)
• Knoxville / East Tennessee Film Commission  special thanks (as East Tennessee Film Commission)
• Library of Congress  archives
• Rockwood-Walden Ridge Auto Club  special thanks
• Talent Trek Agency  special thanks (as Talent Trek)
• Ursa Major Audio  music (as Ursa Major)
• Volunteer Street Rod  special thanks
• WPA Film Library  archives (as WPA Library)

Runtime:

89 min (excluding commercials) | USA:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Clinton, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Jupiter Entertainment

Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

I appeared on this show so I can knock it. So did a dozen or more other historians and authors, most of whom didn't even get their names in the credits, though their interview segments are the saving grace of the program. Bryan Burrough, Tony Stewart, and I were about the only ones listed in the credits but Bill Helmer, Ellen Poulsen, Tom Smusyn, Ron Morgan, John Neal Phillips and others, all knowledgeable crime historians, appeared on the program and contributed the positives here.

It's pretty average really, maybe one of the better of the typically bad crime documentaries that air on cable TV, but that's the best that can be said. The writing and the narration are superficial, inaccurate, and fictionalized. Much of the story is left out, including Pretty Boy Floyd and the Barker-Karpis Gang, even though the show opens with the Kansas City Massacre which is left unresolved. Silly and inaccurate reenactments make up the bulk of the show. You have a few seconds of interview snippets with Marvelle Feller, the one living eyewitness to the Barrow Gang battle at Dexfield Park, followed by a completely inaccurate reenactment of Bonnie and Clyde making their escape in a pickup. Would have been better to have used a few minutes of Marvelle's interview to tell how it really happened. But action visuals are fun and actors may be cheaper than '29 Plymouth autos.

Where they dug up their "firearms expert" I have no idea, unless he was a friend of the producer. Since when did Model '21A Thompson submachine guns have 30-shot stick mags? Those didn't come out until World War II. They took his word for it for the reenactments, of course.

There are some good insights and many good interview segments so it's not a total loss. But most of it is reenacted (cheaper to buy actors than old photos and newsreels) and none of the reenactments are accurate. It's almost an anti-documentary in that sense.