A Bullet for Pretty Boy

A Bullet for Pretty Boy Theatrical Release Poster Country United States Directed by Larry Buchanan Release Date 1970 Distributor American International Pictures Main Cast Character Actor Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd Fabian Forte Betty Jocelyn Lane Ruby Floyd Astrid Warner "Preacher" Adam Rourke Ned Short Michael Haynes Otto Hossler Robert Glenn Beryl Ash Annabelle Weenick Wallace Ash Jeff Alexander Helen Camilla Carr William Ash Gene Ross

A Bullet for Pretty Boy is a 1970 gangster film starring Fabian Forte in a very fictionalized and simplified retelling of the life and crimes of Depression-era outlaw Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Directed by Larry Buchanan and an uncredited Maury Dexter, this was one of a wave of low-budget 1930s-set crime films released by American International Pictures in the wake of Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

The following weapons were used in the film A Bullet for Pretty Boy:

WARNING! THIS PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Handguns

Colt Detective Special (1st Generation)

FBI agent Otto Hossler (Robert Glenn), the film's version of Melvin Purvis, carries a blued Colt Detective Special in a shoulder holster.

Colt Detective Special 1st Gen with Round Butt - .38 Special

Hossler fires his Detective Special at Floyd's gang.

Colt Police Positive

Many police officers and deputies carry nickel Colt Police Positive revolvers with long barrels, including the two escorting Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Fabian Forte) on the prison train. Floyd overpowers the deputies and takes one of their Police Positive revolvers, using it in many subsequent scenes. Wallace Ash (Jeff Alexander) also carries a long-barreled nickel Police Positive when attempting to double-cross Floyd.

Colt Police Positive Nickel - .38 Special.

A deputy fires his Police Positive at Floyd on the train to prison.

Floyd sticks his Police Positive into a deputy's face.

Floyd holds his Police Positive as he has a train passenger unlock his handcuffs.

A deputy's Police Positive falls to the ground.

Floyd holds his purloined Police Positive as he jumps from the train.

A deputy fires his Police Positive at an escaping Floyd.

Wallace and William enter Floyd's room with their guns drawn.

M1911A1

The federal agent who accompanies Hossler for much of the film carries an M1911A1 pistol.

Pre-War Colt M1911A1 - Commercial Model known as the "Colt Government Model" - .45 ACP. This has a deep Colt factory blued finish, common for commercial variants before and after the war.

A federal agent aims his M1911A1 during the film's climax.

Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector, 1st Model "Triple Lock"

Sheriff Taylor (Troy Hoskins), the rural lawman who encounters a sleeping Floyd and "Preacher", draws a nickel revolver with a shrouded ejector rod that appears to be a Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector, 1st Model "Triple Lock". In real life, this lawman was Wellsville, Ohio, police chief John H. Fultz, who was carrying a .32-caliber revolver for the capture of Adam Richetti on October 20, 1934.

Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector "Triple Lock" with nickel finish and pearl grips.

Sheriff Taylor draws his Smith & Wesson revolver on "Preacher".

Smith & Wesson Model 10 Snubnose

Bank robber Ned Short (Michael Haynes) carries a blued Smith & Wesson Model 10 Snubnose revolver with a 2" barrel in his shoulder holster. William Ash (Gene Ross) also carries a snub-nosed Model 10 when he and his brother Wallace attempt to double-cross Floyd.

Smith & Wesson Model 10 snub nose revolver - .38 Special. Early Model

William falls with his Model 10 next to him.

Ned holds his Model 10 on bank customers during a robbery.

Submachine Guns

Thompson M1921AC

The Thompson M1921AC submachine gun is the ostensible star of A Bullet for Pretty Boy, as Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Fabian Forte) uses it as his primary weapon—even more than any handgun—over the course of the film, though Forte often holds it with his front hand on the box magazine rather than the foregrip and even holds it sideways during a few bank robberies. Floyd even carries and fires the Thompson during his "last stand", though the real Floyd carried two .45-caliber Colt Government pistols when he was cornered and killed on October 22, 1934. In A Bullet for Pretty Boy, the Thompson is primarily fielded by criminals, including bank robbers Bo Samuels (Eddie Lo Rosso), Harvey (Desmond Dhooge), Ned Short (Michael Haynes), and "Preacher" (Adam Rourke).

Colt M1921AC Thompson with 20-round magazine - .45 ACP.

Floyd examines the Thompson.

Floyd with his first Thompson.

Floyd's unorthodox sideways grip on the Thompson, including a hand on the magazine rather than foregrip.

Floyd test-fires the Thompson by blasting apart a Herbert Hoover poster. "Nice, huh?" quips Ned after Floyd shows his enthusiasm for the weapon.

"Preacher" and Floyd with their Thompsons during a bank robbery.

"Preacher" holds his Thompson.

Floyd holds his Thompson during a bank robbery.

Floyd makes his last stand after driving an old Model A into the lake.

Production photo of Fabian Forte holding a Thompson.

Rifles

Winchester Model 1892

Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Fabian Forte) grabs his family's Winchester Model 1892 rifle when he sets out to even the score with his father's killer, but his family talks him out of taking the gun so he tosses it to his brother before setting out to see Jack. Many rural lawmen also carry Winchesters, and "Preacher" (Adam Rourke) grabs one just before he is killed.

Winchester 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine - .32WCF/.38-40/.44-40/.25-20.

Floyd's brother holds the Winchester.

A Hayes City sheriff aims his Winchester at Floyd.

"Preacher" attempts to fire his Winchester in vain after he is cornered.

Winchester Model 1894

Prison guards are armed with Winchester Model 1894 rifles with plated receivers while overseeing Floyd and his fellow prisoners at the work camp.

Winchester 1894 - .30-30

A prison guard stands with his rifle.

The rifle-toting prison guard talks to Floyd about his treatment of equipment.

Unidentified Rifle

Jack Dowler (Hugh Feagin) one of Ruby's old suitors, shoots Floyd's father with a bolt-action rifle after a fight at Floyd and Ruby's wedding. Floyd is jailed when he goes to confront Jack and accidentally kills him, the film's way of both simplifying the early years of Floyd's life—combining his 1925 marriage and first arrest and the 1929 murder of his father,—and providing a more "acceptable" explanation for his life of crime. In fact, Floyd's father was well alive when Floyd was arrested in September 1925 for holding up a Kroger grocery store. Floyd's father was killed in an Oklahoma feud with neighbor Jim Mills in late 1929, and it's rumored that Floyd had a hand in the retributive killing of Mills, but that certainly wasn't what sent him to jail or set him on the path to a life of crime.

Jack aims his rifle at the Floyd family.

Shotguns

Unidentified Pump-Action Shotgun

Many rural lawmen carry pump-action shotguns that appear to be either a J.C. Higgins Model 20 or a Winchester Model 120 with a ventilated rib and a Cutts compensator.

A lawman outside the Farmers & Merchants Bank aims his shotgun at Floyd's gang.

A lawman fires his shotgun during Floyd's last stand.