Production
The film was shot at Goldwyn Studios starting in November 1964. [2] Al Zimbalist said he didn't want to glamourise the gangsters. "We just wanted to tell the story how three young men went wrong in hopes no other young people would make the same mistakes they made", he said. [3]
Shot cheaply in 17 days without period costumes, Robert Conrad recalled that he only did the film to repay a favor to his friend Nick Adams. [4] He says the film had "no budget" so "everyone had to do their own stunts" but it was during filming that he successfully auditioned for Wild Wild West. [5]
John Ashley says the film "was basically all of (producer) Al Zimbalist's footage of machine guns and crashing cars from Baby Face Nelson (1957)." [6]
Ashley added that the film "may have been the most fun of everything I ever did. At the time all three of us [Adams, Conrad and himself] were divorced. We were all living up in Nick's house. This film came along through Allied Artists. They actually approached Nick, and Nick said 'You should go see about getting John and Bobby'. We all agreed to it and we basically rewrote it. We took a lot of liberties with these three guys, but it was a lot of fun and a real pleasant experience." [7] Ashley later produced some TV movies for Conrad. [8]
During filming, the management of Allied Artists were engaged in a proxy fight with rebellious shareholders. [9]
Adams and Zimbalist wanted to make another film together, Guns of the G Men. [10] However it was never made.
Roger William Corman is an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are low-budget cult films including some which are adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
Mary Ann Mobley was an American actress, television personality, and Miss America 1959.
Nick Adams was an American film and television actor and screenwriter. He was noted for his roles in several Hollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s, including Rebel Without a Cause and Giant along with his starring role in the ABC television series The Rebel (1959–1961). He also led the cast of several Japanese productions, including Frankenstein Conquers the World, (Godzilla vs.) Monster Zero, and The Killing Bottle.
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The Crooked Road is a 1965 British film directed and co-written by Don Chaffey. It stars Stewart Granger, Robert Ryan, and Janet Munro. The film is based on the 1957 novel The Big Story by Morris West. An American journalist plans to expose as a crook the dictator of a small Balkan state, but finds himself framed for murder.
Drop Dead Darling is a 1966 British-American black comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, Lionel Jeffries and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Alfred N. Zimbalist was a producer of low-budget films such as Robot Monster, Monster from Green Hell, Cat-Women of the Moon, Watusi and Baby Face Nelson.
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