Feature film, ETV recall S.C. native

Bonnie and Clyde had nothing on John Dillinger, the most famous outlaw of the 20th century, Public Enemy No. 1 and the source of more than a few legends.

But the man who brought him to book, the FBI agent whose success stirred the jealousy of his own agency's director, J. Edgar Hoover, has been eclipsed in history by his more colorful quarry.

Timmonsville native Melvin Purvis (1903-60) earned renown within the agency for leading manhunts that tracked down such trigger-happy fugitives as Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd, but it was his cornering of the elusive Dillinger, ending in a hail of gunfire in Chicago on July 22, 1934, on which his claim to fame rests.

The first federal agent to be dubbed a "G-man," Purvis is played by Christian Bale in Wednesday's opening of "Public Enemies," Michael Mann's feature film of Purvis' dogged pursuit of Dillinger (Johnny Depp), whom many in the Depression era considered a Robin Hood figure. Meanwhile, South Carolina Educational Television also is premiering "G-Man: The Rise and Fall of Melvin Purvis" at 9 p.m. Thursday. A sneak preview of the documentary is being held at 6 tonight at the Doctors Bruce and Lee Foundation Library in Florence.

Though most remember U.S. Department of the Treasury agent Eliot Ness as the man who brought down Al Capone, a fame sustained by "The Untouchables," a 1960s TV series and a 1987 feature film of the same name, Purvis was at least as effective in his work as crime fighter. Though Dillinger and crew led him on a merry chase for a time, Purvis was a key operative in the early FBI. That he came to a tragic end had much to do with Hoover having turned against him.

Such is the claim of Purvis' son, Alston Purvis of Florence, now chief of the graphic arts department at Boston University. The latter's new book, "The Vendetta: Special Agent Melvin Purvis, John Dillinger, and Hoover's FBI in the Age of Gangsters" (Public Affairs), recounts Melvin Purvis' story and how Hoover's growing resentment of his one-time charge, at the time a national public hero, compelled him to smear Purvis' reputation and attempt to erase his name from the records of some of the FBI's most significant triumphs.

The new movie is based not on "The Vendetta" but on the 2004 book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI" by Bryan Burrough, with whom Alston Purvis strenuously disagrees.

"I've already seen the movie, and thought it was very well made," says the professor. "Although it's not entirely historically accurate, being a drama based on a lot of source, it's close. I didn't expect it to be a documentary. And I thought that Christian's interpretation of my father was excellent. The character of my father, specifically, is based on my book, however, not on 'Public Enemies,' whose depiction of my father was way off base.

"Christian had me read my father's lines in the script to get the accent and voice down. We also had conversations in Chicago and again in Los Angeles. One of the gratifying things about the film is the friendship Christian and I developed."

For his part, Melvin's nephew, Cal Purvis, credit manager of The Post and Courier, echoes the assertions in "The Vendetta."

"My parents (the late Guy and Margaret Purvis) talked about his story quite a bit because Melvin went from the pinnacle to really a very low point. Hoover really ruined his life. He ran him out of the FBI, then blacklisted him, which prevented my uncle from getting federal jobs.

"His fall was through no fault of his own. His only mistake was to become famous, and Hoover did not believe in (agents becoming public figures). Melvin was shot on the spiral staircase in his home in 1960. The first official report was suicide, but there were a lot of rumors and stories about it. He had been in failing health and was unhappy, but I don't think the family ever believed it was suicide. Most now believe it was an accident."

And director Mann has a reputation for balancing accuracy with dramatic license, last demonstrated in "The Insider" (1999), the true story of tobacco industry whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand, the former head of development at the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. and a one-time Charleston resident.

"My family, friends and I will be very interested to see how Melvin is portrayed in this movie," says his nephew. "My hope is that he will be shown as an American hero, which is exactly what he was. Melvin had his faults and certainly made some egregious mistakes, but to come from his little town in South Carolina and have this kind of success was remarkable.

"He became the most famous man in the country after Dillinger was killed. But Dillinger was almost a hero himself to the working-class guy of the era because he was robbing all these rich, bad-guy bankers, who, somewhat like today, were being blamed by the rank-and-file for ruining their lives." To the romantic, "Melvin may have seemed like the Sheriff of Nottingham coming after Robin Hood."

Melvin Purvis, who wrote a book of his own in "American Agent" (1936), received his law degree from the University of South Carolina and had a brief career as a lawyer before joining the FBI in 1927. He helmed Division of Investigation offices in Birmingham, Ala.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Cincinnati. In 1932, he was assigned to run the Chicago office by President Herbert Hoover.

Cal Purvis' memories of his uncle are a mixture of the vivid and vague.

"I remember the house, this beautiful Southern mansion where he lived. And the stables. I remember him riding me on a horse and giving me a gold coin. I remember his children, especially his youngest son, Chris, who was just a little older than me when we went hunting on the property. I also recall him as a small man, 5 foot 6 and 135 pounds, but in previous movies, he has been played by big 6-footers like Dale Robertson and Ben Johnson."

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.