Filming around the public tours that were regularly scheduled on the island also proved challenging to the filmmakers. Sometimes they were forced to film scenes with hundreds of onlookers attempting to get a glimpse of the actors, and often interfering in the shots. The film presented the island prison of Alcatraz itself as one of the main characters in the drama. Despite its inaccurate portrayals and its lack of historical verisimilitude, the film still managed to capture some of the imagery and essence of Alcatraz. The film turned Henri Young into both a societal legend and a fictional martyr of the American Justice System.
Machine Gun Kelly
George “Machine Gun” Kelly
Like Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly has endured as one of the most famous gangsters of the prohibition era. “Machine Gun” was born George Kelly Barnes on July 18, 1895, to a wealthy family living in Memphis, Tennessee. His early years as a child were uneventful and his family raised him in a traditional household. The first sign of trouble began when he enrolled at Mississippi State University in 1917 to study agriculture and engineering. From the beginning, Kelly was considered a poor student. He was constantly in trouble with the faculty and spent much of his academic career attempting to work off demerits earned for troublesome behavior.
It was during this time that Kelly met Geneva Ramsey, the daughter of a contractor for whom he worked part-time. Kelly quickly fell in love with Geneva and made an abrupt decision to quit school and marry. The couple had two children and in an effort to make ends meet, Kelly worked in various construction camps around the Memphis area. He worked long hours with little compensation for his time. Kelly and Geneva struggled financially as the construction work was failing to provide enough money to support their family. Distressed and broke, the strain proved to be overwhelming and Kelly left his job to seek other ways to make ends meet. At nineteen years of age, he found himself without steady work and separated from his wife. Kelly then hooked up with a smalltime gangster and started a new venture as a bootlegger. He seemed to enjoy the financial rewards of his new trade, as well as the notoriety. But along with this new success came the difficulties of working in the underworld. After being arrested on several occasions for illegal trafficking, Kelly decided to leave Memphis with a new girlfriend and head west. It was during this period when he adopted the alias of George R. Kelly, to preserve the reputation of his upstanding family back home. Kelly’s luck varied, with hugely profitable scores alternating with several unfortunate mishaps. By 1927, Kelly had already started to earn a reputation in the underground world as a seasoned gangster, having weathered several arrests and various jail sentences. In 1928 he was caught smuggling liquor into an Indian Reservation and was sentenced to three years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
After serving another long sentence at the State Penitentiary in New Mexico in 1929, Kelly gravitated to Oklahoma City, where he hooked up with a smalltime bootlegger named Steve Anderson. Kelly soon fell for Anderson’s attractive mistress Kathryn Thorne, a seasoned criminal in her own right. Thorne came from a family of outlaws and had been arrested for various charges ranging from robbery to prostitution. She was twice divorced and her second husband had been a bootlegger, who was later found shot to death under suspicious circumstances. The official determination held that his death was a suicide, but many people (including one of the investigators) had long suspected that Kathryn was involved result from assorted threats she had been known to make against him. Kelly and Kathryn became inseparable, and in September of 1930, they married in Minneapolis.
Up until he began his relationship with Thorne, Kelly had been a relatively smalltime criminal. But Kathryn’s influence soon became obvious, as Kelly’s crime sprees would win him the prestigious status of “Public Enemy Number One.” Kathryn purchased a machine gun for Kelly and criminal lore is that she pressured her husband to practice. It was said that her purpose was premeditated – she was a master at marketing her husband to underground circles and to the public. She was known to take the spent gun cartridges and pass them around to acquaintances at many of the underground drinking clubs, introducing them as souvenirs from her husband “Machine Gun Kelly.”
Many historians and fellow inmates of Kelly believe that Kathryn was the creator of the “Machine Gun Kelly” image, and she became known as the mastermind behind several of the successful small bank robberies that Kelly pulled off throughout Texas and Mississippi. In August of 1933, the FBI published “wanted” posters describing Kelly as an “expert machine gunner” and thus creating a public frenzy that would later place Kelly into the history books.
In July of 1933 Kathryn and George Kelly plotted a scheme to kidnap wealthy oil tycoon and businessman Charles Urschel. A formal report written on January 16, 1934 by FBI agent Paul Hansen described the events in detail:
On the night of July 22, 1933, Mr. And Mrs. Charles F. Urschel were engaged in a social bridge game with their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Jarrett in the sun-parlor on the ground floor of the Urschel home in Okalahoma City. Oklahoma. At approximately 11:15 P.M., two widely known underworld characters entered this room; one was Albert L. Bates, who is known by that and many other names throughout the United States as a thief, burglar, bank robber, safe blower, extortionist, and kidnapper, and he carried an automatic pistol; and the other was George Kelly Barnes, more familiarly known as George Kelly and “Machine-gun Kelly,” who is known throughout North America as a liquor runner, thief, robber, kidnapper, and close associate of organized underworld gangs. And he carried a machine gun. The latter demanded, “Which is Urschel? We want Urschel.” As no one present replied, Barnes there upon said, “Well, we will take them both.” Then, by force of arms, they marched Urschel and Jarrett out through the backyard to a car, which was parked in the driveway of the Urschel home. Shortly after leaving the Urschel home, the abductors took from the possession of Urschel his wallet containing about $60.00 in cash, and from Mr. Jarrett his wallet with approximately $50.00 in cash. At a point about ten miles northeast of Oklahoma City, the kidnappers had satisfied themselves, from an examination of the identification cards in each wallet and a statement made by Mr. Urschel, which was Urschel, and Jarrett was released.
Approximately twenty miles from Oklahoma City, the victim of this kidnapping was blindfolded by the use of adhesive tape. He was driven at a fair rate of speed over what seemed to be country roads until a short time before daybreak Sunday Morning, July 23, when he changed to another car on the farm of R.M. Coleman near Stratford, Oklahoma. After about thirty minutes wait, the abductors proceeded with their victim to the farm home of Robert Green Shannon, father-in-law of Barnes, near Paradise, Texas, in whose home he was held that night. The next morning he was removed to another house located on the Shannon farm about three-quarters of a mile from the R.G. Shannon home, where his son, Armon Crawford Shannon, lives. He was held in this house in a miserable blindfolded condition, being always chained to the chair, and part of the time being forced to sleep on the floor, while a continuous guard watched over him with two .45 caliber automatic pistols. When one of the abductors was not guarding their victim, he was guarded by R.G. Shannon, who is known as Boss Shannon, or his twenty-two year old son, Armon Shannon.
The kidnappers demanded that Urschel designate a friend who would act as a intermediary with his family and John G. Catlett of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was selected to make this contact. Through a well planned arrangement of having the Urschel family place an ad in a daily Oklahoma City Newspaper, negotiations were opened, and E.E. Kirkpatrick, friend and business associate of Urschel, was instructed to take $200,000 in used Federal Reserve Twenty Dollar Notes in a light colored tan handbag and in a certain directed manner and appointed time, should go from Oklahoma City to Kansas City, Missouri where he was to receive further instructions. As directed in Kansas City, about 5:30 P.M., July 30, 1933, Kirkpatrick using the appointed name of E.E. Kincaid, took a yellow cab to the La Salle Hotel and walked west on Linwood Boulevard a short distance whe
re he was met by a man identified as George Kelly Barnes, who took the bag and told him Urschel would be released shortly. A record of the number on each of these ten thousand bills had previously been made.
About 3:30 P.M., July 31, 1933, Mr. Urschel was taken from his temporary imprisonment in the Armon Shannon home by one of the abductors and they were later joined by the other and he was driven to Norman, Oklahoma, and released about 10:00 P.M., being instructed by the kidnappers to hire a car and proceed immediately to his home and not communicate with any officers concerning his experience. This Urschel did. It was not until after a very detailed and extensive investigation, which covered the entire United States, was made that the identity of the kidnappers and those who conspired with and assisted them was established.
After splitting the ransom money with their accomplices, Kathryn and Machine Gun started hopping from state to state, trying to stay ahead of law officials. Aided by the clues that Urschel was able to provide, the FBI raided the ranch and arrested one of the other conspirators. The bills that had been used for payment in the ransom had traceable serial numbers and the Central Bureau of Investigation (now the FBI) started a nationwide search for the ringleader, who they now suspected as being Kelly.
George and Kathryn bounced around in several states, with Chicago as their main hub. In an effort to conceal their identities they both dyed their hair, all the while enjoying a lavish lifestyle with the marked currency. After several weeks in hiding, the couple finally made their way back to Memphis to stay with longtime associate John Tichenor. On the morning of September 26, 1933, Memphis police and FBI agents surrounded the Tichenor house, and then made a violent forced entry. It is said that this was the moment when Kelly coined the phrase: “G-Men, please don’t shoot!” Kelly was found still in his pajamas and badly hung over from the prior evening’s drinking binge, while Kathryn was still in bed asleep. The couple was quickly flown to Oklahoma where they stood trial and both received life sentences. Another accomplice, Albert Bates, was taken into custody in Denver, Colorado, on August 12, 1933, on an unrelated charge. At the time of his arrest, he had in his possession $660.00, later identified by Bureau agents as part of the Urschel ransom money.
Albert Bates and Harvey Bailey’s Alcatraz mug shots.
Harvey Bailey following his capture after escaping from a Dallas jail in 1933.
The FBI then raided the Shannon residence and took into custody Harvey J. Bailey, a notorious criminal who had escaped from the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas, on May 30, 1933, where he had been serving a sentence of ten to fifty years on a charge of bank robbery. Bailey was also wanted in connection with the murder of three police officers, a FBI Special Agent, and their prisoner. Eventually all of the accomplices were apprehended, and of all those involved in the kidnapping, six were given life sentences.
Kelly was transferred to Leavenworth in Kansas, and Kathryn was sent to a Federal prison in Cincinnati. Kelly was arrogant toward prison officials. He bragged to the press that he would escape and then break his wife out of jail so that they could spend Christmas together. It was decided that these threats should be taken seriously and in August of 1934, Kelly and fellow inmates Albert L. Bates and Harvey J. Bailey were transferred by train from Leavenworth to Alcatraz. Arriving on September 4, 1934, they would be among the first prisoners received on the island. Kelly was now inmate #AZ-117, Bates was #AZ-137 and Bailey was #AZ-139.
Kathryn Kelly and George Kelly following their capture in 1933.
George and Kathryn Kelly during their sentencing.
Following her conviction, Kathryn Kelly was transferred to the Federal prison in Cincinnati, Ohio.
George Kelly was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary under heavy guard.
In prison, Kelly constantly boasted about robberies and murders that he had never committed. Although this was said to be an apparent point of frustration for several fellow prisoners, Warden Johnson considered him a model inmate and his life at Alcatraz was largely uneventful. He took a job as an altar boy in the prison chapel, worked in the laundry and served out his time quietly. Warden Johnson noted that Kelly would become depressed when receiving mail from family members. He seemed to feel remorse for his crimes and always felt that his wife Kathryn and their other accomplices were treated too harshly.
Machine Gun Kelly (without hat) enjoying his time on the Alcatraz Recreation Yard. Seated next to him (wearing hat) is Willie Radkay.
Basil “The Owl” Banghart and Machine Gun Kelly were close friends at Alcatraz.
Letters from Kelly to the Attorney General, requesting an immediate transfer from Alcatraz.
Inmate Willie Radkay, who occupied a cell next to Kelly, stated that he had many fond memories of getting to know him, and working together in the prison Industries along with Basil “The Owl” Banghart. Every day they would work side-by-side, enduring all of Kelly’s “big tales.” When asked about his most prominent memory of living next to Machine Gun, Radkay said that nearly every night Kelly would accuse Willie of snoring, reach out of his cell and slap him with a magazine.
Kelly wrote several remorseful letters to Urschel begging his help in pleading his case. His letters provide a genuine sense of the pain and loneliness he suffered during his imprisonment on the Rock. In one letter written to Charles Urschel on April 11, 1940, Kelly penned perhaps some of the most profound observations ever written on the subjects of crime, and time served on America’s “Devil’s Island.” He wrote in part:
I feel at times you wonder how I’m standing up under my penal servitude, and what is my attitude of mind. It is natural that you should be infinitely curious. Incidentally, let me say that you have missed something in not having had the experience for yourself. No letters, no amount of talk, and still more, no literary description in second-rate books, and books on crime cannot but be second-rate – could ever give you the faintest idea of the reality.
No one can know what it’s like to suffer from the sort of intellectual atrophy, the pernicious mental scurvy, that come of long privation of all the things that make life real; because even the analogy of thirst can’t possibly give you an inkling of what it’s like to be tortured by the absence of everything that makes life worth living.
Maybe you have asked yourself, “How can a man of even ordinary intelligence put up with this kind of life, day in, day out, week after week, month after month, year after year.” To put it more mildly still, what is this life of mine like, you might wonder, and whence do I draw sufficient courage to endure it.
To begin with, these five words seem written in fire on the walls of my cell: “Nothing can be worth this.” This – kind of life I’m leading. That is the final word of wisdom so far as crime is concerned. Everything else is mere fine writing...
George Kelly’s Leavenworth mug shot, taken in 1951 (top) and (bottom) the last known living photo of Machine Gun Kelly, taken just prior his death in 1954.
A telegram to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, announcing George Kelly’s death in 1954.
Kathryn Kelly playing the piano at the women’s correctional facility in Ohio, and prison portrait taken during the same period.
R.G. (Boss) Shannon, takes a last look at George Kelly, during the famed gunman's funeral in Cottondale, Texas on July 27, 1954. Shannon also served time in prison for his part in the kidnapping of Charles Urscel.
Charles Urschel apparently never responded to any of Kelly’s letters. George “Machine Gun” Kelly would spend seventeen years on Alcatraz and was returned to Leavenworth in 1951. Kelly died of a heart attack on July 18, 1954. Ironically, it was his fifty-ninth birthday. Kathryn was released from prison just four years following Kelly’s death, and took a job at an Oklahoma hospital as a bookkeeper. Albert Bates died of a heart attack on July 4, 1948, while still an inmate at Alcatraz.
Morton Sobell
Morton Sobell
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
In March of 1951, Morton Sobell, known inte
rnationally as the notorious Atom Spy, was brought to trial for conspiracy to commit espionage against the United States. He was the co-defendant of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and their court case remains one the most famous and controversial trials in American history. Their alleged acts were declared the “Crime of the Century” by J. Edgar Hoover and the trial would result in the execution of both of the Rosenbergs. Sobell would escape the death penalty, but would receive a harsh thirty-year Federal prison term. In an attempt to apply one of the most severe punishments that the Federal prison system could impose, J. Edgar Hoover personally requested that Sobell be sent to Alcatraz.
In 1950 the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Julius Rosenberg, then an electrical engineer employed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and his wife Ethel, a vocal activist for communism. They were indicted for conspiracy to transmit classified military information to a foreign power. During the course of their trial, the prosecution charged that the Rosenbergs had persuaded Ethel's brother David Greenglass, an Army Technical Sergeant at a top-secret governmental laboratory in Los Alamos, to furnish a Soviet agent named Anatoli Yakovlev with classified data on nuclear weapons. Greenglass had allegedly sketched schematics of the atomic bomb design, and provided several other key documents. It was revealed during the trial that he had full military clearance, with access to the most sensitive Defense Department data.
Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years Page 25
