The Purple Gang

Prohibition Detroit is the setting for this gangster thriller. Robert Blake is impressive as Honeyboy. Barry Sullivan, Elaine Edwards. Miss Mac: Jody Lawrance. Hank: Marc Cavell. Eddie: Joseph Turkel. Frank McDonald directed., A morality film about juvenile crime and punishment leads off with a narrative by Congressman James Roosevelt. It concerns some depression era crimes in the Detroit area. In semi-documentary style, victims are entombed in cement, crushed, shotgunned and terrorized by the increasingly violent and desperate young crooks. The question is raised whether or not young criminals should be tried as adults for their transgressions against society.