Lack of good storyline.

Admirable film.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Despite some dull dialogue padding and other obvious exercises in penny-pinching, this is quite a creditable effort from wrong-side- of-the-street's Allied Artists studio. Of course, Allied makes no mention of the fact that the gang members were actually Jewish and that their names have actually been changed to disguise this fact. Nevertheless, the moody, low-key photography by Ellis Carter, the occasionally stylish direction of Frank McDonald (who worked for just about every studio in Hollywood at one time or another. He started off as a dialogue director but soon graduated to "B" movies) and some excellent acting, particular Robert Blake's compellingly psychotic portrayal, give this film a considerable edge over its stablemates. Incidentally, Lloyd Garnell is actually billed as the "chief set electrician". There were never less than three – and most often at least four – set electricians on even the most humble movie. They were vital. If the director was all ready to shoot, but the set not properly lit

Hooray for the Warners Archive collection mostly of DVD films from bankrupt studios like MGM, RKO, and Allied. They sell you a DVD it costs about nothing to record. Want a standard chapter menu? Tough. It's all fast forward to get you lost. I preface this to say there was no reason on earth to re-release The Purple Gang. Robert Blake plays the claustrophobic leader of a cowardly bootleg gang that brutally murders three women..the pregnant wife of Detective Harley (Barry Sullivan) plus a cute crazy dame who wants to confess imaginary murders, and even the sweet social worker that got him out of jail. What really makes the film unendurable are the violent montage rushes that pad out the time almost every five minutes toward the end where the narrator keeps saying the purple gang had some unexplained connection to prostitution. What can I say? Shallow, cruel and unbearable. At least now you know what might have driven Blake to involvement in real crimes.

Cheapo production. This is supposed to be the 1920s, but there is no attempt to use costumes or hair styles of that era. The men all wear 1950s hats. Robert Blake plays tough as the juvenile gang leader. Barry Sullivan walks through his part as the detective as though he wanted to be somewhere else. His wife,of course, wants him to quit. The gang looks like a Central Casting call for B-list juveniles. As clean and nice looking a bunch of hoodlums as can be imagined. If they could dance they would be ready for West Side Story. The sets are unadorned and look like they were assembled in somebody's garage. There is a lot of unconvincing gunplay and actors falling to the floor, but no blood.

Robert Blake's portrayal of Honeyboy is chillingly charismatic. Honeyboy leads his gang of teenage hoodlums to success in the big leagues of organized crime. The key to Honeyboy's success and his dedication as a "leader" lies in the fact that he is a sociopathic killer and a psychopathic egomaniac. Robert Blake plays it all to the hilt and still manages to make Honeyboy cute and sympathetic.