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375

Melvin Purvis

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Melvin Purvis

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Auction Date:2010 Jun 16 @ 10:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Bid online at www.rrauction.com. Auction closes June 16.

FBI agent and archetypical “G-Man” (1903–1960) responsible for the capture of John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, “Baby Face” Nelson, and other notorious baddies. Typed memorandum, signed “MHP,” one page, 7.5 x 10.25, dated May 12, 1934. Headed “Memorandum for the file,” the memo reads, in part: “Mr. H. C. Hoagland of the Action Film Company…called on me on May 8, 1934, and informed me that he is now engaged in making a two reel motion picture concerning Dillinger. He was sent to see me by Mr. Hinton Clabaugh and Mr. Hoagland stated that the purpose of this film is of a constructive nature and not one which would tend to glorify a criminal.

He requested that I make an opening statement for this film, and that I permit him to photograph me making the statement. I, of course, declined and thanked him for the courtesy of his request and I have also informed the director of this.”

Also included is a free franked mailing envelope, postmarked June 27, 1934, addressed in type to “Mr. Richard J. Reese, Reese Auditing Company,” signed in the upper left, “Lt. Col. Melvin Purvis, JAGD-C.M.G.T.C., Fort Custer, Mich.,” and franked “Free,” in the upper right by Purvis. Both items are double matted and framed with a portrait of Purvis, a reproduction “Wanted” poster of John Dillinger, and a moustache hair of John Dillinger’s, taken from his death mask, to an overall size of 37 x 22. In fine condition, with two expected punch holes to top of memo, and some light toning to envelope’s bottom edge.

After gangster John Dillinger escaped a jail in Crown Point, Indiana, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover put Purvis in charge of the case. In April 1934, agents received a tip from the owner of the "Little Bohemia" lodge in Wisconsin that Dillinger's gang was hiding out, and Purvis sent agents out. In the end, an agent and a bystander were killed, and the gang escaped. The search for Dillinger and this brief gun fight, however, caught the attention of the Action Film Company, which hoped to make a “two reel motion picture concerning Dillinger”—a project which Purvis, as noted here, clearly does not wish to participate, despite an assurance that the work would be “constructive.” Although the notoriety surrounding the Dillinger case made Purvis instantly famous, Hoover allegedly made it known that no single agent should be singled out as solving any case. On July 22, 1934, Purvis, acting on another tip, descended upon Dillinger after a show at the Biograph Theater in Chicago, where Dillinger was shot and killed. Evidence that the law enforcement officer was dedicated solely to his job, and not the accolades that seemed to seek him out, thanks to Dillinger.
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