G-Man: The Rise & Fall of Melvin Purvis

The 2025 Horry County Museum Documentary Film Series continues with G-Man: The Rise & Fall of Melvin Purvis, part of the Carolina Stories Series by SCETV. The name, Melvin Horace Purvis, to many people today, means nothing. But it was not so long ago that Purvis was a household name, and more than 260,000 boys and girls were digging through boxes of Post Toasties breakfast cereal to get their very own decoder rings and Junior G-Man badges.

Purvis, the Timmonsville native with the unassuming name, skyrocketed to such fame in the 1930s as leader of the FBI team that took down some of the biggest gangsters of his day, including John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. His death in 1960 is still shrouded in mystery. Was it a suicide, as first reported? Was it an accidental shooting? Or was there something more sinister behind it?

The film is free to the public and will be shown at 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 26, at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway.

The Horry County Museum Documentary Film Matinees will continue throughout 2025. For more information, call the Horry County Museum at (843) 915-5320 or e-mail hcg.museum@horrycountysc.gov.

Visit our website for full list of films