# The Year of Fear: Machine Gun Kelly & the Manhunt That Changed the Nation

1933 has been called "The Year of Fear" for good reason. Prohibition had led to a precipitous rise in crime, and some of the nation's most infamous criminals engineered a string of mayhem and lawlessness such as America had never seen. When Prohibition was repealed that year, these criminals looked elsewhere for sources of easy cash. George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his wife, Kathryn, set their sights on kidnapping. Their target was oilman Charles Urschel. Meanwhile, J. Edgar Hoover, in desperate need of a successful prosecution to impress the new administration and save his job, gave his agents the sole authority to chase kidnappers across state lines. When Kelly bungled the kidnapping, Hoover sensed his big opportunity. The criminals were chased 20,000 miles over the backroads of Depression-era America, crossing 16 state lines and generating headlines along the way.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2015
- By: Library Of Congress
- Genres: Crime
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689943/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021689943?play=1)