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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2009 - 10:45:21 AM |
In 1933 through 1934, America endured a crime wave largely centered on Chicago and Northern Indiana, but not part of the empire begun by Al Capone and managed by Frank Nitti in “Snorky’s” absence. This was a wave of violent crime, most notably bank robberies.
It was an era in which criminal figures became celebrities, with colorful names like “Pretty Boy” Floyd and “Baby Face” Nelson. But one of these men, his name very ordinary, will always be remembered as the ultimate gangster: John Dillinger.
In Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies,” the always surprising Johnny Depp is superbly cast as Johnny Dillinger in a film that will doubtlessly be seen for years to come as the ultimate gangster movie. Now, Sharon and I both feel that Jimmy Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart are stand-alone icons of the genre, and such films as the original “Public Enemy” and “Little Ceasar” are inimitable classics. That said, however, the modern film maker – if he knows how and cares, and Michael Mann gets top marks both ways – has so much more control of the medium. When Jimmy Cagney was getting shot at with a Tommygun in the old Warner Brothers gangster films, he really had to duck because they couldn’t make Tommyguns function with blanks and the expert marksman behind the Tommy was throwing real lead.
“Public Enemies” cost about one hundred million dollars to make, according to one source, and it looks like every dime of that was up on the screen with lavish sets, many of these the actual locations where this bloody history took place. Dillinger had guts and gall, an escape artist who once carved a fake handgun – ala Billy The Kid – and “blasted” his way out of an Indiana jail with it, stealing the Sheriff’s brand new eight cylinder Ford for a getaway vehicle. We all know the basic story of John Dillinger’s end. It was 1934. Dillinger – evincing good taste in women -- was a fan of the gorgeous actress Myrna Loy. Chicago’s Biograph theater was playing the 1934 gangster film “Manhattan Melodrama,” starring Clark Gable, Miss Loy and William Powell, the first teaming of Loy and Powell who became so famous a duo as “Nick and Nora Charles” with the “The Thin Man” and its sequels. A woman betrayed Dillinger’s plans, informing legendary FBI Agent Melvin Purvis. As Dillinger exited the Biograph theater, perhaps, as depicted in the film, having come to grips with his own character through an understanding of Gable’s portrayal of a gangster who died for honor and friendship, John Dillinger’s career came to its storied end.
The depiction of violence in the film is peerless, reminding one of the gunfight scenes in Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch.” One couldn’t ask for a better gun movie. Dillinger is shown disassembling his 1921 Thompson and instructing an armorer to take a coil out of a recoil spring because he’s was getting some jams. The characters – gangsters and FBI Agents alike – are shown actually firing out drum magazines and changing to the more conveniently carried sticks! Not only Thompson submachine guns are in evidence, but Browning Automatic Rifles (BARs), 1911s, a variety of revolvers and the Colt 1903 (or 1905) Pocket Model. The authentic period gun leather was made by Ted Blocker Holsters. Gun battles, car chases, bank robberies, prison breaks – even a solid romantic sub-plot – and a lot of carefully crafted characters make “Public Enemies” a film not to be missed. The characters are not cardboard, but superbly drawn. Dillinger has a conscience and a sense of loyalty. Purvis is torn between what he knows as right and wrong and what he must force himself to do to get the job done. John Dillinger died in 1934. Melvin Horace Purvis, Jr., would die in 1960. To this day, although his death is considered a suicide, some contend he triggered his last shot by accident.
Go see “Public Enemies” on the big screen and you’ll obviously wind up buying it when it comes out on DVD. Michael Mann made a classic movie.
Visit Jerry at www.jerryahern.com
© Copyright 2009 by DOWN RANGE TV
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