Dillinger (1973)

Director:

John Milius

Writer:

John Milius (written by)

Release Date:

20 July 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

...he was the gangster's gangster.

Plot:

John Dillinger and his gang go on a bank robbing spree across the midwest, but one G-Man is determined to bring him down.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Gangster | 1930s | Celebrity Criminal | Tommy Gun

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Warren Oates	...	John Dillinger
Ben Johnson	...	Melvin Purvis
Michelle Phillips	...	Billie Frechette
Cloris Leachman	...	Anna Sage
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Homer Van Meter
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Harry Pierpont
John P. Ryan	...	Charles Mackley (as John Ryan)
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Baby Face Nelson
Steve Kanaly	...	Pretty Boy Floyd
John Martino	...	Eddie Martin
Roy Jenson	...	Samuel Cowley
Read Morgan	...	Big Jim Wollard
Frank McRae	...	Reed Youngblood

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 (video rating) | UK:18 | West Germany:18 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Norway:(Banned) (1973-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Ardmore, Oklahoma, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

After Melvin Purvis shoots down "Pretty Boy" Floyd, he goes up to the fallen outlaw and asks "Are you 'Pretty Boy' Floyd?" to which Floyd responds "I'm Charles Arthur Floyd." That was the real exchange between the outlaw and the G-Man when Floyd was brought down on October 22nd, 1934. Like "Baby Face" Nelson, "Bugsy" Siegel, and "Scarface" Al Capone, Floyd hated his famous nickname and would never acknowledge it. So when Purvis kept asking him if he was "Pretty Boy", he kept responding with his full name until he was nearly dead and Floyd finally acknowledged the nickname to Purvis before dying.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In th movie Dillinger exists the Biograph Theater and turns right or north. In fact the alley he was shot in was to the left or 1/4 south of the theater.

Quotes:

John Dillinger: [before a bank robbery] OK, boys; let's go make a withdrawal.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Cigars (1973)

Soundtrack:

Honey

The direction is fine, the period detail is fine, the actors are fine, the script - well, uh...

While not without interest (such as some good action sequences), I can't help but be somewhat disappointed by the movie. Although it claims to be a kind of biography of Dillinger, you learn very little about him. The movie starts in the middle of his crime spree, so you don't see what lead him into that life. And from what you see of him here, he comes across little better than a gun-happy thug who is into abusing his girlfriend - surely the real Dillinger was more interesting than that.

For that matter, you learn little (if anything) of Melvin Purvis or the other real-life figures involved here. They are all pretty bland characters who have one role, either to pursue and eliminate evil, or escape from the law and rob banks. In fact, it's near impossible to tell the Dillinger gang members apart!

The script is not just weak in giving character development, the story is also poorly told, with the story jumping around from place to place before we can catch our breath and properly digest what happened. Characters disappear and suddenly appear, and the story often jumps months ahead without bothering to tell us what happened during that time.

This was Milius' first job as a director. He got the job only because A.I.P. offered him his long-dreamed goal of directing if he also wrote the script. I cannot help but think that Milius was so occupied in preparing to direct, that he didn't give himself enough time to polish his script.