John T. Ryan ..........so said Gramp Maple (character actor, Charley Grapwin in THE PETRIFIED FOREST. With that little bit of dialog, so skillfully delivered in dialect, the supporting player instantly divided the Crime Drama into two Sub Genres; those being the Organized "Mafia" type variety and the Stick-up Guys on the Run type. Obviously we know where this one lies.ONCE AGAIN, TO borrow from yet another film source and reference. we say: "Most of what follows is true." With our tip of the hat and sincerest thanks we owe a debt of gratitude to BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID's production team of William Goldman (writer), George Roy Hill (director) and John Foreman & Paul Monash (producers).BUT SO IT is that there is a basically true story being told, albeit one that was either cut down in some respects and yet at the same time, generously embellished in others. With a running time of about 1 hour and 10 minutes, it has a certain economy of story telling that wastes not any footage whatsoever. The on screen story moves and never bores.OF PARTICULAR INTEREST to any film buff who is worth his weight in salt is the assembled cast. The cast is composed of a large group of tried and true veterans of probably hundreds of movies. We have Edmund Lowe, former leading man from the last days of the Silents to the early Talkies, but still a a big enough name to draw attention. Next up as situated in the co-starring status is Anne Jeffreys, who had a long and productive career in film and television.FILLING OUT THE scorecard is a large contingent of guys who were no strangers to Crime Drama. And there certainly must have been a shuttle service operating between the multiple shooting locations and Warner Brothers' Studios. We say this because Marc Lawrence, Elisha Cook, Jr., Ludwig Stossel, Victor Killian and Dewey Robinson were frequent employees (though not exclusive) there.THEN WE HAVE the opening title card that declares "Introducing Lawrence Tierney". This was brief and to the point and certainly a model of brevity. It was also serving notice that his would be a very prolific and successful run in Tinsel Town. Perhaps his ascension to the level of "Star Status" was just a tad short; but he was around for some time, working right up to the year 2000.* ANOTHER INTERESTING OBSERVATION is how this film seemingly has influenced many other movies that followed. As evidence, we present: BONNIE & CLYDE, BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID and even WHITE HEAT. That's not to say that this King Brothers Production didn't borrow from others. Just one look at the extensive scenes portrayed as being in prison were carefully crafted after the close study of the best in the genre; that being at Warner Brothers.WELL JUST IMAGINE, all of this from 'Poverty Row' charter member, Monogram Studios! Ain't these Americans clever, Schultz!NOTE: * Mr. Tierney's resume included late career appearances as a regular on HILL STREET BLUES and as the California Angels Manager in THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD.

brucewhain Things like this are usually better if they stick more or less to known facts. In this case it's so garbled that it's difficult to tell exactly what these peoples' intentions were.Dillinger is a cartoon character with limited social graces and seldom without some inept business or something awkward to say. It would have been nice - and seems to me particularly film-worthy - to include the part about the amazing plastic surgery that enabled him to avoid capture for a while. But then Wikipedia doesn't include that either, sticking strictly to a well known "after" (as opposed to "before") picture, to ensure implementation of their propaganda goals. Ditto this movie as to intentions.The result is that the requisite gratuitous violence is so implausible it turns into a cartoon, about a mild-mannered guy who goes around shooting a lot of people without explanation. The criminal characters are so gaseous and dull! Except the one mentor guy, but he's not believable either, due to the stilted Affekt of almost every line and directorial detail. Of course all their names have been changed... to protect the guilty, I suppose.In real life it was not his long-time squeeze but a hooker working for the FBI that finally lured him into the staked out movie theater. It took her about a year as I recall from reading about 10 years ago. The intentions of the present cinematic squeeze are garbled as well in this regard. (To protect the innocent?) And he didn't die in a pile of back ally garbage, but right in the middle of the sidewalk: Great, if your intentions are in the lines of gruesome noirishness.There's certainly little that's sinister or noirish about it.

mark.waltz You won't soon forget the violent atmosphere of "Dillinger", a 1945 Monogram biography of the notorious bank robber of the late 1920's and 30's. Lawrence Tierney blasts his way onto the screen in a performance that reeks of pulp fiction, only with one difference-this is about a real person. Like two other outstanding cheapies of the times ("Detour" and "Decoy"), "Dillinger" does not stoop to the confines of the production code. It really crosses the line in its telling of Dillinger's story, from small-time crook (who robbed a convenience store so he could buy his girlfriend a drink) to the most wanted man of the gangster days. When he hooks up with blonde bombshell Anne Jeffreys (after robbing her while she counted the till at a movie ticket counter), its like the sparks that started the Chicago fire. Like the lovers in "Detour" and the film noir masterpiece "Gun Crazy", they are desperate, unapologetic for their breaking of the law, and doomed from the start.There are some wonderful touches in the film, particularly a jail sequence where Tierney makes a wooden gun to escape from prison, and the revenge he takes on Edmund Lowe, his earlier crime boss. The scene where an old couple running the inn where the Dillinger gang is hiding out, are discovered calling the police, is heartbreaking, yet poignantly romantic. And the final sequence, with Dillinger's well-known demise after coming out of a movie theater (watching the gangster picture "Manhattan Melodrama"), is nothing short of classic. Everything about this movie is practically brilliant. The 1973 remake is mediocre in comparison. Dark, gloomy film noir type photography and crusty dialog are among the other highlights that make this a must.

NewEnglandPat This film biography is an entertaining movie of a total thug who took what he wanted at the point of a gun. Dillinger was indeed a public enemy no. 1 who turned on friend and foe alike to suit his own twisted purposes. The mastermind of assorted criminal activities, Dillinger insisted on being the boss and demanded allegiance from each gang member, using an itchy trigger finger to make his point. The feature has a film noir look, and Anne Jeffreys is just right as a typical femme-fatale of this era. Jeffreys, a perfect clone of Virginia Mayo, is pleasing to the eye but doesn't really have much to do except suffer abuse from Dillinger, but evens the score in her own good time. Tierney is dashing and tragic as Dillinger but is overshadowed by Edmund Lowe's clever underplaying of Specs. Eduardo Ciannelli and Elisha Cook Jr. are also good. Marc Lawrence's natural menacing visage is a big plus but it's Ciannelli who makes the best impression as a grumpy, suspicious gunman.