Finally got to see “Public Enemies,” Michael Mann’s Dillinger movie with Johnny Depp in the starring role. I got out of my last movie theater a lot smoother than the real John Dillinger got out of his. I enjoyed the tremendous attention to period correct detail in everything from the clothes to, of course, the firearms. I just wish that Mann, one of our great action film directors who admittedly doesn’t work for The History Channel, had gone a bit more true to the actual, fascinating story.
If you track down this blog to a bit over a year ago, I wrote about my anticipation of seeing this film after being in Chicago where they filmed it on location. Good Lord, the Crown Point, Indiana jailbreak was filmed at the actual Crown Point Jail, and the notorious Little Bohemia Lodge shootout was filmed at the actual site! They were period correct right down to the holsters, including the double shoulder holsters for Colt .45 autos that Dillinger was known to wear.
That said, the historical accuracies disappoint. The film opens with Melvin Purvis chasing Pretty Boy Floyd through an apple orchard. Floyd shoots at him (one-handed at one point!) with a Thompson submachine gun, and Purvis then single-handedly kills him with one shot from a European bolt-action hunting rifle (admittedly correct for the period.) However, history shows that this happened many weeks after Dillinger was killed; Floyd was armed with a pair of Colt pistols, one of which was converted to full auto; it was a cornfield, not an orchard; and while Purvis did indeed empty his snub-nose .38 Colt Detective Special at the fleeing Pretty Boy, it is believed to have been a rifle in the hands of one of the many other lawmen firing at the fugitive that ended Floyd’s life.
The film shows Melvin Purvis killing Baby Face Nelson at the end of the Little Bohemia shootout. Totally wrong. While Purvis and Nelson shot at each other that night, neither scored a hit. Purvis’ Thompson failed to fire and he dropped it and opened up with his handgun. Nelson was killed several months after Dillinger’s death, in a gunfight with Agents Sam Cowley and Herman Hollis, who both died at his hands. The real story of that can be found HERE.
“Public Enemies” portrays Dillinger’s death outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago closer to the truth than any other movie I’m aware of, but it’s still a bit off from the historical record. The agent with drawn revolver who freezes in fear when Dillinger turns and sees him, presumably Herman Hollis, didn’t do that. Hollis fired at him. So did Agent Clarence Hurt, a veteran gunfighter out of Oklahoma. And so did Agent Charles Winstead, who is correctly depicted as killing Dillinger with a .45 “Government Automatic” as Dillinger draws a Colt Pocket Model .380 from his right front trouser pocket, also correctly depicted by the meticulous Mann. Nor does it include the two innocent female bystanders who were wounded by errant bullets in the actual shooting. My take on Dillinger’s death can be found HERE. However, the scene at the end of the movie (I won’t spoil it for you here) in which Winstead contacts the late Dillinger’s bereaved girlfriend Billie Frechette, appears to be total fiction.
There’s more. I’ve shot a lot of Thompson submachine guns, and they don’t spit great sheets of flame as they do in this and most other movies. Those great old guns fire the .45 ACP cartridge. ACP stands for Automatic Colt Pistol, and even back then the rounds were optimized to burn their powder in the 5” barrel of a 1911 Colt like the ones Dillinger favored. The powder is already burnt up by the time the bullet exits the much longer barrel of a Tommy Gun. No muzzle flash. That part is Hollywood fiction.
At least the movie did show the armed citizen who wounded Dillinger and one of his colleagues, even if it had the shots placed wrong and fired from a 19th Century rifle instead of a 19th Century revolver. Could’ve been more there, though: see THIS link. Thanks for that, Mr. Mann…and thanks to Johnny Depp and the others for realistic gun handling. Rumor has it that Depp is One Of Us, a “gun guy,” and now owns the Thompson he wielded in the movie.
It could have been so much more, from the “real history” side. But, you know what? It’s still a helluva flick, and I still enjoyed it. If you watch it, let us know here what you thought of it.
Some more related links:
FBI info on Dillinger
The book on which the movie is based
Comments in the LA Times from the author of the book on the movie version
Outside the Crown Point Jail. (No sweat, open carry is legal in Indiana.)
The Crown Point jailbreak was filmed here, where it actually happened.
Melvin Purvis emptied an early model Colt Detective Special at Pretty Boy Floyd, not a Mauser sporting rifle with set trigger as depicted in the film.
The real John Dillinger, seen here on the cover of Dary Matera’s biography, did indeed prefer the 1911 .45 pistol.
I liked seeing the vintage NRA poster in the background of one scene!
That “NRA” sign is seen in movies pretty often. It’s not the NRA as we know it. That one stands for National Recovery Act. Part of the administrations attempt to get the US out of the Depression at that time.
Actually that stands for National Recovery Administration.
I stand corrected by myself!!!!!
Of course, that “Government .45” would not have had that modified Patridge front sight in that era.
I loved it and was only able to tag about 50% of the firearms when they appeared. (Much to learn.) Imagine all that shooting and no hearing protection!
My wife — not a gunnie — appreciated the romance.
And we both really enjoyed the period details from costumes to settings. My wife is an ex-plugboard operator and she remembers equipment like that — er, but that was probably before her time even so. (How’s that, dear?)
The only oops we noticed was the “instant-on” tube radio.
Regardless, I’ll get the Blue Ray when it comes out. Well worth another watching or two.
I saw this movie. Not very impressed. It was just a chick flick for those who needed a Johnny Depp fix. I seem to remember seeing a very similar film some many years ago with the same ending, more or less. If you haven’t already seen it, don’t waste your money. Buy a box of ammo and go have fun at the range instead. There was too much “Hollywood” in this film and not enough history to keep me interested. I actually fell asleep in a couple of scenes.
Wow, thanks, Mas. I was hoping for something like this. Hollywood always takes some liberties with stories, but i’m glad the gun work really came through.
Mas,
Thank you for the wonderful History lesson with your links. the movie will have more meaning now when I see it.
Thanks!
Thanks for the review. I saw it last weekend, and while I did notice the historical inaccuracies and timeline changes (I was hoping to see a scene set in St Paul, where Dillinger hid out after escaping from Crown Point), I enjoyed the show. Mann is one of my favorite directors, and I’ll see it again to just watch it, not wait to see what happens next and how close it will be to history.
Many years ago, I had an acquaintance with a PhD in History, specializing in Roman history. She was hired by a Hollywood film maker as a consultant for a movie set in Rome around the early Christian era. She was outraged for she wanted the costumes to fit the particular time setting, whereas the film maker just wanted something that fit a broad time era. I laughed and pointed out that only she and maybe a thousand other people in the whole world would know that the costumes did not fit that particular time period. Authentic and Hollywood are oxymorons. If you want authentic watch a PBS documentary or the Discovery Channel, for though they may be wrong some times, at least they try to be accurate.
Regarding the huge muzzle flashes, Stembridge Gun rentals was probably the company that supplied the Thompsons. I don’t recall where I got the info, but the alleged explanation from Stembridge is that the guns will flash for 2 reasons: one is the obvious cinematic appeal to the average viewer and also because the guns require a bigger powder load to cycle with blanks. I don’t know how accurate this info is but I am just passing it along.
He must want it for a keepsake . From what I,ve read and seen on documentarys about movie guns, once they’re extensively modified for blank fire they can’t be returned to use real ammo.
Erich von Stroheim once ordered that the extras on a period piece wear embroidered underwear for authenticity. Didn’t win him any attaboys from the front office.
Movies are ment to be periods in a dark room with others who all suspend disbelief for 2 hours. Remember your only watching flickering lights on cloth…it’s not real to begin with.
Mas,
I’m looking forward to this movie.
I read about John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and other criminals of that era when I was a kid in school. I always wanted to be an F.B.I. Agent until I grew up and found out what they are really like. While they have some good points, and even a few good people, they are not well loved by LEO’s everywhere, myself included.
My Dad was born and raised in Chicago and had been to that theater. The day after Dillinger was shot someone told him about it and he went and looked at the spot where Dillinger fell. I wish he was still alive so I could pick his brain.
I’ll make it a point to take the wife to see this movie on my next set of day’s off. You writing about it has whetted my appetite even more.
Biker
My wife thinks that John Dillinger, not Johnny Depp, was a pretty good looking guy. I’ll get it when it comes out on DVD. I get a lot more enjoyment out of movies if I can stop the action to review and savor certain details. That will be pretty important given the period ordnance in this film.
The actual guns favored by Dillinger were not .45 but Colt Gov .38 Super, for the much greater penetrating power.
Liked the film, it’s not historical, but its still true to the 1930s era, guns are spot on, and Mann just modified a thing here or there to make the story more “appealing”. The death of almost everyone at Little Bohemia, even if not historically true, shows the man on his last limit : no friends left, he’s got to get back on his feet on his own…
I loved the fact that they used a perfect replica of Dillingers full-auto Colt Gov .38 Super, even if only Nelson used it in the movie.