#PUBLIC ENEMIES CAST MOVIE#

And so, less than a dozen years after his bug-eyed face slammed against the sidewalk, Dillinger became fodder for movie studios eager to fuel the rabidly popular gangster genre. Though he may not have died in a blaze of glory like some of his marauding cohorts, Dillinger's death by ambush outside Chicago's Biograph Theater one muggy summer evening in 1934 after a showing of the eerily prescient Clark Gable flick, 'Manhattan Melodrama,' possessed a striking cinematic quality that only enhanced his notoriety and legend.

The scruffy Dillinger gleefully stuck it to those smug financial institutions while thumbing his nose at a disorganized police force that continually let the outlaw slip through its fingers. Both in life and death, the original Public Enemy #1 commanded attention and even gained the admiration of a segment of society distraught over its dismal prospects during the Great Depression and eager to see the greedy banks receive their comeuppance. Only in America could a ruthless, egomaniacal bank robber evolve into a folk hero, and only someone as savvy as John Dillinger could pull off such a slick and tricky transformation. “Public Enemies” depicts how Purvis’ early attempts to catch Dillinger end in tragic failure, and how Purvis eventual adoption of morally gray methods lead to his eventual success, but also how these methods lead to his questioning of his role as a lawman. The Public Enemies film chronicles Purvis and Dillinger’s duels, featuring exciting chases, gunfights and the eventual betrayal that led to Dillinger’s downfall. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) decided Dillinger’s capture would be the flash in the pan that would catapult the new agency into national prominence, and assigned the photogenic Purvis to lead the manhunt. As Dillinger’s robberies and jail escapes became the stuff of legend, more gangsters join his band and other robbers crop up around the nation.Īs the loot hauls and body count climbed, FBI director J. Based on a book by Bryan Burroughs, the majority of Public Enemies’ action centers around the cat-and-mouse game between Purvis (Christian Bale) and legendary bankrobber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp).ĭillinger, a charming, charismatic figure had captivated public opinion by his daring raids against banks, made unpopular by the troubles the Great Depression financial crisis had heaped upon ordinary Americans.

Public Enemies, helmed by acclaimed director Michael Mann, tells the story of the nascent FBI and legendary agent Melvin Purvis’ crusade against gangs of bankrobbers terrorizing the country during the Great Depression. The only way that you will leave a jail cell is when we take you out to execute you.Public Enemies tells a timeless story of black, white and grey against a historical backdrop eerily similar to the troubled times in which we now live.

But up close, toe to toe, when somebody's about to die right here, right now - I'm used to that. Probably pretty good from a distance, especially when you got the fellow outnumbered. That'll keep you up nights.Īnd what keeps you up nights, Mr. And then they just drift away into nothing. It's the eyes, ain't it? They look at you right before they go. That fellow, the one who got killed at the Sherone Apartments - the newspaper said you found him alive. Damn good thing he was pretty, 'cause he sure wasn't Whiz Kid Floyd. Well, here's the man who killed Pretty Boy Floyd. Not here for your money, I'm here for the bank's.

Public enemies cast