Viewing Single Post From: Dillinger (1973)

Viewing Single Post From: Dillinger (1973)
Laughing Gravy	Jul 3 2009, 03:21 PM
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,073 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Well, this picture - written & directed by John Milius and produced by Sam Arkoff for American-International Pictures to capitalize on both Bonnie & Clyde and The Godfather - is all but forgotten these days, and it's too bad, because it's a damn good movie that uses its miniscule budget wisely in recreating the early '30s gangster period. I loved it. Warren Oates is John Dillinger, who acts as if he's the best damn bank robber there is. The lovely Michelle Phillips is his main squeeze, Billie Frechette, and she's no actress but look at her: who cares? Notable in the Dillinger Mob are Harry Dean Staton as Homer Van Meter and Richard Drefuss (the same year as American Graffiti) unforgettable as a wildly violent, nutsy-cuckoo Baby Face Nelson. Ben Johnson, cast against type as Melvin Purvis, G-Man on Dillinger's trail, is terrific, too. Cloris Leachman shows up in the final reel to wear a red dress and escort Dillinger to the Biograph Theatre in Chicago. Filmed mainly amongst the dirt roads and ghost towns still plentiful in rural 1970s America (to be specific, various locations across Oklahoma), Dillinger is exciting, funny, clever, and borrows from films like Bonnie & Clyde without making it too obvious. Fave line: Stanton is stymied by his attempt to hold up an aged gas-station attendant, and so empties his gun into the first thing he sees and hops into the getaway car yelling, "I just got the bubble-gum machine! Let's get outta here!" MGM issued a cheap DVD a while back (it does have the trailer) that is functional enough. With the new Dillinger movie starring Johnny Depp out this week, it's a good time to revisit this one, folks.


Dillinger (1973) · Serious Stuff