Jagd auf Dillinger

My review might be a little biased because I love Warren Oates and will watch anything he appears in (including obscure movies like 92 In the Shade). However, I'd like to say that this is a very well-made gangster flick that rivals Bonnie & Clyde in entertainment value. I actually prefer the action sequences in Dillinger to the famous ones from Bonnie & Clyde because they seem rougher, more natural and less self-conscious. The shooting sequences in Bonnie & Clyde seem too choreographed and slightly pretentious in comparison. Another selling point for Dillinger is that it contains wonderful performances by Oates and Ben Johnson. Actually, Ben Johnson almost steals the show as "G Man" Melvin Purvis. Even though they only have 1.5 scenes together, Oates and Johnson complement each other nicely here.

Director John Milius also takes writing credit for this very colorful look at the most famous bank robber John Dillinger(Warren Oates). This story begins in the middle of his criminal career ending in his death at the Biograph Theater. This is a very romanticized tale complete with Baby Face Nelson(Richard Dreyfuss) and Pretty Boy Floyd(Steve Kanaly). Ben Johnson plays FBI agent Melvin Purvis who has an ego to match Dillinger's. Cloris Leachman plays Anna Sage, the infamous Woman in Red. Throw in Michelle Phillips as a girlfriend and Harry Dean Stanton as minion Homer Van Meter and you have the key players in this very colorful and violent movie. Liberty is taken with history for entertainment sake and besides the profanity filled script is not the selling point...the manic gun battles get most of the attention. The gun play is bloody and frequent; some of the roughest ever filmed. For a less colorful, but very interesting version check out DILLINGER(1945)starring Lawrence Tierney.

Like his predecessor in this role (Lawrence Tierney), this John Dillinger - Warren Oates - also looks the part. Oates is a rough-looking ugly mug and convincing in the lead role. Speaking of mugs, also included in this gangster flick are a few other criminals of the era: Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.

Ben Johnson, meanwhile, is interesting as Melvin Purvis, the FBI who tracks down the famous Public Enemy Number One. Johnson also narrates in part of the film.

Oates does a fine job of playing Dillinger. Unfortunately - remember this is the '70s, a decade in which the "anti-hero" was a full bloom - the film tends to make this crook into a sympathetic figure. The screenwriters tell us, "Hey, folks, see this criminal really wasn't a bad guy! Gve him some slack!" Yeah, right.

A few minor acting notes: Cloris Leachman gets third billing, but only has a small role at the end as the famous "Lady In Red." Michelle Phillips, who made a name for herself as a member of the Mamas and Papas singing group, did a nice job of acting, better than I would have expected.

I have seen three versions of "Dillinger" and all of them are good, including this one.

I watched this for the first time in years after picking up the Widescreen DVD in the bargain bin. As a youngster, I remember many of these films for the bloodletting. How we used to talk them up afterwards. Often I'm disappointed after watching it many years later. 'Hey, that's not how I remember it. Well, 'Dillinger' isn't one of those films. This is a fine film, in fact, it's probably the number 2 film, behind 'Bonnie And Clyde' from that time that portrayed the Depression Era robbers. Warren Oates is excellent. He didn't get the chance very often to play the lead, but this was an excellent chance for him to bust out a little. And there are lots of recognizable actors in smaller roles. But this is Warren nearing his peak. It's as exciting as I remember, actually better then I remember. Well paced with a couple of slower interludes, that towards the end are kind of framed together. If you get a chance watch this film. You'll be pleasantly surprised. Oh and this DVD has the original 'We're In The Money' opening credits, plus it has the diclaimer at the end after the feature is over. I gave it a 7 out of 10.

This is still the definitive biography of John Dillinger on film. I just saw Mann's Public Enemies - this film blows that one away. Forgive me for quoting my own review of Mann's film:

"Milius, taking his cue from "Bonnie And Clyde," from the earlier Lawrence Tierney film "Dillinger," and from the gaudy gangster films of Roger Corman, fashioned a film that was both flashy yet homespun, part unabashed B-movie, part evocation of American Gothic. Even his occasional tinkering with historical accuracy could be forgiven, since it was clear he had a firm grasp on what the Dillinger phenomenon was really all about - 'farm boy makes good by turning bad' is an undeniable folk-theme of American life. And the brilliance of Warren Oates' performance in the Milius film is that Oates plays Dillinger like a runaway farm-boy with a sense of humor and a quick temper, who just happened to rob banks for a living. That's as much as you can give any professional criminal without lying about the nature of crime namely, it's about stealing other peoples' money and hurting many of them in the process."

Other reviewers have remarked this as a B-movie - but it is intentionally so, it never makes any pretense otherwise; and that's important: having decided to make a B-movie leaves Milius with considerable leeway as to how far he wants to push any aspect of the material. So while it's hard to think of any particular dramatic high-point of the film (perhaps the scene where Dillinger and Purvis go to the same restaurant, or the death of Pretty Boy Floyd?), it's much harder to find any moment that really drags the film down - the pacing of the film is that of a B-movie, it moves! There's nothing exceptional about the cinematography or music, or production design; what we're left with are memorable performances by some of the greatest character actors in cinema at the time, and an exciting story with enough savvy to trigger our emotions.

Milius watched the Lawrence Tierney "Dillinger" and learned from it before starting this film; Mann should have watched Milius' film over and over before starting "Public Enemies." In any event, this is still THE Dillinger story, and and an entertaining action film as well.