Dillinger

When Dillinger is sent to prison as a young man for a small scale robbery he winds up sharing a cell with Specs. Specs introduces Dillinger to his gang and he joins them. On his release Dillinger breaks the gang out of jail and they set out on a spree of well planned robberies. With tensions rising between the clinical Specs and the violent risk-taking Dillinger the mood in the gang become tense. Dillinger eventually takes over the gang leading them into increasingly dangerous jobs risking capture and death.

One of the many filmed versions of this gangster's life and death. It may also be one of the shortest, but by having a tight basic plot and good script it doesn't feel too short. The story is stripped down to key moments and events in Dillinger's life as told by his father, however this makes the film more urgent and tense compared to more rambling versions. However I suppose as a life story that's not really what you want, but here it works because it's a crime thriller rather than a biopic.

Lawrence Tierney was a bit of a hellraiser in his day and he brings a menacing streak to the role. Of those who don't watch films made before 1990 it may be a surprise to realise that this young man is the same as played Joe in Reservoir Dogs. The whole gang gives strong support especially Edmund Lowe as the harassed Specs, it's also always good to see Elisha Cook Jr, here playing Kirk.

Overall a taught little crime thriller that benefits from a tough cast and a short tense running time.

This taut little crime noir is worth watching a couple of times. It has a short running time which was typical of "B" films and it packs a lot of action into a little over 60 minutes.

What a cast this film boasts!!......Edmund Lowe, a former screen idol of the silents and early talkies; Marc Lawrence and Eduardo Cianelli who could never shake their bad guy images; the greatest of all character actors, Elisha Cook Jr. whose career spanned in excess of 50 years; and Lawrence Tierney, born to portray a criminal. Tierney, who was a bad boy in real life (which sank his career for many years before he made a comeback in the 1980s)is the epitome of a cold eyed, hardened gangster who lives for today and the hell with tomorrow. Tierney, whose brother Scott Brady was a recurring presence in films of the 50s, will always be recognized for this part alone and it could have shot him to stardom but his personal life got in the way.......too bad. This film is a standout in the realm of "B" movies and is worthy of it's reputation.

I continue to be amazed at the ratings some movies get here. I just saw this snappy little movie and thought sure it would get a higher rating that 6.3. I agree with the another viewer's description of it being a "lean, mean, cheapo." A cheapo yes, but one where not a penny is spent on extraneous scenes. A nice antidote to higher-budgeted (and more highly rated) movies where we're made to spend hours watching actors doing virtually nothing in never-ending, story-killing close-ups. I'd watch this one again in a heartbeat.

... and by that I mean Lawrence Tierney. He is the reason to watch this film. Without him this would be a 5/10 star crime drama that is short on facts and, quite frankly, also short on chills and thrills. With Tierney in the lead you get to see him change along with his character John Dillinger. What an interesting presence he is.

Tierney was a supporting player at RKO at the time, barely noticed in his first couple of years there. The leading role here was supposed to go to Chester Morris, but somebody insisted that Tierney would be good for the role, plus they could get him on the cheap. At poverty row Monogram it was all about economy.

And so in this film you see Dillinger evolve from somebody who wanted to be a broker - in the roaring 20s who wouldn't - to somebody who screws up his first armed robbery in which the weapon is - well - his arm! He is impressed by the big time bank robber who is his prison cell mate for said robbery., busts his cell mate and his gang out of jail once released, and then his viciousness grows with his ambition.

The woman who turns out to be the "lady in red" is his long time companion, actually one of his first stick up victims once he gets out of jail. In fact, Dillinger was far from a one woman man, but her role is needed here. Because you see her grow from fascinated to cold and distant as Dillinger grows more wanton in his blood lust.

As for Lawrence Tierney, this is the only time in any film he's starred in that I've seen where he starts out smiling - sincerely even! - and then develops that "Born To Kill" intimidating stance and visage of his later roles all in about 90 minutes.

Best small scene: Dillinger has just performed a particularly vicious act, in the middle of the night, no witnesses. His girlfriend comes halfway downstairs, witnesses his handiwork, throws a disapproving glance Dillinger's way, and then swirls around back upstairs to her bed. She is dressed in this sexy negligee that reveals nothing and in fact could double as a wedding dress if adjusted a bit. The fact that they are sleeping miles apart along with that glance says more than any dialogue could. The production code did lead to some filmmaking ingenuity in some cases, and this was one of them.

If you ever get hold of the old Warner Brothers DVD of this film, it is worth a second watch for the commentary by John Milius who wrote and directed the 1973 version of Dillinger. Not only does he tell you where this film actually parallels Dillinger's actual life, but he points out how Monogram managed to shoot this film on a shoe string and not have it appear so. He points out where stock footage is used, where sets are redressed and reused, and points out how the intro with Dillinger's father bizarrely appearing in a movie theatre to tell his son's story is a quick and cheap way to get the character's background out there without actually having to film it!

There are tough guys and there are tough guys, but Brooklyn-born Lawrence Tierney was the real deal off and on screen. His casting in the 1945 Dillinger was fortuitous, as the film was the sleeper of the year, and made Tierney briefly an overnight star. He soon became Hollywood's bad boy, getting into scrapes with the law and in general raising hell, which doubtless explains his relatively brief starring career. In Dillinger he is excellent in the lead role, and while he does not much resemble the real Dillinger he is right for the movie. His face and especially eyes, tough and sad at the same time, make him perfect casting whatever his other deficiencies. There is some pretty outdoor photography in the film, which is at times rather arty, but successfully so. The acting is generally quite good, and the mood offbeat and foreboding, and quite different from the typical gangster picture from the thirties. It started a new trend in more realistic, psychological, less city-bound crime pictures with 'dangerous' leading characters, such as the Walsh-Cagney White Heat.