Charles T
Warren Oates walks like bank robber John Dillinger, he talks like Dillinger, he shoots like Dillinger, and he is one of the best things about "Dillinger." John Milius wrote and directed this 1973 action packed biopic about the infamous bank robber. It acknowledges Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" a couple of times, but Milius' script is not as good as the eye-wow he shows us. The story may be familiar, it has been told on dozens of true crime documentaries. John Dillinger and his gang terrorized the Midwest with violent bank robberies. He was captured in Arizona, brought back to Indiana, and escaped from jail using a bar of soap carved into the shape of a gun and blackened with shoe polish. Hot on his trail was the FBI's Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson), who made it his own personal vendetta to kill all of these criminals, smoking cigars over their dead bodies. The gang have their own loving bad girls to hunker down with, and Dillinger had prostitute Billie (Michelle Phillips). Dillinger was killed outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago while seen with the infamous lady in red, Anna Sage (Cloris Leachman).
While "Bonnie and Clyde" was a historic entry in the crime film genre, I thought the film makers in that situation glorified the duo a little too often. "Dillinger" does the opposite, making the bank robber as mean as we imagine he was. Milius' efforts to portray Dillinger as a villain backfire, since we see him in the couple of years before his death, never finding out how he got in to crime in the first place. His family is briefly shown, but nothing comes from the scene. Milius throws us into Dillinger's exploits immediately, but without any background, there is not sympathy, empathy, and eventually interest involved with the man. The beginning of the film is an exercise in choppy editing and stiff scenes until we get to the actions sequences. It makes me wonder what was left on the cutting room floor.
Ben Johnson plays a great Melvin Purvis, a wonderful character name if I didn't know the person existed in real life. While he should be our hero, Purvis is shown to be just as violent as Dillinger. Milius plays with us, with Purvis showing no mercy for some criminals, yet sparing others, without any kind of explanation. We know Purvis as well as we know Dillinger. What does Milius leave us with? Incredible shootout sequences. There is a giant gun battle at a house that takes forever and is worth every minute of film. The film is violent and does not flinch when it comes to showing the death and destruction done by both sides of the law. Milius' direction is good, and his fuzzy Depression era vistas are pretty to look at. The cinematography is great, as is the set design and costuming. The rest of the supporting cast is fine, and full of some recognizable names. Michelle Phillips is okay as Billie, although this moll type part is old hat. Harry Dean Stanton is funny as gang member Homer, his final scene is one of the best in the film. Cloris Leachman, then a recent Oscar winner, has just two scenes as Anna, I would have liked to see more. Oates is the best Dillinger ever portrayed on film. Tons of character actors populate the rest of the cast: Geoffrey Lewis, John P. Ryan, Steve Kanaly, Frank McRae, Richard Dreyfuss as Baby Face Nelson, all good. With "Dillinger," you get a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have incredibly violent shootouts that took many lives. On the other hand, you have no reason to care about these characters or their internal motivations. Maybe we know how Purvis felt about Dillinger after all.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
09/28/23
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StephenPaul C
The greatest 01 hour: and 47 minutes of crime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
07/25/23
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Logan M
Dillinger is a classic crime drama that uses characters, cinematography and editing to excel beyond its low budget.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/24/23
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dave s
After a couple of decades of producing low budget crap, American International released one of their rare good films in 1973, John Milius' Dillinger. It chronicles the rise and fall of the charismatic but ruthlessly violent bank robber John Dillinger (Warren Oates), as well as the FBI's pursuit of the criminal led by the steely-eyed, cigar-chomping Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson). It's filled with rousing (and improbable) shootouts, plenty of graphic violence, and a surprising number of touching scenes, all stylishly shot. The cast, which also includes Richard Dreyfuss, Harry Dean Stanton, Cloris Leachman and Michelle Phillips, is excellent, the period details are spot on, and the music is great. Despite the often annoying voiceover narration and some handheld camerawork that feels out of place, it is a lot of high octane fun.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
In the great Hollywood tradition of history-be-damned, writer/director John Milius chose to tell a ripping good yarn over telling a historically accurate biopic of John Dillinger. Legendary character actor Warren Oats ("The Wild Bunch" "In the Heat of the Night" "Badlands") chews the scenery line none other and steals every scene as the mythic prohibition era gangster. Oats and Milius' version of Dillinger is arrogant, sexist, racist, and yet somehow manages to charm the audience and most everyone around him. Arthur Penn's "Bonnie & Clyde" was a huge hit and AIP wanted to cash in on that with its own gangster films, such as Angie Dickinson's "Big Bad Mama" or Martin Scorsese's "Boxcar Bertha" and this film. Milius' picture is by far the best of the "Bonnie & Clyde" knockoffs and manages to really be its own film. "Bonnie & Clyde" was notoriously violent when it was originally released and Milus too heaps on the blood and action in his picture as well. However, while the violence in Penn's film had a Sam Peckinpah-like beauty to it, the violence in "Dillinger" is more along the lines of a Sam Fuller in-your-face type of realistic brutality. It's hard to describe, but the violence in a Fuller film always felt more real, even if the story was filled with chinches, there was an honesty in how the violence was portrayed on screen, which made it all the more frightening, exhilaration, and unique of a film experience. Few filmmakers are able to capture this and when a filmmaker is able to, it's a real treat for viewers. Just like Fuller, Milius was working with a limited budget, but milks what he had for all it's worth. Besides Oats, the film boast a stellar supporting cast, that includes Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton, Geoffrey Lewis John P. Ryan, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Kanaly, Frank McRae, and legendary stuntman Terry Leonard (Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones stunt double). Oats rarely got leading roles, but when he did, such as this film, it's pure magic. Seeing Oates in any film, either as a leading man or a supporting players, it's impossible to see any other actor in those roles; "Cockfighter," "Two-Lane Blacktop," "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia." It took some time, but the 1970s was really Warren Oates' golden age for juicy parts. My only complaint about the film is that it dips into David L. Wolper style historical documentary re-enactment, complete with corny narration, but that's not too terrible a sin for a low budget movie needing to cut corners, especially when Ben Johnson is doing the narration. Still, although not a perfect film, "Dillinger" is a minor masterpiece and a must see for all fans of prohibition era gangster pictures.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The best movie character ever portrayed: Lawrence Tierney as John Dillinger!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
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