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Review
by
Troy Howarth
Film:8
DVD:5
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| John
Dillinger (Warren Oates) blasts his way to infamy as a bank robber
during the Great Depression... |
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John
Dillinger (1903-1934) remains one of the most (in)famous American
outlaws. His exploits included at least two dozen bank robberies
and two successful jail breaks. It didn't take long for Hollywood
to romanticize his image. In 1943's Dillinger,
veteran screen tough guy Lawrence Tierney (Reservoir
Dogs) became the first actor to play the outlaw on screen;
he was followed by Leo Gordon in Don Siegel's Baby
Face Nelson (1957), though the emphasis in that film was
more on Mickey Rooney's psychotic Nelson, hence the title. By
the 1970s, Dillinger's legacy had truly become the stuff of legend;
that being said, he was already being touted as a sort of modern
day Robin Hood as he enacted his crime wave. In any event, this
1973 film from writer/director John Milius would remain the most
popular reenactment for over 30 years. |
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Dillinger
fit into a run of mob-themed action-adventures churned out by
American International Pictures. They first dipped their toe into
the genre with The Bonnie Parker Story
(1958), which they acquired from Albany Pictures; AIP followed
soon after with their own Machine Gun Kelly
(1958), starring Charles Bronson. The formula proved popular with
the public, if not always with highbrow critics. Among AIP's most
successful 1970s gangster epics were Roger Corman's Bloody
Mama (1970), featuring Robert DeNiro in one of his earliest
screen appearances, Martin Scorsese's Boxcar
Bertha (1972) and, of course, Dillinger. |
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John
Milius would go on to specialize in obnoxious, testosterone-heavy
action flicks like Conan
The Barbarian (1982) and Red Dawn
(1984), but he is at his best with the more pared-down style imposed
upon him for Dilinger. The film has
its share of flashy action sequences, but the lower budget and
tighter shooting schedule forced him to stay more on target. His
approach here is direct and to the point; there's no excessive
padding, no macho posturing. He inevitably plays with the facts
somewhat, but the overall attention to detail is striking. It
remains arguably the best film on its topic, and it may well be
the best film Milius has directed to date. |
The
topnotch cast certainly helps. The great Warren Oates is at
his best in the title role. Oates is renowned today by cineastes,
but he failed to find proper appreciation in his lifetime; directors
like Sam Peckinpah and Monte Hellman would use him in interesting
roles, but for most directors he remained typed as a bug-eyed
psychopath. His portrayal of Dillinger is all the more effective
because he doesn't play it 'big'. He's smooth, urbane and instantly
likable. It helps, too, that he actually resembles the real
man himself, something that cannot be said of most actors who've
taken a crack at the role (including Johnny Depp in Michael
Mann's Public Enemies, 2009). His
gang is comprised of some topnotch character actors, some of
whom make early appearances here: Harry Dean Stanton (Alien),
Geoffrey Lewis (Salem's Lot), Richard
Dreyfuss (Jaws), John Ryan (It's
Alive) and Frank McRae (National
Lampoon's Vacation). The typically one-note Dreyfuss
is surprisingly effective as the hotheaded Baby Face Nelson,
while Lewis offers a standout performance as the goodnatured
Harry Pierpont. The film works as well as it does because Milius
depicts the criminals as human beings —
some of them are basically decent people, while others are more
prone to sadism. The other side of the law is well represented
by western favorite Ben Johnson (who had played one of Peckinpah's
The Wild Bunch, 1969, along with
Oates). Johnson's performance as FBI agent Melvin Purvis matches
Oates in intensity, helping to make one forget that he was really
too old for the role. Cloris Leachman (Young
Frankenstein) also puts in a brief appearance as the
madam who helped to bring Dillinger down.
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Milius
and cinematographer Jules Brenner keep things visually dynamic
throughout. There are no real signs of penny pinching, though
one can be sure that, given that this was produced by AIP, the
production had little to work with. Period detail is strong without
being too fussy, and the various action set-pieces are done with
tremendous flair. |
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| In
order to capitalize on the popularity of Mann's aforementioned
Public Enemies, Fox has reissued
MGM's barebones presentation with new packaging. There is nothing
new on display, so if you already own the MGM disc, stick with
it. The 1.85/16x9 transfer looks very good on the whole. There
is some grain in the image, but this is as it should be. Colors
are nicely rendered, and detail is strong. The mono English soundtrack
is acceptable, though English subtitles or captioning would have
been appreciated. The only extra is a theatrical trailer; an interview
or commentary with the cigar-puffing Milius would have been most
welcome. 4/07/10 |
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