Given my fondness for gangster movies, and for Ben Johnson, I’m surprised I never watched 1973’s DILLINGER until now. It’s also an American International Picture, and AIP turned out some mighty entertaining movies over the years. I watched many of them at the Eagle Drive-In, but not this one. By the time DILLINGER came out, the Eagle had already switched over to showing X-rated movies.
But now I’ve seen DILLINGER. Warren Oates plays the title character, and Ben Johnson is Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent who doggedly pursues not only John Dillinger but most of the other famous criminals who roamed the Midwest during the Depression, robbing banks and mowing down cops and anybody else who got in their way. Most of them show up in this movie, too, including Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. Bonnie and Clyde are mentioned numerous times, but their paths never cross that of Dillinger, which is probably a good thing because he looks down on them as non-professionals. For him, on the other hand, it’s just his job, and he’s the very best at it, at least according to him.
The script by John Milius, who also directed, has only a nodding acquaintance with historical accuracy, starting with the fact that the FBI didn’t exist when Dillinger was active. It was still the Bureau of Investigation. The various gangster characters are killed off out of historical order, often in ways that didn’t happen. But take it for what it is, a piece of entertainment, and DILLINGER is pretty darned good, with interesting characters, good dialogue, excellent photography, and a bunch of bloody shootouts. It’s a loud movie most of the time.
Oates does a fine job as Dillinger, playing him with a real zest for life and fondness for excitement. Ben Johnson, one of my favorite actors, is great as Melvin Purvis. Johnson is one of those actors I could listen to all day, no matter what he was saying. Just a great voice. Michelle Phillips is okay as Dillinger’s girlfriend, and a young Richard Dreyfuss shows up as Baby Face Nelson. The top-notch Seventies character actor Geoffrey Lewis is also a member of the gang. It seemed like Lewis was in just about every movie made for a while back then.
I had a fine time watching DILLINGER. It’s probably not a great movie, but it’s a very good one. I’m still a little flabbergasted that I didn’t see it back when it was new, but on the other hand, that gave me something good to watch now.
10 comments:
Thanks for the shout out to Ben Johnson. For me, his most memorable role was as Marty Hollinger in Hustle (1975). An old school war veteran who could not handle the changing mores of society and culture. A very underrated nori classic.
I love this one. For me, DILLINGER and THE WIND AND THE LION are Milius’ two best movies.
b.t.
I don't think I've seen HUSTLE. I'll have to look into that, for sure. Thanks for the recommendation!
I remember liking THE WIND AND THE LION a lot. Might be time to rewatch that one.
Johnson is good all the way back to MIGHTY JOE YOUNG and SHANE. My favorite performance of his is as Sam the Lion in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. I grew up around guys like that.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073133/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Ben Johnson was the real deal. THE GETAWAY, with a rare role as a heavy, is another
good morning James. Are you ok? I miss your blog with my morning coffee.
Yeah, James. Like Evil Woman Blues said. You’re as steady as sunrise and when your posts don’t appear I get worried. Hope all is well.
John Hocking
Guys, I really do appreciate the concern. I've been dealing with some relatively minor health problems recently and have let some things slip, but I feel like I'll be rounding back into form and posting will be getting back to normal in the next few days.
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