Public Enemies
Johnny Depp stars as John Dillinger, the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone – from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) to an American public which had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.
But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang – later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi) – thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing “Clark Gable of the FBI.’’ However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptised as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals – from the infamous “Lady in Red’’ to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti – were Purvis, the FBI and their crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.
The action-thriller is directed by Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice), from a screenplay he wrote with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman, based on the book by Bryan Burrough. Produced by Kevin Misher and Michael Mann, with G. Mac Brown and Jane Rosenthal as executive producers, PUBLIC ENEMIES is a Universal Pictures presentation, in association with Relativity Media, Tribeca Productions and Appian Way.
PUBLIC ENEMIES is released nationwide by Universal Pictures on Wednesday 1st July 2009.
Picture: Jon Furniss
Pictures: David Dettmann
Picture: Jon Furniss