Apr 2, 2023
Dillinger (1973)
"Now nobody get nervous. You ain't got nothing to fear. You're being robbed by the John Dillinger Gang, that's the best there is. These few dollars you lose here today, they're gonna buy you stories to tell your children, your great-grandchildren. This could be one of the big moments in your life. Don't make it your last."
#dillinger#crime film#1973#john milius#american cinema#true crime#warren oates#ben johnson#michelle phillips#cloris leachman#harry dean stanton#geoffrey lewis#john p. ryan#richard dreyfuss#steve kanaly#john martino#roy jenson#read morgan#frank mcrae#ann ault#the directorial debut of celebrated screenwriter Milius‚ who also supplied the script; that's recognisably him‚ with its punchy dialogue‚#bloody violence‚ tragic machismo and utter failure of its women characters. as a director‚ he seems to taken inspiration from Peckinpah‚#staging the gunfights with an operatic majesty that belies the otherwise unromantic and unsentimental nature of this study of criminality#Oates (himself a Peckinpah regular) is fantastic as Dillinger‚ a man actively working to build his own legend in every interaction he has#all the cast are great actually‚ with special mention to Harry Dean Stanton's perpetually unlucky gangster and young Richard Dreyfuss'#repellent turn as Baby Face Nelson (whose lust for violence is in contrast to Dillinger's more pragmatic approach). Milius uses period#music and documentary footage and newsreel to suggest historical weight‚ but he plays fast and loose with the facts of Dillinger and his#gang's lives and deaths; i don't think it matters too much‚ this is hardly an educational tool‚ it's provocative entertainment and at that#it succeeds. stylish‚ cool and a little cruel; if it lacks a little depth or soul‚ well maybe that's just a truer reflection of the subject