Warren Oates stars as the famed criminal in AIP’s 1973 period crime classic
Note: The screenshots in this article are not sourced from this MGM Blu-ray and only included for illustrative purposes.
I’ve always had interest in the Depression-era United States, inspired by verbal histories of the Dust Bowl and reading The Grapes of Wrath around the age of 14 (my appreciation for Steinbeck instilled by an important mentor’s love for the author). In high school I made the Great Depression the focus of a research project, and read up pretty heavily on the subject.
One of the most interesting figures I discovered from my research was John Dillinger, the charismatic bank robber whose crimes earned him a unique pedestal of popular notoriety. He was no “Robin Hood” nor agent of justice, just a robber out for his own selfish means, but in hard times, his spree of crimes and escapes felt like wish fulfillment to a dejected public trying to eke out a hardscrabble living.
1973’s Dillinger stars the great Warren Oates as the famous criminal, with Ben Johnson opposite as the legendary “G-Man” Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent doggedly pursuing him.
The film follows the exploits of Dillinger on the run from the law, getting into narrow scrapes, landing in and breaking out of jail, and finding time on the side for romance with his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Michelle Phillips). He’s flanked in his misadventures and multiple shootouts by the members of his gang, including Homer Van Meter (Harry Dean Stanton), Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd (Steve Kanaly), Lester “Baby Face” Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss), Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis), “Handsome” Jack Klutas (Tommy Leonard), and Reed Youngblood (Frank McRae).
The film works best when it’s depicting the battle of wills between Dillinger and Purvis. The lawman is resolute in his pursuit, and sometimes absolutely ruthless in his methods, yet also has an interesting code about him. In one pivotal scene, he has Dillinger dead to rights, chancing to spot him at a fancy restaurant where they are both dining – but chooses not to act on the opportunity, feeling it would spoil the special evening he’s there to celebrate with his betrothed.
While I really enjoy this film, one thing that it could’ve done better is show why Dillinger was revered by many as a folk hero. His popularity is mentioned, and Oates’ portrayal is undeniably charming, but I wish the film depicted a better sense of the Depression-era zeitgeist which informed the making of an outlaw who became a part of popular culture.
Contrary to the allure of excitement that Dillinger’s contemporaries may have felt in reading about his exploits in the newspaper, the film’s depictions of violence are unglamorous, chaotic, and abrupt, with extensive collateral damage. Many of Dillinger’s cohorts meet their end in a hail of bullets. In their rush to leave one particular bank robbery, the gang’s terrified getaway driver plows into one of their own members and runs over an innocent pedestrian, dragging the poor woman under their car.
Dillinger was the first feature film directed by the great John Milius, who was then known as a popular screenwriter. Milius wrote and directed the film for American International Pictures to pivot to directing, after being unable to strike a similar deal with a major studio. It was a return to AIP for Milius, who got his start there as a writer.
It’s among the very best of the Depression and Prohibition-era crime films which were put out by independent distributors AIP and New World Pictures, following the success of Bonnie and Clyde; others included Boxcar Bertha (directed by Martin Scorsese), Roger Corman’s Bloody Mama, and my personal favorite, the gleefully sexy and silly Big Bad Mama starring Angie Dickinson.
The Package
Dillinger has returned to Blu-ray from MGM, making this terrific crime saga once again available on disc. However, it’s a plain edition with no bonus features. Arrow Video previously put out an excellent special edition release with some nice extras, but that was in 2016 – it’s hard to believe, but that was a decade ago – and that edition is out of print.
In that light, it’s wonderful that this film is once again available to buy on Blu-ray. If you can get your hands on the Arrow edition, that’s the better buy, but if you just need to have this solid gangster film on disc, MGM has once again made it available.
Get it at Amazon: Dillinger Blu-ray – 2026 MGM Edition
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