Johnny Depp and Christian Bale hit the screen with a new take on the legend of John Dillinger, the bank-robbing gang leader who became a cult hero. The gangs of Prohibition and the Depression have a long history in film, and here are some must-see movies to study up for the latest attempt.
Little Caesar(1931)
A classic from the golden era before the Hays Code cleaned up Hollywood. Edward G. Robinson plays a street hood who bullies his way to the top of the mob, but dies in the gutter.
Scarface(1932)
Directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes, this adaptation of the life of Al Capone was stopped by the censors, until the subtitle Shame of the Nation was added and the ending was changed to avoid glorifying gangsters. When some state censors still balked, Hughes scrapped the alternate takes and released the original version in less strict states. (Brian De Palma's 1983 Scarface was a loose -- very loose -- remake.)
The Petrified Forest(1936) Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis star in this story of a gang that takes over an Arizona diner and holds the occupants hostage. Bogey's role as the vicious killer Duke Mantee made him a star, and the movie prefigured the genre of film noir.
White Heat(1949) Jimmy Cagney plays a ruthless gang leader with an unhealthy mother fixation in this classic. Half heist movie, half prison drama, it's listed as number four on AFI's "Best Gangster Films." You may not have seen White Heat, but you know its last line: "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"
Bonnie and Clyde(1967) Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty star as the real-life bank-robbing lovers who tore through the central states in the 1930s. A classic example of the "New Hollywood" realism and anti-establishment feeling that produced some of best movies of the sixties and seventies. It was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Dillinger(1973) Michael Mann is hardly the first director to take on the Dillinger myth. This B movie borrows heavily from Bonnie and Clyde and suffers from poor production values, but great performances from Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, and Richard Dreyfuss (as Babyface Nelson) make it a low-budget classic.
Miller's Crossing(1990)
The Coen brothers' spin on the gangster picture pays homage to the tough-talking gunsels and molls of the classics, with a convoluted drama loosely based on Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. Gabriel Byrne plays the right hand man to Albert Finney's mob boss as they face off against a rival gang. Loyalty, betrayal, and an obsession with fedoras, done in the inimitable Coens style.
Bugsy(1991)
Warren Beatty stars as Bugsy Siegel, the New York mobster who helped create modern Las Vegas by bankrolling the construction of the Flamingo. With a powerhouse cast including Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, and Annette Bening, this is a stylish tale of money and violence.
Bonus:Bugsy Malone (1976)
For a truly bizarre antidote to all the murder, try this kids' musical, which transforms the usual roles (heavy, fixer, moll) and gives them ... to children. A 14-year old Scott Baio stars as Bugsy, and 13-year-old Jodie Foster plays Tallulah, the mob boss's girlfriend. The Tommy guns shoot pies, the mobs fight over smuggled sarsaparilla, and little kids in tiny fedoras ride around in model Model Ts. Lunacy.
Film.com's FREE movie of the week is "Love the Hard Way." Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Charlotte Ayanna star in this drama about a thief who falls for a curious, beautiful young woman. As their intimacy grows, a slick cop (Pam Greer) is closing in.
