Public Enemies

[mikepara]

I saw it last night. Loved the look and I was entertained, that's enough for me.

I now want to go out and read about Dillinger, but especially Baby Face Nelson. What a nutter!

 

[J. M. Stovall]

We saw it last night and really enjoyed it, my wife even cried a couple of times. And as for Bales "mumbling", there wasn't a single thing he said that I couldn't understand. I've met quite a few folks here in Texas that talk just like that, it didn't bother me.

 

[Les Gillis]

I saw it last night. Loved the look and I was entertained, that's enough for me.

I now want to go out and read about Dillinger, but especially Baby Face Nelson. What a nutter!

May I recommend:


Baby Face: Portrait of a Public Enemy by Steven Nickel & William J. Helmer.


Les

 

[Barchetta52]

I concur. Read it a couple of years ago and began rereading it last night. That is, after seeing Public Enemies a second time.

 

[Tomasso]

I enjoyed the film. Chicago looked good. Sorry to hear of the disappointment; I wonder what expectations were.

 

[Widebrim]

An African-American shoeshine man says "How ya doin'?" to white Texan customers whom he'd never met before. On point for the era? Heck no.

.

I saw the film yesterday, Marc, and kept an eye out for that scene. I'm pretty sure that it was the customer who said, "How ya doin'?" to the shoe-shine man. A small gaffe was having serveral desks feature Morriset Model B inkwells, patented in 1939, if memory serves me well, but who but an inkwell nut would know that?lol

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Interesting. Would a white customer address a black shoe shine man in that way either back then? Probably not. Would he really care frankly how the shoe shine man was doing? One would think given the racial stereotypes of blacks and whites of that era, it wouldn't be said by either party. Perhaps it was a bit of modern politic correctness by having that line in the film?

I saw the film yesterday, Marc, and kept an eye out for that scene. I'm pretty sure that it was the customer who said, "How ya doin'?" to the shoe-shine man.

 

[metropd]

I felt most of the hats were not accurate for the time. I was dissapointed that the hats were more theatrical(evoking the nature of the character) rather than period correct.

I was glad Dillinger got what he deserved in the end along with all the other lowlife thugs. Dillinger deserved to be shot in the back as he would just get away, not to mention he had a gun with many crowded people around. Thank god no more Law Enforcement Officers or civilians were killed.

 

[metropd]

Then again I hate Gangsters and idolize honorable Public Servents.

 

[mikepara]

Les, Many thanks for the book recomendation. I'll buy it today, I'm sure there's one on line somewhere.
Mike

 

[Atticus Finch]

Interesting. Would a white customer address a black shoe shine man in that way...back then?

Yes, actually.

AF

 

[Les Gillis]

Les, Many thanks for the book recomendation. I'll buy it today, I'm sure there's one on line somewhere.
Mike

You're welcome.

Baby Face: Portrait of a Public Enemy actually covers a lot of the inner workings and deeds of the "Dillinger Gang" as well as presents a more three dimensional picture of Nelson. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I did.

Les

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I saw it last night and I enjoyed the movie; probably because I didn't go for a history lesson. But I did notice a couple small gaffes: the FDIC sign in the bank, for instance.

Lee,
The FDIC was a result of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, and it went into effect on January 1, 1934, so the signage would have been correct; albiet, the FDIC was in it's infancy, and not an "official" government agency until the Banking Act of 1935....

As far as the question of a white man showing a black man courtesy, I would have to say it was common here in the South; my grandfather was of this time (and still is, at 92), and he tells me that most Southern whites he knew and associated with were polite to blacks, even if harboring closet racism....
Rob

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I felt most of the hats were not accurate for the time. I was dissapointed that the hats were more theatrical(evoking the nature of the character) rather than period correct..

One thing I did really like was in the summer scenes the men wore Panamas or boaters. I think all period films have the guys running around in heavy beaver fur fedoras though its mid-July. The thinking must be that that tells the audience its the 30s or 40s.

 

[DanielJones]

One thing I was left wondering... Did Karpis & his group go through with the train job? Not knowing that particular history I'm not sure if that was semi-factual or total fiction.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[kuwisdelu]

One thing I was left wondering... Did Karpis & his group go through with the train job? Not knowing that particular history I'm not sure if that was semi-factual or total fiction.

Cheers!

Dan

It was planned, but the heat after Dillinger's death was too much. Baby Face Nelson split, though he strongly wanted to do a train robbery, too. Karpis and the Barkers fled to Florida, still trying to launder the $200,000 in marked bills from the Bremer kidnapping. Karpis fled to Cuba for a while before returning to Florida. Finally, the Barkers were all shot or arrested, and Karpis fled again, being the last of all the public enemies to be taken in after pulling a few more bank jobs when he was low on money. Karpis did attempt a robbery of a different train with a makeshift new gang before eventually being captured, but it wasn't carrying nearly as much cash as the one they had been planning to go away on but never got.

 

[avedwards]

I didn't like Depp having a purple fedora, just seems too flashy to me and not period correct. I did like the chief policeman's wardrobe at the end though - beige suit with grey felt fedora. And I liked the vintage touch when he said "I'll light my cigar when he comes out".

 

[DodgeDeluxe]

I saw it a few nights ago, all in all I was entertained. I started reading the history on Dillinger afterwards and see that there were some Hollywood changes to the real life story, but all in all I enjoyed it.

Dan

 

[kuwisdelu]

I didn't like Depp having a purple fedora, just seems too flashy to me and not period correct.

It was oxblood, not purple.

I did like the chief policeman's wardrobe at the end though - beige suit with grey felt fedora. And I liked the vintage touch when he said "I'll light my cigar when he comes out".

That was the real signal Purvis used. In fact, he lit it twice, since only a few agents saw it the first time.

 

[Big Man]

... I especially like that unique boater that he wore in the end. It was different in the fact that it was soft, not stiff, as most are that I have seen & the edges of the crown were rounded instead of squared off ...

As a young child in the early 1960's our family visited the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. I recall the display they had on Dillinger. I believe they had in the display the hat he was wearing, as well as the glasses. I wish I could remember the particulars of the hat, but the only thing that remember is that it was a straw boater. The thing that vividly sticks out in my mind was the plaster "death mask" of Dillinger, not to mention the autopsy photos.