One of my all time favorites.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

You won't soon forget the violent atmosphere of "Dillinger", a 1945 Monogram biography of the notorious bank robber of the late 1920's and 30's. Lawrence Tierney blasts his way onto the screen in a performance that reeks of pulp fiction, only with one difference-this is about a real person. Like two other outstanding cheapies of the times ("Detour" and "Decoy"), "Dillinger" does not stoop to the confines of the production code. It really crosses the line in its telling of Dillinger's story, from small-time crook (who robbed a convenience store so he could buy his girlfriend a drink) to the most wanted man of the gangster days. When he hooks up with blonde bombshell Anne Jeffreys (after robbing her while she counted the till at a movie ticket counter), its like the sparks that started the Chicago fire. Like the lovers in "Detour" and the film noir masterpiece "Gun Crazy", they are desperate, unapologetic for their breaking of the law, and doomed from the start.There are some wonderful touches in the film, particularly a jail sequence where Tierney makes a wooden gun to escape from prison, and the revenge he takes on Edmund Lowe, his earlier crime boss. The scene where an old couple running the inn where the Dillinger gang is hiding out, are discovered calling the police, is heartbreaking, yet poignantly romantic. And the final sequence, with Dillinger's well-known demise after coming out of a movie theater (watching the gangster picture "Manhattan Melodrama"), is nothing short of classic. Everything about this movie is practically brilliant. The 1973 remake is mediocre in comparison. Dark, gloomy film noir type photography and crusty dialog are among the other highlights that make this a must.

This film bears about as close a relation to the facts of Dillinger's life as Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" did to that other set of outlaws. It's amazing that a film made about a decade after the historical events could play so loosely with the truth, when the audience would no doubt remember the real story.It's also a cheap production, with re-usable sets, bad rear projections, and the substitution of California scenery for the Midwest of the story. The acting isn't bad, but the script feels more like a set of snapshots being flipped as fast as a deck of cards.John Milius (who did his own Dillinger pic in the 70s) does a commentary on the DVD, which is interesting, but he's also unsure of many facts in the story. May I recommend the book "Dillinger's Wild Ride" if you'd like a historical, documented account.

This solid, efficient, very low-budgeted little film deserves to be as well-known as other 1940's "Poverty Row" films such as Ulmer's DETOUR. In fact, it's much better than DETOUR- the King Brothers sense of narrative economy and relentless, fast-paced storytelling make this a compelling ride throughout, while Ulmer's film only really gets interesting once Ann Savage shows up.Tierney is fascinating, frightening and utterly dominating as Dillinger, and he barely even has to raise his voice to do so. Debates still rage over whether or not the real John Dillinger was a Robin Hood style thief or a vicious killer. Tierney plays more towards the vicious killer angle, though his eyes are both suspicious and strangely sad.The film, made for Monogram, was very low budget and it shows. However, this benefits a film like DILLINGER. Set in the Depression and with much of the sequences filmed on location, the film seems to breathe authenticity even if it does take a few liberties with the Dillinger story. The atmosphere Nosseck conveys is dark, foreboding and very noirish.The film is very well-cast, with such unforgettable tough guys like Cianelli and the not-so-tough Elisa Cook Jr filling out the supporting slots. Anne Jeffreys does very well as Dillinger's gun moll and I was pleased that Nosseck's film didn't take the "Hollywood" route and turn events into a love story. The most memorable supporting player, however, is Edmund Lowe as Specs Green. Lowe, a veteran of many films, gets one of his best roles here.I also enjoyed how Nosseck (because, I suppose, due to the Hayes Production Code, but he also cuts away when he has the opportunity to show more violence) cuts away from some of Tierney's most violent acts, such as glassing a waiter and killing a double-crossing gang member with an axe. This narrative efficiency (rather than have a prolonged scene of a man screaming in agony he cuts away, then back again) and sense of letting the audience think for themselves is seldom seen in today's graphic, blood-and-guts cinema. It's a pity more film-makers don't look towards this film and the King Brothers later brilliant effort GUN CRAZY (one of the seminal pictures of the 1940's) for lessons on how to make a tough, raw crime pic with very little fuss and a hell of a lot of bite.

A brief and pointed bio pic on a tight budget, which dictated a fast and efficient manner, but from a director who knew how to organize the story in an intriguing way where we see Dillinger (Lawrence Tierney) and his gang (Elisha Cook Jr. and Edmund Lowe, among others) both on the job robbing banks (above average scenes) and hiding out (way above average) thanks to the screenplay that captures the internal tension of a group constantly on the run. It's a stellar 40's version of a 30's gangster film, with double crossing and cheating lurking behind a lot of the action, and a couple of very well cast against type characters in Edmund Lowe as Specs and Anne Jeffries as Dillinger's wayward girlfriend.