Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fast paced action, but the DVD quality was sub par , July 27, 2005
This review is for the 2005 Warner Brothers DVD.
This film is about the real life bank robber John Dillinger who is arguably the most notorious robber in the history of American and earned the nickname "Public Enemy #1". From my brief research on the internet, the movie appears to be relatively true to form. From the early `30s until his death in 1934, Dillinger wreaked havoc across America with his brutal bank robberies and daring prison escapes.
The film itself moves fast, but is only 70 minutes long. There is little character development and the action is continuous and rarely dull. Lawrence Tierney stars as John Dillinger. This was his screen acting debut and he does little to set the acting world on fire. Even in scenes of major confrontation, Tierney seems expressionless and lacks emotional body language. Perhaps this was by design by the director. But if you are fan of vintage gangster films, I'm confident that you will be entertained and pleased with action and drama.
The DVD was remastered but not restored and unfortunately there was a significant amount of film damage. There were five or six scenes with at least 3 or 4 seconds of severely damaged footage. The remastering helped make the picture look sharp but tiny specs of deterioration were still prevalent throughout the film, but that wasn't a major deal compared to the noticeably larger scratches. Warner has historically been one of the better studios for film restoration and they obviously decided to not fix up this film. Due to the limited market of a DVD like this, I'm sure the payoff wasn't there to restore an entire movie, but if they would have at least fixed the severely damaged frames, that would have been sufficient for me.
PLEASE NOTE: Before buying this DVD, consider buying the Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 which contains this movie plus four other highly recommended movies at a very reasonable price.
Movie: B-
DVD Quality: C
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lawrence Tierney becomes a star in vintage crime drama, August 18, 2004
This is definitely one of Hollywood's first (if not the very first) movies about the notorious gangster, John Dillinger. Lawrence Tierney plays him to perfection as he guns down his victims while his cold, emotionless face shows no remorse. One of the most brutal scenes of all the gangster classics is when Tierney discovers an elderly couple about to phone the police & turn him in, & promptly guns them down. While this isn't a very accurate account of Dillinger's life, the main elements are there, especially the mysterious "lady in red" who betrays Dillinger to the police. Unfortunately, little time is spent on the details of his many bank robberies, but after all, this is a crime drama, not a documentary. Although largely forgotten today, this was a big success back in 1945, making Lawrence Tierney a star. His acclaimed performance in this classic led to starring roles in some great film noirs & gangster dramas: "Born to Kill"-1947, "The Devil Thumbs a Ride"-1947, "Bodyguard"-1948, "Shakedown"-1950, "The Hoodlum"-1951. If you like an entertaining gangster flick & aren't too picky about getting the facts right then this one's for you.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lawrence Tierney Rules!!!, July 10, 2005
Yes, this film feels like a diatribe. It's probably less factual than the film version of John Dillinger's exploits that director John Milius made in the seventies. So why do I recommend this film over Milius' more polished account? Well, this film in a campy, over-the-top way is just so entertaining. Secondly, Lawrence Tierney in the title role is such a magnetic screen presence. His tough ferocity keeps the film's campier elements in check and grounds it in some semblance of reality. There's also a good supporting cast here with gangster veterans Marc Lawrence and Elisha Cook Jr. (seems like he's in all these noir-gangster flicks) on hand. The story is told here crisply and in an economical 70 minutes so if you have an hour plus to kill there's worse ways to do it. Oh, John, if only you had the two bucks to pay for the drinks!
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