Young Dillinger (1965)

Director:

Terry O. Morse

Writers:

Arthur Hoerl (writer)
Donald Zimbalist (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 April 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The Kingpin of All Public Enemies!

Plot:

John Dillinger first goes to jail after attempting to rob his girlfiriend's father at her suggestion...

Plot Keywords:

John Dillinger | Betrayal | Prison | Jailbreak | Moll

Cast

Nick Adams	...	John Dillinger
Robert Conrad	...	'Pretty Boy' Floyd
John Ashley	...	'Baby Face' Nelson
Dan Terranova	...	John Hamilton
Mary Ann Mobley	...	Elaine Johnsyn
Victor Buono	...	Prof. Hoffman
John Hoyt	...	Dr. Wilson
Anthony Caruso	...	Rocco
Reed Hadley	...	Federal Agent Parker
Art Baker	...	Warden
Emile Meyer	...	Det. Jergins
Robert Osterloh	...	Federal Agent Baum
Gene Roth	...	Herman, Justice of the Peace
Frank Gerstle	...	Watchman
Wally Rose	...	Guard

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Zimbalist Company

Trivia:

This film was notorious in its time for its gratuitous violence, so much so that public outcry prompted CBS to cancel plans to air it in early 1968. In a grim coincidence, star Nick Adams died a few days later.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Nick Adams, playing John Dillinger, and his girlfriend are standing by a car talking, she twice calls him "Nick."

John Dillinger rounds up a criminal gang and robs banks in the 1930s.

The poor man's James Dean during the 1950s, Nick Adams always felt that he'd been born at the wrong time. He wanted to be a James Cagney type tough guy in Depression-era gangster films. He finally had the chance to make that dream come true, if on an ultra-cheap budget, with this wildly inaccurate tale of John Dillinger and his bank robbing gang. At one point, Adams even does a Cagney imitation, the hilarious high point of what is, sad to say, a rather inept film, if an intriguing one all the same. Mary Anne Mobley plays his gun moll with gusto, and best pal Pretty Boy Floyd is portrayed by Adams' own best friend, Robert Conrad. Various semi-stars, from Victor Buono to John Hoyt, show up in cameos. I love the scene in which a plastic surgeon (Hoyt) tries to change "Johnny's" face, but it remains the same - and so, going Richard Widmark one better from Kiss of Death, Dillinger cackles with laughter as he tosses the chairbound doctor into a pool and watches him drown. Adams co-produced, and the film's failure left him distraught - and somewhat destitute. When the film was shown on CBS TV three years later, Adams even lost his top-billing, as Conrad (who had become a star thanks to The Wild, Wild West on that network) was given that honor for the telecast. A day after the broadcast, Adams was found dead in his apartment, an apparent suicide. Come on, Nick - it wasn't THAT bad!