Public Enemies - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Public Enemies or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Public Enemies

[elmer]

Former Ethiopian Emperor and Rastafari Messiah Haile Selassie appears in an uncredited role in a newsreel.

[miriam]

"Red" Hamilton (Jason Clarke) and Walter Dietrich (James Russo) were initially part of Herman Lamm's gang. Herman Lamm has been credited as "the father of modern bank robbery." His "Lamm Technique" involved the then-groundbreaking strategies of casing a bank in advance, assigning specific duties (the lookout, the vault, the getaway driver, the lobby man), and mapping multiple routes to get away. In essence, the former soldier contended that a bank robbery should undergo planning like a military action, with multiple contingency plans.

[morris]

John Dillinger was shot and killed by FBI Agents on the night of July 22, 1934, while exiting Chicago's Biograph Theater, where he had attended a screening of Manhattan Melodrama (1934). While the Biograph Theater was still operating at the time of the production of this movie, the interior had been converted into several smaller venues, and no longer resembled the Depression-era movie palace it had been, at the time of Dillinger's death. Production scouts for this movie found that the Paramount Theatre in nearby Aurora, Illinois resembled the Biograph Theater of 1934 enough to double as that venue. For that reason, the interiors for two scenes were filmed there: The scene in which John Dillinger and his cohorts attend a movie, and are alarmed to see themselves and their photographs featured during a newsreel, and the scene taking place immediately prior to Dillinger's death. The exterior of the Biograph Theater during the latter scene, however, depicts that actual historic venue, "dressed" to appear as it did in 1934.

[jessica]

In a Senate hearing scene, when asked how many people he has arrested personally, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) sheepishly admits "I have never arrested anybody." In real life, this was a point of embarrassment to Hoover, and he decided to correct it. On May 1, 1936, FBI agents tracked down Alvin Karpis (played by Giovanni Ribisi in the film) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hoover flew to New Orleans, and personally arrested Karpis as he sat in his car outside of his hideout. News reports of the arrest made Hoover a national hero, and solidified his image as a powerful law enforcement officer. However, Karpis later claimed that Hoover's involvement in his arrest was not quite so heroic. Supposedly, Hoover waited in a nearby FBI car while federal agents surrounded Karpis at gunpoint. Then Hoover walked over to Karpis and told him he was under arrest. When Hoover told the FBI agents "Put the cuffs on him, boys" the FBI men realized they hadn't brought any handcuffs, and Karpis' hands had to be secured using an agent's necktie.

[brent]

The melodramatic dialogue between John Dillinger's lawyer Louis Piquett (pronounced "Pickett"), prosecutor Robert Estill, and Sheriff Lilian Holley, concerning the removal of Dillinger's shackles, and Piquett's request to keep Dillinger at Crown Point are virtually word for word the interaction between them in the court records. This includes Sheriff Holley's affirmation (which later proved to be a regretful statement) that Crown Point was "The safest jail in Indiana."

[steve]

Just before Dillinger goes to the movies the night he is killed, when John is washing and shaving, the camera pans across a table with his pocket watch, gun, glasses, and a money belt. According to Anna Sage (a.k.a. "The Woman In Red"), John Dillinger was wearing a money belt with $3,000 inside. However, when Dillinger was killed, the money belt was nowhere to be found. Historians have speculated that Sergeant Martin Zarkovich, who was a part of Melvin Purvis' posse at the theater, stole the money.

[ava]

John Dillinger was actually left-handed. The gun held by Johnny Depp is backwards.

[russell]

In the beginning of the movie, "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Channing Tatum) was shot by Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), and died shortly thereafter. In actuality, Floyd was shot by a retired East Liverpool, Ohio cop. Then, according to the FBI, Purvis questioned him. Receiving only curses, Purvis ordered another agent to shoot Floyd. Also the movie suggests, Floyd died before John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). Floyd was actually killed three months to the day after Dillinger.

[riley]

In the scene where "Baby Face" Nelson kills FBI Agent Carter Baum, Nelson really did say "I know you sons of bitches wear vests, so I'm gonna hit you high and low!" Also, the gun Nelson uses in that scene, a .45 automatic modified into a mini-machine gun, was something Nelson actually used (as did Homer Van Meter). It was made especially for Nelson by a gunsmith in San Antonio, Texas. The customized Colt Government Super 1911 used by Dillinger's gang, had a Thompson front grip attached to the frame, a Thompson Cutts compensator, an extended magazine, and was chambered for .38 Super. .38 Super ammunition was used by both Federal Agents and outlaws, due to the round's speed, allowing it to pierce body armor and engine blocks.

[chad]

When Melvin Purvis shoots down "Pretty Boy" Floyd, he asks Floyd for info on the whereabouts of Harry Campbell. In reality, Floyd was never associated with Campbell, who robbed banks with Alvin Karpis and "Ma" Barker's sons. The reason for this question, may have been to simplify the narrative of the story. In real-life, "Pretty Boy" Floyd was wanted by the FBI for his alleged part in the "Kansas City Massacre" on June 17, 1933, in which an FBI Agent, two Kansas City policemen, a retired Oklahoma Sheriff, and their captive Frank "Jelly" Nash, were ambushed and killed. This was the crime that set into motion the rise of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, and the start of the "War On Crime". Since this fact would (or could) possibly make the story on film more convoluted, the film makers instead have Purvis question Floyd about Campbell, rather than the massacre, as he did in real-life.

[frederick]

John Dillinger's lawyer at Crown Point, Louis Piquett (pronounced "pick it"), never went to law school. He passed the bar on his fourth attempt, receiving his license to practice in 1920.

[lonnie]

In the movie, John Dillinger and other bank robbers are seen having friendly relations with the Chicago mobsters. Specifically with Phillip D'Andrea, a top lieutenant in the Al Capone mob. In real life, Capone was said to admire bank robbers, and would often allow bandits safe haven in Chicago, under the mob's protection. However, as also shown in the movie, after Frank Nitti took over the mob, following Capone's conviction for tax evasion, he cut off such resources to outlaws like Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Alvin Karpis, because of the "heat" that was being brought down on the mobs, because of the FBI's furious hunt for these men.

[morris]

Christian Bale was much taller than Purvis. Whereas Purvis was only 5'4" Bale is 6 feet tall.

[oscar]

Dillinger's line to a bank customer during a robbery - "We're here for the bank's money, not yours." - echoes a similar exchange between Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and a farmer during a bank robbery in Arthur Penn's classic, Bonnie and Clyde (1967). ("Is that your money or the bank's?" "It's mine." You keep it then.") There is some dispute over which real-life bank robber spoke this line. Supposedly, John Dillinger said it to a bank customer while robbing a bank in Greencastle, Indiana. However, some crime historians attribute the line to Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Most crime historians agree that the psychotic Clyde Barrow never used the line. This scene also shares familiarity with the bank scene in Michael Mann's Heat (1995), where Robert De Niro's character states: "We're here for the bank's money, not yours."

[jesse]

It's true that John Dillinger enjoyed taking photographs of police officers when the opportunity presented itself, and even late in his career, he would often attend Cubs games, and frequent bars in Chicago, but he probably didn't enter the offices of the Dillinger Squad, as depicted in the film. Dillinger also tended to brag about his exploits. As with many other events in his life, he would have surely related such a fantastic thing to his family, his lawyer, or his lawyer's investigator, Art O'Leary, a man Dillinger often confided in. However, according to Bryan Burrough's book, he did enter the same building as the Chicago Police Department on a few occasions, and he did accompany Polly Hamilton into the building to get her waitress' license.

[oscar]

For John Dillinger's famous escape from Crown Point Jail, the film makers decided to film at the real jail, which had been closed and turned into a set of small shops, and became a historical site. They dressed the jail and store fronts on the square to its original condition, as it would've appeared in 1933. They also filmed the Little Bohemia shoot-out at the real lodge. Johnny Depp was staying in the same room the real Dillinger stayed in.

[kenneth]

While at the horse track in Florida, Frank Nitti asks Phillip D'Andrea whether or not it's hot outside, saying "Ever since those pricks shot me, I can't stay warm." This is an allusion to a failed attempt on Nitti's life by a corrupt cop named Harry Lang, who tried and failed to murder Nitti during a police raid.

[ella]

At one point, Alvin Karpis is seen planning a federal reserve train robbery with John Dillinger. In real-life, the robbery was set up by an underworld associate of Dillinger, Karpis, and "Baby Face" Nelson, named William Murray. Interestingly, Murray had set up the exact same robbery, back in 1925, with the Newton Brothers (as seen in the film The Newton Boys (1998)). Although John Dillinger was killed before he could take part in the robbery, Alvin Karpis did pull it off on November 7, 1935.

[scarlett]

Pretty Boy Floyd's real name was Charles Arthur Floyd. Although he was only 30 years old when he was killed by FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, Floyd had already served 15 years in prison. Over half his lifetime.