Staatsfeind Nr.1 - John Dillinger

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!

I always enjoy the old crime films especially when they are filmed in black and white. Frankly though, Young Dillinger was a big disappointment. I could not understand the relationship on screen between John Dillinger (Nick Adams), and his moll. Elaine (Mary Ann Mobley). They continually expressed their undying love to one another but all I saw were two people reading their scripted lines and lacking any emotion or physical attraction to one another. If anything I viewed Mary Ann Mobley's performance as deserving of a. Golden Raspberry Award. Had this award been available in 1965. Fortunately for Mary Ann Mobley the awards were first presented in 1981.

There is a relatively strong supporting cast with actors such as Robert Conrad, John Ashley, Victor Buono, and John Hoyt but their performances were wasted on this very choppy film with no real sense of direction.

No spoilers here but suffice to say I am still waiting for a proper ending to the film. It is as if the director was left hanging when the entire cast walked out before the film was provided with a proper ending to the Young Dillinger story.

I can only give this film a lacklustre 3 out of 10 IMDb rating.

This forgotten film belongs to the movies made in the early sixties, and telling the stories - more or less fictionnal - of authentic gangsters: MURDER INC, PORTRAIT OF A MOBSTER, RISE AND FALL OF LEGS DIAMOND, BABY FACE NELSON, MAD DOG CALL, PURPLE GANG, PRETTY BOY FLOYD.... And many other items. This one is far from being a masterpiece, the director was himself a horror B movie vet film maker, not Don Siegel nor Phil Karlson; but the result is surprisingly good, far better than I could expect. And what a exquisite pleasure to watch Robert Conrad just before he entered WILD WILD WEST terrific TV show.

This repetitive 60s TV musical score tries to drown out the absurdly delivered dialog but doesn't succeed. The OVERACTING is just too much for mere loudly redundant riffs to overcome. Lines like "we're trapped". "Tell me about it". And "quit Johnny, I don't want my baby to lose her father" are offered with either no passion at all or shouted with such ridiculous intensity that you must laugh. The shoot outs are brutally executed with incredibly stupid victims waiting to be "gunned down" by the vicious most at all misunderstood young men who seem to kill without conscious or motive. Johnny Yuma was supposed to be a rebel..,Johnny Dillinger had no motivation...unless he just wanted to get away from That incredibly noisy music in his head.

Ok, not a masterpiece, not perfect, and the music sucks. BUT if you are a fan of Nick Adams and Mary Mobley then this is interesting. I've taken a liking to Nick Adams a lot because he is a very good actor and was very well respected in Japan for doing a few Godzilla movies. (Seeing him and Kumi Mizuno together is wonderful in 'Invasion of Astro Monster'). So, set aside your criticisms and just enjoy the movie.