NEW JOHNNY DEPP BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE "PUBLIC ENEMIES" - Will It Stir Romance for Chicago and It's Stubborn-To-Lose Gangster Past?
BIOGRAPH THEATRE STILL STANDS - AREA TOURS, MUSEUMS CELEBRATE POPULAR PUBLIC ENEMY #1! GOOD FOR CHICAGO?
Here in Chicago, it is hard to deny our past reputation as a haven for Famous 1920's and 1930's Mobsters. Even to this day, our association with Gangster Al Capone over 75 years ago spurs those from around the world to reply "Rat, Tat, Tat, Tat, Tat" when you say the word "Chicago."
Now, the new high-budget movie "Public Enemies," starring heart throb (and accomplished actor, of course) Johnny Depp, is attracting renewed interest in the Chicago Gangster Past. Will it stir a bit of romance from those long-ago, shoot-em-out days, and rekindle a reputation this city has long attempted to shun? See coverage in last Friday's Chicago Tribune, beginning in a report by Jay Jones, and continuing in an included Michael Jones video and special Tribune Multimedia Interactive.
Here is the history -
The real John Dillinger (not quite as handsome looking as Johnny Depp, mind you) made a living of robbing banks across the Midwest in 1933 and 1934. He actually lived on the North Side of Chicago, at 4310 N. Clarendon Avenue in the Uptown Neighborhood, as well as at 2420 N. Halsted in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood - less than one block from where he would meet his eventual demise.
On the night of July 22, 1934, after viewing a Clark Gable gangster movie, "Manhattan Melodrama," at the now-landmark Biograph Theater on the 2400 Block of North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, Dillinger was gunned down in an alley steps from the theatre. The FBI-Proclaimed "Public Enemy # 1" died moments later.
It is said that women spectators dipped their skirts in the dead gangster's blood, and others dipped their newspapers or handkerchiefs in the pooled blood as well, to save forever a bit of gruesome memorabilia!
But his legend as a "Gentleman Gangster," a kind of folk hero among the poor and downtrodden during The Great Depression, continued to grow in myth and legend. The New Michael Mann Film "Public Enemies" is only the latest Hollywood film to chronicle the final days of Bank Robber John Dillinger.
The film shot in many authentic locations, including the Lake County Indiana Jail in Crown Point IN, the Little Bohemia Lodge in rural Wisconsin, and several locations in Chicago, including a period-correct restoration of The Biograph Theatre.
Here in Chicago, crowds of gawkers were huge, struggling for a glimpse of the movie shoot, and its famous star. The release of the movie, this Wednesday, July 1st, is being met with great anticipation as well.
Chicago-based Untouchables Tours includes Dillinger Lore and his various haunts and residences in its not-city-sanctioned drive-around of the Chicago Underworld of old. Along with the Biograph Theatre, the Lake County Indiana Courthouse and Wisconsin Lodge have become popular museums to the Dillinger legend, and will likely grow in popularity this summer, if the movie is successful in release.
Is reviving the gangster reputation good for the City of Chicago, however? Many residents, and most Chicago Politicians, say no!
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
