I watched part of Public Enemies. I was surprised to see John Dillinger's bank robber outfit to be depicted as being so heavily armed (mixed BARs and Thompsons (with stick and drum magzines) with lots of ammunition) and so effective. They seemed more like a commando unit. In the film, they slay a disproportionate amount police officers and government operatives in firefights with their weapons. In some of the set piece confrontations/ambushes (particularily the night raid on their hideout), I could only wonder why the US military wasn't involved due to the inadequacy of the "G-men". Explosives and tripod mounted machineguns would have made a difference. My question is this: Was this actually the case? Did Dillinger's men actually kill so many lawmen?
Dillinger himself is only credited with one death of another human, when he shot at a policeman's feet, hit the pavement below the man, and the bullets richoceted into the man's body. In that instance the cop shot at him first, and he returned fire. Poorly I might add. Some of his cronies were deadly killers, but not he himself. Then one must remember that the system of state's borders, jurisdiction, and Federal NON involvment in crime at the time as well. The states controlled the local Reserves, and they couldn't be called up for non-national threats. A local bank robber and his gang didn't meet the criteria for call up. American Regular Army troops couldn't be used due to an odd law concerning Marshall Law being declared by a governor or the President. Until the crime sprees of the late twenties, early thirties, the FBI wasn't even authorized to carry weapons across state lines! Really odd sets of laws in the hindsight of today, but not completely without merit then. The rights of states to regulate local internal crime was still the norm, pursuit, apprehension, trail, conviction, and incarceration was a state matter with only a few exceptions. The FDIC laws weren't yet in effect, so robbing a bank wasn't a Federal crime. Federal crimes were limited in scope to things like counterfeit bills/coins/stocks, and holding up a Post Office (they were still part of the US govenment). Even kidnapping only became a federal crime after the Lindbergh case, and then not right away. John Thompson had such little luck getting the "trench broom" sold to the government he sold it to private individuals instead just to stay in business. To top it off, there were hardware stores in the Tri-state area around Illinois which would "rent" a person a Tommy gun for little money and a deposit. You bought the bullets, but the weapon, the magazine, and the cleaning tools all came for a nominal weekly charge. Pretty easy to have more fire power than the local cops, who (if they were lucky) were issued a .38 pistol, and ten rounds to use on the job. Only "practice" and "qualifying" rounds were supplied by the precincts. If you shot up your ten issued rounds doing something besides official practice and qualifying, you bought the next box of bullets out of your own pocket. Not a good practice for creating skilled marksmen. BARs were held in surplus at various military bases, and these would be stolen by shady officers and men looking to make a buck selling them on the blackmarket. Guess who could afford them, the crooks.
"Dillinger, whose name once dominated the headlines, was a notorious and vicious thief. From September, 1933, until July, 1934, he and his violent gang terrorized the Midwest, killing 10 men, wounding 7 others, robbing banks and police arsenals, and staging 3 jail breaks -- killing a sheriff during one and wounding 2 guards in another." Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI History - Famous Cases
Very interesting, that explains it. The lawmen eventually ambush them outside a mansion, where three of dillinger's men ( 3 Thompsons with drum magazines) pin them all down with automatic fire. Dillinger's associate guns down one of the government men and takes his vehicle. Dillinger and his associates get on board and eventually Dillinger finally manages to flee the scene.
Another thing, the Dillinger gangs (there were two) used the Winchester .351 SL you mentioned in another post much more often than stolen, blackmarket BARs. When they were caught at the "Little Bohemia Lodge" by the FBI that was a comedy of errors. The FBI killed one guy who was just an innocent bystander, and the gang managed to kill an FBI guy while they were stealing one of the FBI cars. There was no shoot-out at the lodge, really. History isn't as colorful as a movie though is it? The Barrow gang (Bonnie and Clyde) were more into blackmarket and stolen BARs than the Dillinger gangs. They preferred Tommy guns, 380 super auto-loaders, the Winchester .351, and shotguns. Now think about petite little (less than 95 lbs, under 5') Bonnie Parker using a BAR with a cut down stock! And she was quite good with it! Until they stole that sheriff's car in Indiana, and fled with it across the Ill. line into Chicago they hadn't broken any Federal Laws which could get them on the FBIs list of wanted felons. That was the move that got the raid on the Little Bohemia Lodge started. Crossing a state line with a stolen vehicle, and a sheriff's vehicle to boot!
At first I had thought this was an off-handed attempt at the remake of a James Cagney classic-thank God it aint. Anyway, Clint is correct about Dillinger himself-he killed one Cop which was by accident. PS, speaking of similar type movies. One that is on TCM now has Barton MacLane - best known as the ( USAF General on I Dream of Jeannie TV series) as well as Edward G. Robinson and a pre-lisp days Humphrey Bogart. I did not catch the title but im sure its one of the movies released in the so far-Warner Brothers four volumn Gangster Sets of movies.
