Movie review - "Dillinger" (1945) ***

Taunt, brisk gangster film with a young slim and with-hair Lawrence Tierney in the title role. It covers Dillinger's first foray into serious crime and goes up til his death - so there is a fair bit of re jigging of the facts. It includes the two most famous pieces: his escape from gaol with a wooden gun and the final shoot out outside the cinema. Dillinger's moll is reduced to one woman, but it moves briskly, Philip Yordan's script is laced with tough dialogue and memorable touches (such as the grape loving gangster); it also has a superior cast including Elisha Cook Jnr.