#103 - Dillinger

I don't know if you can read the tag line on the top of that picture. If you can't, I shall repeat it for you. It says, "His story is written in bullets, blood, and blondes!" How great is that? Aliteration aside, that is fantastic, that's how great it is. Think about it. Is that not the perfect tag line for a low budget black and white gangster movie from the 40's? Believe it or not, I really have nothing more to say about it. I just think it's classic.

You may have noticed that I refered to Dillinger as a gangster. I used this term for a reason, but first, let's go back a few months. I don't remember when, but some time ago I rented, watched, and reviewed a couple of movies by the names of White Heat and The Big Heat. These are classic movies of the noir genre. I know, I know, get to the damn point. I'm only mentioning it because I think there is an important distinction between noir films and gangster movies, even though the subject matter is somewhat similar. I found those two noir films to be much more dynamic and intense than Dillinger. The suspense was at a much higher level and the performances by the leading actors were superb. Dillinger seemed to be playing on a much lesser level in terms of drama and overall storytelling. The noir films were more psychological and suspensful, whereas Dillinger was more...well...bullets, blood, and blondes. It's not really a criticism of the movie other than it's what makes this movie just good and entertaining as oppossed to great. I enjoyed watching this movie because it was my first real introduction to the 40's gangster style, but White Heat and The Big Heat were much more satisfying to watch.

Now, I can't write a review about this movie without mentioning the main man himself, Gene Tierney. Myself, I only became aware of Tierney after watching Reservoir Dogs, as I assume many out there did as well. Or at least they rediscovered him. According to the film synopsis on blockbuster.com, this was the first movie to launch Tierney into cult stardom. I took particular note of this mostly from what I saw in Reservoir Dogs and what I know about Quentin Tarantino. What do I know about Tarantino? No more than anybody else does, but what is particularly of interest to me and my point is that fact that he is a film geek. I know that before he broke out, he spent a lot of time of watching a ton of old movie while working at a renal store. This made him a bit of a film historian. The knowledge and perspective he gained is not only evident in his directing choices, but I know that he uses it in his casting. Unlike most people in Hollywood, he remembers great performances and chooses to use those people in his films. Hence, John Travolta, Pam Grier, Robert Forster, etc. Well, to get to the point, Gene Tierney has to be one of those actors, and Dillinger is apparently where it all got started. So I paid special attention to his performance, and I gotta say, I wanna see more. Not because I was caught up in his tremendous portrayal, but because he appears to be a one trick pony. Its a damn good trick, but I wanna see more to really get a feel for his abilities. This is not a slam on his performance. He is a damn good tough guy, but I don't know that there was much acting going on there. I think Tierney is a legitimate hard ass who could easily knock the shit out of you if you pissed him off. I just feel like I need more information before I submit my final verdict, which is odd because I apparently have enough information to blab on like I know what film noir and gangster movies are after only watching a little bit of each genre. Oh well, that's my damn story, and I ain't changing it.