Dillinger: American Tragedy

Iconic American bank robber John Dillinger is tracked by the gritty American lawman Melvin Purvis, and the details are all in the diorama!

I'm a general fan of American history, and before retiring from short-story writing, I wanted to cast a historical 'fan-fiction' of the 1920s-1930s story of American bank robber John Dillinger, a sly criminal who exploited times of financial waves in this country and was hotly pursued by the gritty lawman Melvin Purvis, a crime-fighter who considered detective-work a special opportunity to combine wits with speed and led manhunts of Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson and tracked Capone's nefarious organization before being drafted in WWII as an intelligence officer and serving as file compiler during the Nuremberg Trials. The crime-story drama between Dillinger and Purvis is nicely captured in the Michael Mann history-dramatization film Public Enemies.

Cheers,

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John was born in 1903 in Indiana. He was an average bully as a youngster and grew up to become infatuated with American crime! He met a nice girl and married her. However, this did not dissuade Dillinger from seeking out a rather dangerous life, and he formed the Terror Gang, responsible for robbing numerous banks in America, even during the financially turbulent Great Depression! Dillinger was a real American psycho, and when J. Edgar Hoover formed the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) to stop infamous criminals like Al Capone, it was clear that what America really needed was a gritty lawman to take on real sly psychos like Dillinger, Capone, and Baby Face Nelson, among others who'd come to prominence while America was topsy-turvy financially and/or culturally! Who'd be able to rise to the challenge and track a sly rat like John Dillinger, a man of both style and slasher-like cunning?

This legend-like lawman came in the form of the gritty Melvin Purvis. America needed more spiritualism to counter all the financial roller-coasters between the high-end Roaring Twenties and the dipping Great Depression! Americans craved reminders of the 'profitability' of Christianity and a way to stop romanticizing or even deifying bank robbers and organized criminals like Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger. Melvin Purvis was the right man for the job, since his sense of hard detective work and relentless crime-fighting was the best medicine for an America vulnerable to Dillinger's brand of 'stylish' anarchy! Purvis started getting so much fame/attention for his hunt of Dillinger that even J. Edgar Hoover, who'd established the FBI, claimed he was feeling 'envious' of the iconic American lawman. Would Melvin Purvis go into the history books as a lawman of serious weight?

Dillinger was on his way to rob his 13th bank in just over a year with his Terror Gang! This was a serious trophy, since it meant that American lawmen were simply ill-equipped to deal with this new 'brand' of social criminal --- a criminal who'd be willing and able to exploit traffic loopholes like a true terrorist. However, lawman Melvin Purvis was hot on Dillinger's trail and used all kinds of tactics to corner the stylish criminal bank robber. Dillinger was tracked and cornered by Purvis to the Biograph Theater (in Chicago!) after a brothel-hostess tipped off the FBI about Dillinger visiting there. Purvis waited outside the movie-theater with his cops and chased around the pin-stripe suited bank robber around alleys before shooting him and taking him in for questioning. Dillinger was jailed but escaped but foolishly returned to the Biograph Theater where Purvis was waiting for him again. This time, Purvis shot dead his criminal, but their earlier interrogation-interview would be remembered.

PURVIS: I finally caught you!
DILLINGER: Rumor has it that Hoover is quite jealous of you, detective.
PURVIS: I've built a strong career chasing bad guys, John.
DILLINGER: They'll always romanticize us criminals, Melvin.
PURVIS: My job as a lawman is to track down anarchists.
DILLINGER: What's so troubling about anarchy in this turbulent America?
PURVIS: Well, the law helps us sort out drama from trouble!

DILLINGER: Well, I intend to be a rather 'romantic' man myself, Melvin.
PURVIS: I'm sure you do, but bank robbery is not a serious profession.
DILLINGER: It sure beats being a banker or lawyer in this country!
PURVIS: Why's that, John?
DILLINGER: Americans crave excitement, because capitalism can be a headache.

PURVIS: I suppose you're right, but we need institutional respect for traffic.
DILLINGER: I guess you're the 'right man' to create law and order.

PURVIS: It's all about candid honesty, John.

DILLINGER: Well, honestly speaking, Melvin, crime in America pays well!
PURVIS: You're proof of that, John, but our youngsters need to believe in customs.
DILLINGER: Are you suggesting I violate customs, Melvin?
PURVIS: A man who presents bank robbery as stylish is a threat to education.
DILLINGER: Who cares about education in a country infested with depression?

PURVIS: To write a solid American 'history' of drama, we need to respect imagination.
DILLINGER: So now you suggest I've somehow corrupted American imagination!

PURVIS: John, no one doubts your 'savvy' or daring, but we fear your anarchy.
DILLINGER: If I brought anarchy to America, it was only for folklore.

PURVIS: Let's hope that 'folklore' compels you to think about the value of religion.
DILLINGER: I don't need a priest...

PURVIS: Maybe not, but I think you might need a good co-pilot!
DILLINGER: So America is some kind of airplane, Melvin?

PURVIS: It seems to me America is a 'meritocracy' airline, John.
DILLINGER: Well, I believe I'll receive social merits for being a savvy anarchist.

PURVIS: I only want you to think about the value of real finance.
DILLINGER: I think we'll meet again on the streets, Melvin; and I'll kill you.

PURVIS: Let's hope it never comes to that.
DILLINGER: You have a beautiful mind.

PURVIS: I need one to deal with rascals like you.

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"Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence" (Ezekiel 7:23, KJV Bible).