Public Enemies (2009)
Public Enemies is a 2009 film adaptation of Bryan Burrough’s book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34 directed by Michael Mann.
The crime drama is set during the Great Depression with the focus on the FBI agent Melvin Purvis’ attempt to stop criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Christian Bale will play FBI agent Purvis, Johnny Depp will play Dillinger, and Marion Cotillard will play Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette. Principal photography began in Columbus, Wisconsin on March 17, 2008 and wrapped in Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and several other places in Wisconsin the end of June 2008, including the famous Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, the actual location of a 1934 gun fight between Dillinger and the FBI. Some parts of the film were shot in Crown Point, Indiana, the town where Dillinger was imprisoned and subsequently escaped from jail.
Development
Public Enemies is based on Brian Burrough’s non-fiction book, Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. He originally pitched the idea as a miniseries to HBO and was made an executive producer, along with Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Films. Burrough was also asked to write the screenplay. However, he felt more comfortable writing it as a non-fiction book and spent two years working on it while the interest in the miniseries disappeared. Burrough’s book was set to be published in the summer of 2004 and he asked HBO to return the movie rights. They agreed and after the book was released, the rights were re-sold to production companies representing Michael Mann and Leonardo DiCaprio who was interested in playing John Dillinger. Burrough met with a representative and then heard nothing for three years. The actor eventually left the project to appear in Martin Scorsese’s Ashecliffe.
In 2007, Mann renewed interest in the project with Universal Pictures backing it. He wrote the screenplay with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman and will also direct. Johnny Depp will play Dillinger in the film. Burrough has read the film’s screenplay and said, “it’s not 100 percent historically accurate. But it’s by far the closest thing to fact Hollywood has attempted, and for that I am both excited and quietly relieved”.
The decision to shoot parts of the film in Wisconsin came about because of the number of high quality historic buildings. Mann scouted locations in Baraboo and Columbus as well as looking at 1930s-era cars from collectors in the Madison area. In addition, the film will be shot on actual historical sites, including the famous Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, where Dillinger’s most famous gunfight with the F.B.I. occurred, and the old Lake County jail in Crown Point, Indiana, where Dillinger staged his most famous escape when he fooled jail guards with a wooden gun and escaped in the sheriff’s car. Scenes will be shot at places that he frequented in Oshkosh. The courthouse in Darlington, Wisconsin is the location for the courthouse scenes. The courthouse is the oldest courthouse in the United States still in use. A bank robbery scene will be shot inside the Milwaukee County Historical Society, a former bank in Milwaukee that still has much of the original period architecture.
In late March 2008 portions of the film were shot at Libertyville High School. Footage includes one of the school’s science labs, an office, the school’s front entrance, and the locker rooms.
In April 2008 the film was shot in downtown Oshkosh. Later that month, filming started at the famous Little Bohemia Lodge, the actual location of a 1934 gun fight between Dillinger and the FBI.
In April and May 2008, film crews shot on the grounds of Ishnala, a historic restaurant in the Wisconsin Dells area.
Mann also brought composer Elliot Goldenthal on board to score the film, Goldenthal also scored Mann’s 1995 film “Heat” to critical acclaim.
Other Information
- Genre : Crime, Drama
- Filming Locations : Aurora, Illinois, USA
- Company : Forward Pass
- Release date : July 1, 2009
- Country : United States
- Language : English
- Budget : $80 million
Cast and Credits
- Directed by : Michael Mann
- Produced by : Michael Mann, Kevin Misher
- Written by : (Screenplay) Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann, (Book) Bryan Burrough
- Starring : Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum
- Music by : Elliot Goldenthal
- Cinematography : Dante Spinotti
- Editing by : Paul Rubell, Jeffrey Ford
- Distributed by : Universal Pictures
Trivia
- Carey Mulligan worked with Keira Knightley on Pride & Prejudice (2005), who worked with Johnny Depp on the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
Links
- Public Enemies at the Internet Movie Database
- the famous Little Bohemia Lodge – In Manitowish Waters Wisconsin.
- Mirror Lake
- Public Enemies at Wikipedia.org
Incoming search terms:
- burrough waltrip
- fbi movies
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