''Young Dillinger'' is a 1965 gangster film directed by Terry O. Morse. It stars Nick Adams as the notorious criminal

John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...

, and co-stars

Robert Conrad Robert Conrad (born Conrad Robert Falk; March 1, 1935 – February 8, 2020) was an American film and television actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for his role in the 1965–1969 television series ''The Wild Wild West'', playin ...

, John Ashley and

Mary Ann Mobley Mary Ann Mobley (February 17, 1937 – December 9, 2014) was an American actress, television personality, and Miss America 1959. Career Mobley was born in 1937 in Biloxi, Mississippi. After her reign as Miss America 1959, Mobley embarked on a c ...

Plot

With help from Elaine, his girlfriend, young John Dillinger breaks into her father's safe. They are caught, but Dillinger takes the rap by himself. In prison, he meets

Pretty Boy Floyd Charles Arthur Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934), nicknamed Pretty Boy Floyd, was an American bank robber. He operated in the West and Central states, and his criminal exploits gained widespread press coverage in the 1930s. He was s ...

and

Baby Face Nelson Lester Joseph Gillis (December 6, 1908 – November 27, 1934), also known as George Nelson and Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber who became a criminal partner of John Dillinger, when he helped Dillinger escape from prison, in Crown P ...

, who join Dillinger's gang after he masterminds a prison break. Elaine goes along, but when she becomes pregnant and is rejected by Dillinger, she rats him out to the FBI.

Cast

* Nick Adams as

* John Ashley as

as Elaine *

Victor Buono Victor Charles Buono (February 3, 1938January 1, 1982) was an American actor, comic, and briefly a recording artist. He was known for playing the villain King Tut in the television series '' Batman'' (1966–1968) and musician Edwin Flagg in '' ...

as Professor Hoffman *Dan Terranova as

Homer Van Meter Homer Virgil Van Meter (December 3, 1905 – August 23, 1934) was an American criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. Biography Early life Van ...

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his film and TV ...

as Dr. Wilson *

Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...

as Federal Agent Parker *

Robert Osterloh Robert Osterloh (May 31, 1918 – April 16, 2001) was an American actor. His career spanned 20 years, appearing in films such as ''The Dark Past'' (1948), ''The Wild One'' (1953), '' I Bury the Living'' (1958) and ''Young Dillinger'' (1965). Bio ...

as Federal Agent Baum * Anthony Caruso as Rocco * Art Baker as Warden *

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known profesionally as Gene Roth, was an American film actor and film manager. Early years Roth was born in Redfield, South Dakota. He was the son of a German father and ...

as Justice of Peace *Harvey Gardner as Mills

Production

The film was shot at Goldwyn Studios starting in November 1964. Al Zimbalist said he didn't want to glamourise the gangsters. "We just wanted to tell the story how three young men went wrong in hopes no other young people would make the same mistakes they made", he said. Shot cheaply in 17 days without period costumes, Robert Conrad recalled that he only did the film to repay a favor to his friend Nick Adams. He says the film had "no budget" so "everyone had to do their own stunts" but it was during filming that he successfully auditioned for ''Wild Wild West''. John Ashley says the film "was basically all of (producer) Al Zimbalist's footage of machine guns and crashing cars from ''

'' (1957)." Ashley added that the film "may have been the most fun of everything I ever did. At the time all three of us dams, Conrad and himselfwere divorced. We were all living up in Nick's house. This film came along through Allied Artists. They actually approached Nick, and Nick said 'You should go see about getting John and Bobby'. We all agreed to it and we basically rewrote it. We took a lot of liberties with these three guys, but it was a lot of fun and a real pleasant experience." Ashley later produced some TV movies for Conrad. During filming, the management of Allied Artists were engaged in a proxy fight with rebellious shareholders. Adams and Zimbalist wanted to make another film together, ''Guns of the G Men''. However it was never made.

Reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called it "a B picture with A virtues... good performances... crisp direction... fast moving and full of action. ''Cinema Retro'' later wrote "the movie breezes along at a brisk pace even if the style is quite unimpressive and pedestrian. In fact, the film looks like a standard TV episode of "The Untouchables" in terms of production values...The performances are adequate, nothing more."

Notes

External links

* *{{TCMDb title, 26619
New York Times reviewYoung Dillinger
at BFI 1965 films Allied Artists films American black-and-white films Films set in the 1920s American gangster films Crime films based on actual events 1960s English-language films 1965 crime drama films Cultural depictions of Pretty Boy Floyd Cultural depictions of John Dillinger Cultural depictions of Baby Face Nelson 1960s historical films American historical films Biographical films about John Dillinger 1960s American films