I recently went to the movie theater and saw the American gangster film Public Enemies.  Directed by Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Ali, etc.), the film was expectedly stylish.  Featuring Johnny Depp as criminal John Dillinger and Christian Bale as J. Edgar Hoover's top FBI agent, Melvin Purvis, the film is based on the 2004 nonfiction book Public Enemies:  America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough.

Public Enemies is set during the pit of America's Great Depression.  Dillinger had become a sort of everyman's hero -- he villified and robbed those banks many believed responsible for causing the depression.  In the film, Dillinger always makes it clear that he is there for the bank's money, not the people's. 

In addition to the timely nature of the film, given our current economic climate, I find the South Carolina connection to this story intriguing.  Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent placed in charge of the Dillinger case, was born in Timmonsville, SC, and attended the University of South Carolina.  South Carolina Educational Television recently produced a documentary about Purvis entitled G-Man:  The Rise and Fall of Melvin Purvis.  Many of us have never heard of Purvis -- this documentary helps explain why. If you missed one of the showings that aired on ETV during the month of July, keep watching 1431's New Arrivals list online.  A copy available for check out should be coming soon.