Young Dillinger

Last updated
Young Dillinger
Young Dillinger.jpg
Directed by Terry O. Morse
Written byDonald Zimbalist
Screenplay byArthur Hoehl
Donald Zimbalist
Produced by Alfred Zimbalist
Starring John Ashley
Nick Adams
Robert Conrad
Cinematography Stanley Cortez
Edited byTerry Morse
Music by Shorty Rogers
Production
company
The Zimbalist Company
Distributed by Allied Artists
Release date
  • April 28, 1965 (1965-04-28)
Running time
102 mins
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200,000 [1]

Young Dillinger is a 1965 gangster film directed by Terry O. Morse. It stars Nick Adams as the notorious criminal John Dillinger, and co-stars Robert Conrad, John Ashley and Mary Ann Mobley.

Contents

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 and Baby Face Nelson, 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

Production

The film was shot at Goldwyn Studios starting in November 1964. [2] 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. [3]

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. [4] 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. [5]

John Ashley says the film "was basically all of (producer) Al Zimbalist's footage of machine guns and crashing cars from Baby Face Nelson (1957)." [6]

Ashley added that the film "may have been the most fun of everything I ever did. At the time all three of us [Adams, Conrad and himself] were 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." [7] Ashley later produced some TV movies for Conrad. [8]

During filming, the management of Allied Artists were engaged in a proxy fight with rebellious shareholders. [9]

Adams and Zimbalist wanted to make another film together, Guns of the G Men. [10] However it was never made.

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called it "a B picture with A virtues... good performances... crisp direction... fast moving and full of action. [11]

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." [12]

Notes

  1. Lamont, John (1990). "The John Ashley Filmography". Trash Compactor (Volume 2 No. 5 ed.). p. 26.
  2. Scheuer, P. K. (Nov 12, 1964). "Location realism calls for ingenuity". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   155055803.
  3. "'Dillinger' tells how youths went wrong". Los Angeles Times. Feb 23, 1965. ProQuest   155126680.
  4. Major, Jack Robert Conrad InterviewAkron Beacon Journal August 22, 1965
  5. "Wild Wild West Revisited". Cinefantastique¼. Vol. 31, no. 8. October 1999. p.  47.
  6. Kelley, B. (Mar 17, 1985). "ASHLEY FINALLY MAKES THE TEAM". Sun Sentinel.
  7. Lamont, John (1990). "The John Ashley Interview Part 1 1956–1965". Trash Compactor (Volume 2 No. 5 ed.). p. 25.
  8. Vagg, Stephen (December 2019). "A Hell of a Life: The Nine Lives of John Ashley". Diabolique Magazine.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. Bush, T. W. (Nov 20, 1964). "Allied artists management wins fight". Los Angeles Times.
  10. Scheuer, P. K. (Dec 7, 1964). "'Loved one' takes 16 years to evolve". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   155060999.
  11. Thomas, K. (Jun 11, 1965). "'Young dillinger' right on mark". Los Angeles Times.
  12. Pfeiffer, Lee (13 November 2018). "Young Dillinger". Cinema Retro.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Corman</span> American film director, producer, and actor (1926–2024)

Roger William Corman was an American film director, producer and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Ann Mobley</span> American actress (1937–2014)

Mary Ann Mobley was an American actress, television personality, and Miss America 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Adams (actor, born 1931)</span> American actor, screenwriter (1931–1968)

Nick Adams was an American film and television actor and screenwriter. He was noted for his roles in several Hollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s, including Rebel Without a Cause and Giant along with his starring role in the ABC television series The Rebel (1959–1961). He also led the cast of several Japanese productions, including Frankenstein Conquers the World, Invasion of Astro-Monster, and The Killing Bottle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Conrad</span> American actor (1935–2020)

Robert Conrad 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, playing the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West. He also portrayed private investigator Tom Lopaka in Hawaiian Eye (1959-1963) and World War II ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976-1978).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edd Byrnes</span> American actor and singer (1932–2020)

Edward Byrne Breitenberger, known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series 77 Sunset Strip. He also was featured in the 1978 film Grease as television teen-dance show host Vince Fontaine, and was a charting recording artist with "Kookie, Kookie ".

<i>Beach Party</i> 1963 film by William Asher

Beach Party is a 1963 American film and the first of seven beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience. This film is often credited with creating the beach party film genre.

<i>How to Stuff a Wild Bikini</i> 1965 film by William Asher

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 Pathécolor beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams. The film features a brief appearance by Frankie Avalon and includes Buster Keaton in one of his last roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ashley (actor)</span> American actor, producer and singer

John Ashley was an American actor, producer and singer. He was best known for his work as an actor in films for American International Pictures, producing and acting in horror films shot in the Philippines, and for producing various television series, including The A-Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Levin (director)</span> American film director

Henry Levin began as a stage actor and director but was most notable as an American film director of over fifty feature films. His best known credits were Jolson Sings Again (1949), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and Where the Boys Are (1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane McBain</span> American actress (1941–2022)

Diane Jean McBain was an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s. She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the 1960–1962 television series Surfside 6 and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in 1966's Spinout.

<i>Baby Face Nelson</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Don Siegel

Baby Face Nelson is a 1957 American film noir crime film based on the real-life 1930s gangster, directed by Don Siegel, co-written by Daniel Mainwaring—who also wrote the screenplay for Siegel's 1956 sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers—and starring Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon as Dillinger, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam, John Hoyt and Elisha Cook Jr.

<i>Two on a Guillotine</i> 1965 film by William Conrad

Two on a Guillotine is a 1965 American horror film produced and directed by William Conrad and starring Connie Stevens. The screenplay by John Kneubuhl and Henry Slesar is based on a story by Slesar. The movie would be the first in a series of low-budget suspense dramas made by Warner Bros in the vein of the successful William Castle films, and was followed by My Blood Runs Cold and Brainstorm, both also released in 1965 with Conrad as director. A fourth movie, The Thing at the Door, was proposed, but never made.

<i>Lady in a Cage</i> 1964 film by Walter Grauman

Lady in a Cage is a 1964 American psychological thriller film directed by Walter Grauman, written and produced by Luther Davis, and starring Olivia de Havilland and James Caan. The film was released by Paramount Pictures.

The Crooked Road is a 1965 British film directed and co-written by Don Chaffey. It stars Stewart Granger, Robert Ryan and Janet Munro. It is based on the 1957 novel The Big Story by Morris West. An American journalist plans to expose as a crook the dictator of a small Balkan state, but finds himself framed for murder.

<i>Drop Dead Darling</i> 1966 British-American film by Ken Hughes

Drop Dead Darling is a 1966 British-American black comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, Lionel Jeffries and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Zimbalist</span> American film producer

Alfred N. Zimbalist was a producer of low-budget films such as Robot Monster, Monster from Green Hell, Cat-Women of the Moon, Watusi and Baby Face Nelson.

<i>Suicide Battalion</i> 1958 film by Edward L. Cahn

Suicide Battalion is a 1958 World War II film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Mike Connors and John Ashley, who made the film while on leave from the United States Army. In 1968, it was remade for television by Larry Buchanan as Hell Raiders, which was the film's original working title.

<i>Motorcycle Gang</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Edward L. Cahn

Motorcycle Gang is a 1957 film which is a semi-remake of Dragstrip Girl. It was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Sorority Girl.

<i>The Young Lovers</i> (1964 film) 1964 film by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.

The Young Lovers is a 1964 black-and-white American romantic drama film. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in November 1964. The sole directorial effort of its producer, Samuel Goldwyn Jr., it stars Peter Fonda and Sharon Hugueny, with second leads Nick Adams and Deborah Walley. Scripted by George Garrett from a 1955 novel by Julian Halevy, the film was shot in September–October 1963 and released a year later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celia Kaye</span> American actress

Celia Kaye is an American actress. She is most famous for her starring role in the 1964 film adaptation of Island of the Blue Dolphins which won her a Golden Globe award.