It doesn't matter to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, which wants people to visit locales related to his gang's time here in the 1930s and the movie filmed in the state, Public Enemies. It stars Johnny Depp as Dillinger.
The movie doesn't open until July 1, but Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Arizona are readying for the onslaught of attention related to the film, which features Dillinger's escapades through those states.
The Wisconsin tourism department has created itineraries on its website of locales from the movie and of those related to other notorious criminals, such as Al Capone, as well as an illustrated map and video guide.
"Visiting the old battle sites of the war on crime, it's eerie," said author Bryan Burrough, whose book, Public Enemies, America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI 1933-34, was used to help craft the screenplay for Public Enemies.
"Almost all these places still exist," he said. "A few of them have historical markers, but ... if you walk down the pavement where Dillinger was killed, you would never know. You would have had to read a book or know something about Dillinger."
Universal Studios and the group that promotes filming in Wisconsin, Film Wisconsin, also plan movie premieres and parties June 30 in Oshkosh, Madison and Milwaukee -- where crews filmed.
DILLINGER'S GANG
Public Enemies' director Michael Mann filmed in the Midwest where Indiana-born Dillinger's gang killed 10 men, wounded seven, robbed banks and police arsenals, and staged three jail breaks, according to the FBI. Crews filmed in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin Dells, Columbus, Darlington, Beaver Dam, and around Mirror Lake in Wisconsin, and Crown Point, Ind., Chicago and Los Angeles.
Depp stars as Dillinger, and Christian Bale co-stars as FBI agent Melvin Purvis. Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard is Depp's love interest, Billie Frechette.
One of the most dramatic events happened at Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin in April 1934. Dillinger and his gang went there to relax but someone told the FBI. Agents staged a disastrous raid, firing hundreds of bullets. An FBI agent and a bar patron were killed and several people were wounded. Dillinger and others jumped from a second-floor window and escaped through the woods.
One of the few people still alive who was there is Emil Wanatka, 83, who now lives in Ashland, Wis. He was 8 when the six men and four women came to stay at his father's lodge and restaurant. He remembers playing catch with Dillinger and George "Baby Face" Nelson and having to end the game because Nelson threw too hard.
He said Dillinger gave him a quarter so he could buy everyone ice creams at an upcoming birthday party. He didn't realize the men's identities until he heard about the shootout the next day.
Wanatka, who later took over the business for 31 years before selling it, said the lodge's history helped business, with "Bullet hole customers" coming to see the holes -- still visible today.
"All the other things that have happened in the world and ... this has just never died," he said.
PUBLIC ENEMIES EVENTS:
- Oshkosh was turned into a movie set with refaced buildings and '30s-era signs. Crews filmed two Dillinger robberies here, with a downtown bank/office building standing in for the Security National Bank and Trust in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Oshkosh's Masonic Temple standing in for the American Bank and Trust Co. in Racine, Wis. The actual bank in Racine, now the Racine Museum of Art, features "The Scene of the Crime: Warrington Colescott Depicts Dillinger," May 24-Sept. 6. A planned July 4 gallery walk will include photos and artifacts from the shoot, extras in costume, and an opening of the bank vault where crews filmed; and the Oshkosh Public Museum's exhibit "The Era of Public Enemies: A Wave of Crime in a Troubled Time," runs June 27-Oct. 18.
- Columbus, Wis., was turned into Greencastle, Ind., where a bank robbery took place, filmed in Columbus at West James Gallery, a former bank. Columbus' downtown, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, will host a July 25 event with a 30s theme, a parade, movie extras. tours and maybe a Johnny Depp look-alike.
- Oshkosh, Madison and Milwaukee will host movie premieres and parties June 30.
For more on Wisconsin sites and events related to the movie, see travelwisconsin.com.
