Public Enemy Number One: From Dillinger to Depp

John Dillinger

John Dillinger is just as, if not more, famous than Al Capone – especially now that Johnny Depp has stepped into his shoes in Public Enemies. Dillinger was known for violent bank robberies and prison breaks. Some viewed him as a crazed criminal, and others, well, they saw him as a modern-day Robin Hood.

Public Enemy

He was wanted in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan by the time he was killed. Dillinger returned to Chicago in 1934, where his highest profile crimes took place.

The Lady in Red

On July 22, 1934, Anna Sage (a.k.a. Lady in Red) alerted the FBI to Dillinger’s whereabouts. He had just finished watching “Manhattan Melodrama” at the Biograph in Chicago. He was shot in the alley just outside of the theater.

Public Enemies

Johnny Depp and Christian Bale relive the days of Dillinger is this summer’s Public Enemies. Much of the film was shot in Chicago and if you were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Depp and/or Bale, well, I’d like to meet you.

Al "Scarface" Capone

Al Capone was the head of the Chicago mafia after Johny Torrio was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1925. When his mob with at its prime, Capone had city aldermen, mayors, legislators, governors, congressmen, and over half the Chicago police force on his payroll.

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Al Capone might be most famous for his involvement in the attempted murder of Bugs Moran, which is now known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Capone’s men killed seven men, also mobsters, but Moran wasn’t one of them. Capone never admitted to being behind the massacre, though he may have alluded to it months prior to the shooting. For a full story on the massacre, click here

(Photo: Chicago policemen re-enact the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre – 1929)

Was he caught?

Capone’s story didn’t have a very exciting ending. It was rather anti-climatic really. He was never arrested for any of the crimes he may or may not have committed. Instead he was indicted for tax evasion and spent 7 years in prison before retiring and later dying from Syphilis. (Photo by: William Seitz)

Sam “Momo” Giancana

Sam Giancana facts
- Member of a violent street gang, The 42s
- Started as a hitman for Capone
- Friend of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe
- Rigged Chicago vote for John F. Kennedy
- Rumored to have been behind the Kennedy’s assassination
- Arrested more than 70 times in his life, but only imprisoned twice.
- Also laid to rest in Mount Carmel Cemetery (which is apparently home to many Chicago gangsters.)

“Deany” O’Banion

Another Chicago gangster buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery. O’Banion was a gentleman. By day, he ran a flower shop, across the street from Holy Name Cathedral. Whenever an organized crime figure was killed, other gangsters would go to his flower shop, dropping hundreds of dollars on arrangements. He’s also credited with getting mobsters to wear suits and ties and talk with a more “refined” accent. O’Banion’s murder was never solved. Three men went into the back room with him, a customer heard shots and saw the three men flea the shop.

It is claimed that O’Banion was killed by the Genna Brothers, under the direction of Al Capone and Johnny Torrio because O’Banion had set up Torrio, selling Torrio his claimed share of Sieben’s Brewery, which was raided the next day, May 19, 1924 by the Chicago Police. Thirty one bootleggers were arrested including Torrio. It closed in 1967. In the early seventies the area was leveled and took on an entirely different look.