Young Dillinger *** (1965, Nick Adams, Robert Conrad, John Ashley, Dan Terranova, Mary Ann Mobley, Victor Buono, John Hoyt) – Classic Movie Review 9,791

Nick Adams stars as the notorious criminal John Dillinger in the controversial 1965 black and white gangster film Young Dillinger.

Director Terry O Morse’s 1965 black and white crime drama film Young Dillinger stars Nick Adams as gangster John Dillinger, who is sent to jail for stealing money from the strongbox of his girlfriend Elaine (Mary Ann Mobley)’s father at her suggestion.

But there in prison, he meets like-minded tearaways such as ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd (Robert Conrad) and ‘Baby Face’ Nelson (John Ashley), then he arranges their escape, and they embark on a crime spree.

Young Dillinger is a pretty efficient, attractively cheap-looking low-budget exploiter, with enough interest and tough action, and it was noted in its day for its supposed gratuitous violence. It is not held back by a sense of historical truth, accuracy or reality – or a need for painstaking 1930s atmosphere (instead it all settles for having the cost-saving inescapable contemporary 1960s look).

Producer Al Zimbalist said he wanted to avoid glamorising 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.’ Nevertheless it kicked up a storm of controversy.

John Ashley said that the film ‘was basically all of Al Zimbalist’s footage of machine guns and crashing cars from Baby Face Nelson (1957).

Public outcry prompted CBS to cancel plans to air it on American TV in early 1968. At exactly the same time, Nick Adams died on 7 February 1968, aged 36, from an overdose of drugs he was taking for a nervous disorder. He became a close friend of James Dean after playing a small role in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and was often cast in the same troubled youth mould as Dean.

Also in the cast are Dan Terranova, Mary Ann Mobley, Victor Buono, John Hoyt, Reed Hadley, Robert Osterloh, Anthony Caruso, Art Baker, Emile Meyer, Gene Roth, Frank Gerstle, and Wally Rose.

It was made by the Zimbalist Company at Samuel Goldwyn Studios, 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, starting in November 1964. It was shot cheaply on a budget of $200,000 in 17 days without using 1930s period clothes.

Robert Conrad said that he did the film to repay a favour to his friend Nick Adams, adding that the film had ‘no budget so everyone had to do their own stunts’. During filming he auditioned and won his role in the CBS hit TV show The Wild Wild West (four seasons from September 1965 to April 1969). He starred as Secret Service agent James West.

John Ashley said: ‘Allied Artists approached Nick, who said “You should go see about getting John and Bobby (Robert Conrad) “. 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.’

Young Dillinger is directed by Terry O Morse, runs 102 minutes, is made by The Zimbalist Company, is released by Allied Artists, is written by Arthur Hoehl and Donald Zimbalist, is shot in black and white by Stanley Cortez, is produced by Alfred Zimbalist, and is scored by Shorty Rogers.

Release date: April 28, 1965.

John Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934).

The cast are Nick Adams as John Dillinger, Robert Conrad as Pretty Boy Floyd, John Ashley as Baby Face Nelson, Mary Ann Mobley as Elaine, Victor Buono as Professor Hoffman, Dan Terranova as Homer Van Meter, John Hoyt as Dr Wilson, Reed Hadley as Federal Agent Parker, Robert Osterloh as Federal Agent Baum, Anthony Caruso as Rocco Art Baker as Warden, Gene Roth as Justice of Peace, Harvey Gardner as Mills, Dan Terranova, John Hoyt, Emile Meyer, Frank Gerstle, and Wally Rose.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9,791

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Nick Adams (1931–1968).