http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconn...OVIE_S1.articleWill Dillinger walk Aurora's streets again? Or - more likely - Christian Bale and Johnny Depp?
Or - more likely - Christian Bale and Johnny Depp?February 2, 2008
By MATT HANLEY
It's long been rumored that infamous gangster John Dillinger used Aurora as a place to hide from federal agents.
In 1984, an author even suggested that Dillinger was in Aurora while his look-alike took a fatal bullet outside Chicago's Biograph theater.
Key personnel scouting locations for director Michael Mann's next film, 'Public Enemies,' a gangster-era movie about John Dillinger and others, checked out the Paramount Theater this week.
If there's any truth to that, then maybe the real Dillinger will wander back to Aurora soon. Sure, he'd be 104, but even an elderly ex-gangster would want to meet Johnny Depp. Especially since Depp could be acting out his death on the streets of Aurora.
Earlier this week, Academy Award-nominated director Michael Mann and several associates spent a few hours at the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Aurora, scouting it as a possible location for Mann's next movie, Public Enemies.
The movie would star Depp as Dillinger, the gangster who -- according to all reasonable accounts -- was shot outside the north side Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934. According to Variety , Christian Bale may sign on to play Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent who tracked Dillinger to the theater.
Variety's report says the movie is based on the 2004 book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43. The book details the government's attempts to capture criminal legends like Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.
Paramount Executive Director Diana Martinez downplayed the possibility of the Paramount standing in for Chicago's Biograph. The Paramount is one of many theaters Mann is checking out, she cautioned.
"It's a maybe," she said. "They came and checked it out. He liked it a lot and spent a lot of time here."
But even Martinez got excited about the possibility of big stars wandering through the historic theater again.
"It was kind of exciting they spent so much time here," she said. "Who knows what could happen?"
Mayor Tom Weisner echoed her excitement, saying that he is glad to see the painstakingly preserved theater appreciated by Hollywood. The Paramount would be historically accurate to the time of the film -- it opened in September 1931.
"This would be really cool," the mayor said. "My only concern would be keeping my wife 400 feet from Johnny Depp."
If Mann needs another authentic reason to choose the Fox Valley for filming, perhaps he can stop by the grave of John "Three Fingered Jack" Hamilton, one of Dillinger's associates. (According to Internet reports -- which may not be entirely accurate -- Australian actor Jason Clarke is scheduled to play Hamilton in Public Enemies.)
Hamilton is buried in an unmarked grave in Oswego. Legend has it that Hamilton and Dillinger were hiding in Minnesota when police found them. A shoot-out ensued, in which Hamilton was injured.
Hamilton and Dillinger fled to Chicago, then Aurora, where Hamilton died. His body was covered in lye and buried in an Oswego field -- or so the story goes. But for years, even after Hamilton's body was dug up in 1935, rumors persisted that Hamilton and Dillinger were still alive.
The stories are testament to how these criminals became folk heroes by attacking banks, which many ordinary people weren't fond of during the Depression.
Still, if Mann does choose Aurora, and you see any suspicious-looking 104-year-olds standing in the shadows critiquing the performances, please call your local FBI office.