South Carolina Department
of Public Safety
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2009
Contact: Sid Gaulden, 803-896-8409
MOVIE, ETV
SPECIAL BRING ATTENTION TO DILLINGER, PURVIS
G-Man’s
firearm collection at Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame
COUMBIA – Almost
seventy-five years ago, on July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was shot and killed in
an alley outside of a Chicago theater while trying to escape from a FBI team
lead by Melvin Purvis.
Since that sensational
shootout, both Dillinger and Purvis, a native of Timmonsville, who died in a
somewhat mysterious shooting in 1960, have been the subject of a number of
movies and television programs.
"Public Enemies" is the
most recent version to hit the big screen, being released today, Wednesday, July
1. The film, just as have the others, depicts the life and times of a
Depression-era celebrity, the outlaw who robbed banks for a living. Dillinger's
antics, at a time when the darkest days of the depression wafted across the
nation, made him a hero to some Americans. It’s an oft told tale and you know
before buying a ticket that Dillinger dies in the end.
Yet that hasn’t stopped producers from taking another shot
at bringing Dillinger and Purvis back to life on the big screen and the small
screen.
South Carolina Educational TV has produced a program
entitled "G-Man: The Rise and Fall of Melvin Purvis." A special screening of
the program was held Sunday at the Florence County Library. The program will
premiere on ETV on Thursday, July 2 at 9 p.m. Additional broadcasts on ETV
include: Sunday, July 5 at 4 p.m.; Thursday, July 16 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, July 19
at 5 p.m.; Sunday, July 26 at 4 p.m.; Thursday, July 30 at 9 p.m. Encore
presentations will air on the South Carolina Channel on: Monday, July 6 at 9
p.m.; Monday, July 20 at 9 p.m.; Monday, August 3 at 9 p.m.
Some of the scenes in “G-Man: The Rise and Fall of Melvin
Purvis,” were shot at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame,
where a number of firearms collected by Purvis over his life are on exhibit.
According to Marsha T. Ardila, administrator of the Hall of
Fame, there are more than 130 pieces in the Purvis collection which was donated
to the Hall in 1985. The Purvis exhibit, which contains 89 pieces, went up in
1990. Eight pieces are on loan to the South Carolina Military Museum.
Included in the collection is Purvis’ Colt .38 Detective
Special, which he is said to have had on the night Dillinger was killed outside
the Biograph Theater. Purvis was the lead FBI Agent in charge at the Biograph
and when Dillinger left the movie “Manhattan Melodrama”, Purvis signaled his
team by lighting a cigar. Dillinger apparently sensed that he was
surrounded by law enforcement officers and tried to flee down an alley while
trying to draw his weapon. He was shot three times and died in the alley.
Another weapon in the Purvis exhibit is a .22 Remington,
which supposedly belonged to Dillinger. The weapon was seized after a shootout
at the Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame is
open to the public, free of charge Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5
p.m.
According to Wikipedia, Lawrence Tierney was the first
Dillinger from the movie of the same name released in 1945. Scott Peters plays
Dillinger in the 1959 release entitled “The FBI Story,” which starred James
Stewart. Warren Oates had the title role in the 1973 movie, “Dillinger.” In
1979, Robert Conrad was Dillinger in “The Lady in Red.” And in 1991, Mark
Harmon starred as Dillinger in a TV movie. In the new depiction of Dillinger,
Johnny Depp is the leading bad guy.
Purvis has been portrayed by Ben Johnson, Dale Robertson,
Will Patton and now Christian Bale.
Purvis, graduated from the University of South Carolina,
where he also received his law degree. He joined the FBI in 1927 and was placed
in charge of the Chicago office in 1932. Purvis was responsible for directing
the searches that tracked such outlaws as Baby Face Nelson, a one-time member of
Dillinger’s gang and Pretty Boy Floyd. Those exploits apparently brought too
much public attention to Purvis in the eyes of then FBI Director J. Edgar
Hoover. In 1935, less than a year after Dillinger’s death, Purvis resigned from
the FBI.
The South Carolina
Department of Public Safety includes the Highway Patrol, Office of Highway
Safety, State Transport Police, Bureau of Protective Services and Office of
Justice Programs. Our mission is to ensure public safety by protecting and
serving the people of South Carolina and its visitors.
Click on Attachments Below:
Photo of Melvin Purvis’s personal weapon
Photo of a board game featuring Purvis
Photo of a .22 caliber rifle that supposedly belonged to Dillinger
Photo of pen gun taken from a dead Chicago mobster
Photo of German and Japanese World War II weapons that were part of Purvis’ collection
