Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis in Dillinger (1973)
Vitals
Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis, experienced federal agent
Memphis, Tennessee, September 1933
Film: Dillinger
Release Date: July 20, 1973
Director: John Milius
Costume Designer: James M. George
Background
My most recent post commemorated the 90th anniversary of outlaw “Pretty Boy” Floyd’s death following a brief manhunt through rural Ohio led by federal agent Melvin Purvis, as portrayed by Christian Bale in Michael Mann’s 2009 drama Public Enemies. Two days later, on what would have been his 121st birthday, agent Purvis has inspired his second consecutive BAMF Style post—this time via Ben Johnson’s more grizzled characterization in John Milius’ bullet-riddled 1973 film Dillinger.
In a way, these titles could have been reversed as Dillinger takes a broader scope to the Depression-era crime wave that included not only the titular bank robber John Dillinger but also contemporaries like Floyd, “Baby Face” Nelson, Wilbur Underhill, and “Machine Gun” Kelly, all within the context of J. Edgar Hoover’s increased pressure on his agents to stop these criminals after the infamous Kansas City Massacre in June 1933. By contrast, Mann’s Public Enemies limits the focus to Dillinger, with some attention paid to Floyd, Nelson, and Alvin Karpis, but hardly the wider details found in Bryan Burrough’s source volume of the same name.
The real Melvin Horace Purvis II was born October 24, 1903 in South Carolina, where he attended college and received his law degree at the age of 19. He passed the bar and worked professionally as an attorney and insurance adjuster, all the while craving adventure that led him to seek government positions. After he was turned down for a diplomatic post in the Foreign Service, he was hired by the Bureau of Investigation (now known as the FBI) by the end of 1926. His intelligence and loyalty were an asset to the Bureau as he rose through the ranks, eventually assigned as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Chicago field office, where he led investigations into the explosive crash of United Airlines Trip 23, the John Factor kidnapping, and Dillinger’s crime spree—the latter case ironically cementing his stardom as America’s ace agent while also putting him in the crosshairs of a jealous Hoover.
The real Melvin Purvis (1903-1960), photographed in his Chicago office in July 1935. Note the light double-breasted summer suit, a welcome departure from the conservative navy and gray suits that dominated American office life at the time.
Unlike the ambitious and image-conscious thirtysomething “Southern gentleman” that Purvis was in real life (and would be represented in Bale’s portrayal), Dillinger recharacterizes Purvis as an old-school, “shoot first, ask questions later” lawman that more closely aligned with the screen persona of Ben Johnson, the 55-year-old actor who built his Hollywood career playing cowboys and performing stunts in Westerns.
As bank robbery was not yet considered a federal crime (though it would be deemed one in 1934 as a direct result of this crime wave), Dillinger correctly portrays the FBI’s impatient wait for Dillinger to commit a federal crime to join the manhunt against him. In the meantime, Purvis goes after Dillinger’s fellow “public enemies” in federal crosshairs, including Underhill, “Handsome Jack” Klutas, and “Machine Gun” Kelly—a bootlegger-turned-bank robber named George Barnes whose criminal image had been crafted by his second wife, Kathryn Kelly.
“He was important to me ’cause he had a name everyone knew, even if he didn’t deserve it. And what’s more, he gave us a name that day that became part of the language,” Johnson’s Purvis narrates. While neither Purvis nor Inspector Samuel Cowley (Roy Jenson) were actually present during Kelly’s arrest on September 26, 1933, Dillinger generally presents the facts of the morning raid in Memphis where a team of federal agents and local officers crashed into the room where he was staying.
Legend has it that the unarmed Kelly instantly gave up, screaming “Don’t shoot, G-Men!” and coined a new term for the feds that has lasted more than ninety years. Illustrated by Milius’ choice to include it in Dillinger, this makes for great entertainment, but most official accounts dispute this story. Burrough writes that, upon encountering both barrels of Memphis detective William Raney’s shotgun, the underwear-clad Kelly merely responded with “I been waiting all night for you,” and placed his .45 on a sewing machine before surrendering.
What’d He Wear?
Despite being portrayed by rugged screen cowboy Ben Johnson, the Melvin Purvis we see in Dillinger still reflects the snappy dresser that the agent had been in real life. He rotates through at least a half-dozen suits, all with coordinated shirts, ties secured with stickpins, and almost as many overcoats and hats that he almost never repeats.
When Purvis joins his fellow lawmen who have “Machine Gun” Kelly surrounded in a Memphis boarding house, he’s dressed for the transitional warmth of September in Memphis in a light stone-gray gabardine wool three-piece summer suit.
The single-button jacket is uniquely detailed with a sporty belted back, buttoned in place on each side of the waist. It has straight flapped hip pockets but no breast pocket. The sleeves are roped at the shoulders and finished with two vestigial buttons on each cuff. The notch lapels roll to the medium-stance single button that shows his single-breasted waistcoat (vest), though we aren’t able to discern any more details about this garment.
The trousers have turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms and are likely pleated, assuming they’re styled like his other suits. Costume designer James M. George seasonally coordinates Purvis’ shoes to his suit by choosing white polished leather wingtip oxfords, though Purvis’ socks are plain black.
Purvis’ beige shirt echoes the tones of his suit while the white bar-stripes add an interesting visual contrast. Though dramatic spearpoint collars were indeed fashionable through the ’30s, the shape of Purvis’ long-pointed spread collar is arguably more contemporary to the 1970s production. The large collar frames his solid rust-brown tie, knotted in a four-in-hand and decorated with one of his usual diamond stickpins.
Purvis often wears felt fedoras and homburgs when hunting Dillinger’s gang through the Midwest, though this warmer situation calls for summer headgear like the iconic Panama hat. These brimmed straw hats originated with the rise of hat-weaving culture in 17th century Ecuador and became increasingly popular in the United States through the 19th and 20th centuries. Purvis’ white straw Panama hat has an “optimo” crown, characterized by a raised center ridge running from front to back. It also has a narrow black grosgrain band.
Though leather gloves may seem unseasonably warm, Purvis arrives on the scene sporting gray leather three-point gloves to protect his hands when expecting to wield a Tommy gun during the arrest. Which brings us to…
The Gun
Dillinger offers plenty of gunplay, staying true to both the last year of the infamous bank robber’s life and the cinematic trademarks of writer and director John Milius. Naturally, this means frequent use of the Thompson submachine gun, a portable automatic weapon that was often wielded by both sides of the law during the 1920s and ’30s.
Purvis bursts into Kelly’s room firing his M1921AC Thompson, an iteration introduced in 1926 as an improvement on the earlier M1921A model, featuring the addition of a Cutts compensator muzzle brake. Paired with the iconic round drum magazine holding fifty rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, this version of the “Tommy gun” became synonymous with the gangland violence that began during Prohibition and extended into the Depression-era crime wave.
Brigadier General John T. Thompson designed the weapon in 1918, though it was produced too late to see action during World War I as a “trench broom” he anticipated and instead became immortalized during 1920s gang warfare as the “Chicago typewriter” and “the gun that made the twenties roar”.
World War II provided an opportunity for the Thompson to redefine its image as American GIs marched into combat with the simplified M1 and M1A1 Thompson models that swapped out the shapely foregrip and drum magazines for a horizontal handguard and extended box magazines.
How to Get the Look
Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis in Dillinger (1973). Note that the Thompson is unloaded.
- Light stone-gray gabardine three-piece summer suit:
- Single-button jacket with notch lapels, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and ventless belted back
- Single-breasted waistcoat
- Pleated trousers with turn-ups/cuffs
- Beige (with white bar-stripes) shirt with long-point spread collar
- Rust-brown tie
- Diamond stickpin
- White straw optimo-crown Panama hat with black grosgrain band
- White polished leather wingtip oxford shoes
- Black socks
- Gray leather three-point gloves
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
“G-Man”, huh? I like that. “Government Man.” Mr. Hoover’s gonna like that too.
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