Scene - Blogs - Death by poetic license

Death by poetic license
Published: 7/15/2009 6:28 PM
Last Modified: 7/15/2009 6:28 PM

As I noted in my recent review of "Public Enemies," director Michael Mann has made a film that looks wonderfully authentic to those 1930's days of bank-robbing, and it appears to be very well-researched — except with regard to the notorious Oklahoma outlaw Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd.
I've been surprised that few other writers have picked up on the facts surrounding Floyd's death being fictionalized for the film. I couldn't help but remember the criticism leveled at filmmaker Brian De Palma of "The Untouchables" for the equally fictional killing off of gangster Frank Nitti — who also appears as a character in "Public Enemies," alive and well.
In "Public Enemies," Floyd is shot to death in the first 10 minutes by famed G-man Melvin Purvis. This allows for John Dillinger (as portrayed by Johnny Depp), behind bars the first time he meets Purvis in person, to refer to his rival as "the man who gunned down `Pretty Boy' Floyd."
Fact the movie got right: Purvis gunned down Floyd. Fact the movie got wrong: Floyd was killed three months after Dillinger was blasted into his own dirt nap.
The filmmaker's decision to knock off Pretty Boy before his time is ridiculous, because for the purposes of Mann's film, it appears to have been done solely to get that "the man who gunned down `Pretty Boy' Floyd" line into the picture to add some dramatic heft to the rivals' face-to-face meeting.
As for Frank Nitti, this henchman of Al Capone was memorably portrayed by Billy Drago in the "The Untouchables" and even more memorably thrown off a roof to his death by Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness, during Capone's 1931 trial for tax evasion. The problem: It never happened.
Seemingly every critic across the land caught this error when "The Untouchables" opened. Probably because Nitti actually lived another 12 years, dying in 1943.
Whether by years or months in the case of Floyd and Nitti, their cause of death — poetic license — is equally improper movie magic.

Reader Comments

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

Follow Michael Smith on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog

Archive

Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

Michael Smith's Blog Archive:

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011	5/2011	4/2011	3/2011
2/2011	1/2011	12/2010	11/2010	10/2010	9/2010
8/2010	7/2010	6/2010	5/2010	4/2010	3/2010
2/2010	1/2010	12/2009	11/2009	10/2009	9/2009
8/2009	7/2009	6/2009	5/2009	4/2009	3/2009
2/2009	1/2009	12/2008	11/2008	10/2008	9/2008
8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
2/2008	1/2008	12/2007	11/2007	10/2007	9/2007
8/2007	7/2007	6/2007

michaelsmithTW
michaelsmithTW

Join the conversation

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :