John Dillinger was a notorious bank robber in mid-western America. Some considered him a dangerous criminal, while others idolized him as a present-day Robin Hood. His exploits, along with those of other criminals of the 1930s Depression era, dominated the attention of the American press and its readers during what is sometimes referred to as the public enemy era (1931-1935).
Dillinger was believed to have been associated with gangs who robbed dozens of banks of a total of more than $300,000, an enormous sum in the Depression era. He escaped from prison twice and eventually dropped out of sight by the summer of 1934. He had adopted an alias and worked as a clerk in Chicago.
On July 22, 1934, Dillinger attended the film Manhattan Melodrama at the Biograph Theater in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. He was with his girlfriend Polly Hamilton and Anna Sage, an illegal immigrant who sold the FBI information about Dillinger for money and so that she would not be deported. After the film, Sage tipped off agents who opened fire on Dillinger as he ran. He was struck three times and died without saying a word.
