Quotes

Melvin Purvis: What keeps you up nights, Mr. Dillinger?

John Dillinger: Coffee.

Early in the movie, during a bank robbery, there is an FDIC sign beside the teller. Dillinger's bank robberies were mostly in 1933, he was arrested in January 1934. The FDIC was not enacted until January 1934, making it impossible for the bank to have been insured by the FDIC during the 1933 robberies. Additionally, in the same robbery, the teller displays $5 bills that are the current format (multiple colors, offset picture, larger numbers) which would not have been present at that time. See more...

Trivia

In the trailer - and the film, for that matter - Johny Depp's character John Dillinger tells a bank employee, 'We're here for the bank's money, not yours. Put that away.' Robert DeNiro's character Neil McCauley in Heat similarly goes, 'We're here for the bank's money, not yours. Your money's insured by the federal government, you won't lose a dime.' Both Heat and Public Enemies were written (or co-written in the case of Public Enemies) and directed by Michael Mann. See more...

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Public Enemies (2009) - 4 corrections

Directed by Michael Mann, starring Christian Bale, Johnny Depp (add more)

Genres: Crime, Drama

Comments made in brackets are corrections from other visitors. To submit your own corrections for mistakes, just click "edit" under an entry, then choose "correct entry". You can also submit corrections for corrections, if you think a mistake has been unfairly removed.

Corrections

When John Dillinger escapes from jail by stealing a police car, the car slowly stops at a traffic light and we can see officers to the left of John (and the car). In the overhead shot of the car and the traffic light, the officers have disappeared from the sidewalk, but in the following shot the officers are still there. [Dillinger stole sheriff Holley's Ford. At the stoplight, there is a marked police cruiser with two cops inside shown stopped at the same light but opposite Dillinger. It's not a continuity issue.]

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Correction Edit text Duplicate X

Pretty Boy Floyd was killed in East Liverpool, OH, by a Deputy Sheriff on October 19, 1934, not by Pervis. [Three different accounts of Floyd's death (which occurred on October 22nd, 1934, not the 19th), exist, so, as all parties concerned are now deceased, the truth of the situation will likely never be determined. The film is not intended as a documentary and, as such, is under no obligation to stick rigidly to factual events, particularly as no concrete facts exist in this case. Only one of the three accounts claims that Floyd died at the hands of local law enforcement, the other two both state that Floyd was killed by FBI agents with Purvis present. Given his status as the ostensible "hero" of the film, it's entirely allowable under dramatic licence to present Purvis himself as the shooter.]

Edit Corrected by Tailkinker

Correction Edit text Duplicate X

During the shot of the prison front gates at beginning of movie, to the left of the gate is a outside tv/cable box where a cable technician would normally hook up cable from outside. Cable was not around in 1930's. [That was the wiring to the PA/alarm system that had speakers attached to the overhang above the doorway. More than likely installed after an upgrade to the prison's "modern security system" of the 1930s.]

Edit Corrected by Greenman37

Correction Edit text Duplicate X

According to the movie, when Dillinger walked into police station the day of his death (7/22/1934), he asked a group of cops listening to the radio who was winning the ballgame. He was informed 3-2 in the 7th, then the radio announcer goes on to talk about how the Yankees are doing against Chicago. This is way before interleague play and not during World Series time. MLB lists the Cubs lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 that day. [True, the Yankees didn't play the Chicago Cubs in 1934, but they did play the Chicago White Sox.]

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Correction Edit text Duplicate X