Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and “Public Enemies” is a hot box office success.   At the beginning of the year,  the pols warned us of the vicissitudes of The Great Depression, revisited, the very event which made John Dillinger a darling amongst the populace   So although times are not similar, the mindset is right for a great gansta’ flick.

   “The Jackrabbit” took the rap for many bankers who allegedly embezzled funds from their institutions and who almost welcomed the shoot ’em up, hold ’em up robberies since  the  stickups covered the tracks of the crooked bankers.   Dillinger and his gang criss crossed the Illinois,  Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio areas eluding law enforcement  while “borrowing” fast cars, stealing ammunition, and stockpiling their dwindling supplies of cash with another job for loot.

     Needing to cool off and lay low, the men headed south.   Alan May and Marilyn Bardsley weave a great tale…   http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/dillinger/6.html   and clicking on the link is well worth the effort!   Let them tell the story.

    But Dallas Scott, the Front Desk Clerk at the Hotel Congress and a Certified Tucson Tourism Ambassador, explains there was a fire in the basement of the Hotel Congress in January 1934, which licked up the elevator shaft and to the third floor.    Dillinger had not arrived back in Tucson with Billie Frenchette, his all time love, but was due that afternoon.  

      Charles Makley and “Booby” Clark were guests at the Hotel Congress and had rooms on the third floor.  The men bribed the firemen to go into the room to get two bags, according to Scott.  One bag contained a number of weapons, and the other bag held $24,000.   Dillinger and Billie Frenchette arrived that afternoon.

     However, one of the firemen recognized either Makley or Clark and notified the Tucson’s finest the following day.   Tucson Police apprehended “The Jackrabbit” and his colleagues without a single shot being fired, something even J. Edgar Hoover’s g men could not accomplish!  According to Scott, Dillinger et al  were apprehended on 2nd Avenue.  The third floor of the hotel was never rebuilt because the German couple who owned the hotel did not have the money.

 Each year on January 21, the Hotel Congress holds Dillinger Days where there is an embellished re-enactment of the capture of the American idol gangster, complete with vintage cars, food and music of the 1930’s and where people dress as if they lived during that period.

     The Hotel Congress has not changed much since that time, said Scott.  It tries to keep the ambience of that era.  Located at 311 East Congress in downtown Tucson, the hotel is home to The Cup Restaurant and a hopping lounge which is attractive to University of Arizona college students.   

     One thing the Hotel Congress is not, and that is the red brick building showing in the movie, “Public
Enemies” which brought a contemptuous giggle from the Tucson theater crowd.  

Resources:

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/dillinger/6.html 

John Dillinger and Tucson Arizona 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillinger

Author of “John Dillinger”    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dary_Matera

From the Federal Bureau of Investigation:  http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/dillinger/dillinger.htm