Public Enemies director Michael Mann isn’t the first filmmaker to take on the life of bank robber John Dillinger—plenty of movies have tackled the story (and subjected it to much distortion and mythmaking along the way). So before you swoon over Johnny Depp’s Dillinger and Marion Cotillard’s Billie Frechette in the new film (in theaters Wednesday 1), check out their competition.

The role John Dillinger
The swaggering, antiheroic bank robber who lived large and met his demise outside the Biograph Theater
Starring Johnny Depp
Past portrayals The dapper, then-unknown Lawrence Tierney—best remembered as the bald ringleader in Reservoir Dogs—plays the lead in 1945’s Dillinger, a terrific, 70-minute Poverty Row quickie from Monogram Pictures. A key scene finds Dillinger apprehended by cops at a dentist’s office, just as he’s going under the gas. In real life, Dillinger risked capture to receive treatment for a scalp irritation—a visit that ended with a high-speed, gunfire-heavy pursuit down Irving Park Road.

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