from director Michael Mann , and also starring Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard . Mann is known for his sympathetic portrayal of criminals , and Dillinger -- whose acts on the wrong side of the law led him to become one of America 's first celebrities -- is the quintessential good hood . In the 1930s , the United States was in the grips of the worst financial disaster in history -- a time when many Americans watched their life savings disappear and became jobless and hungry . Members of the public blamed banks for losing their money and politicians for failing to stop them . For many , Dillinger 's exploits represented sticking it to the fat cats , and he was idolized as a modern-day Robin Hood . J. Edgar Hoover , FBI director at the time , may have made Dillinger America 's first Public Enemy No. 1 , but the bandit was careful not to alienate the public . There is a memorable moment where he drapes a coat over a female bank hostage during a raid to keep her warm . Also , it 's said he never swore in front of women . He
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- He 's been a homicidal singing barber in `` Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street '' and a drunken swashbuckler in `` Pirates of the Caribbean : At World 's End . '' Depp is back as bank robber John Dillinger , revered in the Depression as a modern-day Robin Hood . Now , Hollywood shape-shifter Johnny Depp is back as another unexpectedly charismatic outlaw : Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger , a character he says he 's been drawn to since he was a boy . `` I sort of had a fascination with John Dillinger when I was about 10 , 11 years old , for some reason , '' Depp told CNN . `` I always kind of admired him , oddly . '' Oddly , perhaps , because for a short but intense period between September 1933 and July 1934 Dillinger and his gang rampaged through the American Midwest , staging jail breaks , robbing banks , and killing 10 men and wounding seven along the way . Dillinger 's violent spree is the focus of gangster drama `` Public Enemies , '' the latest offering