The thirties gangster look from Public Enemies

It was the early 1930s. America was in the painful grip of the Great Depression, its banks falling fast and taking national morale with it, leaving it to outlaws to bring some cheer and colour to the lives of the long-suffering. These criminals robbed banks, eluded the government’s police forces and did it all with a smile on their faces becoming celebrity outlaws that bucked the failing system. And in 1933, America’s golden age of crime, the man the burgeoning FBI most wanted to capture and so named the Public Enemy Number One was John Dillinger, the subject of new Michael Mann drama Public Enemies.

Silver screen chameleon Johnny Depp plays Dillinger ably supported by Christian Bale as determined FBI agent Melvin Purvis and Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s love interest Billie Frechette. And reuniting with Depp after four previous onscreen collaborations is costume designer, Colleen Atwood who was charged with breathing life into the movie’s 1930s fashions.

The two-time Oscar winner, who earned incredible acclaim for her work on Tim Burton movies, was an addition to the production warmly welcomed by Depp. “Colleen Atwood is someone whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with on and off for the last 20 years and she’s just a complete wizard,” he enthuses. “She’s just amazing. With any character you have a very strong idea of who it is, especially with someone like John Dillinger. With Colleen, you don’t have to say a word; you walk into a room, and she’s already got you decked out.”