John Dillinger Walked Out of a Movie and Into an Ambush

On July 22, 1934, John Dillinger entered Chicago’s Biograph Theater with Anna Sage and Polly Hamilton to watch *Manhattan Melodrama*. When the movie ended and Dillinger stepped back into the oppressive Chicago heat, federal agents were waiting outside. This is the story of John Dillinger’s final night: the woman who betrayed him, the signal beneath the theater marquee, the gunfire beside the alley, and the enormous crowds that turned the death of Public Enemy Number One into one final public spectacle. Dillinger entered the Biograph hoping to disappear into an ordinary crowd. Three days later, thousands of people followed him to his grave. Support the Eclectic Historical Society and find our merchandise at: eclectichistoricalsociety.com #JohnDillinger #ChicagoHistory #AmericanHistory