Christian Bale Portrays South Carolina Native Melvin Purvis in New Movie: Public Enemies

South Carolina Native Melvin Purvis is Best Known for His Chase of the Elusive John Dillinger

Timmonsville, South Carolina is the birthplace of Melvin Purvis, the federal agent acclaimed for leading manhunts that brought about the capture of well- publicized fugitives Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.

Melvin Purvis Chases John Dillinger

South Carolina native Melvin Purvis is best known, however, for his chase of the elusive John Dillinger, Public Enemy Number One. This high profile manhunt ended in a gunfight in Chicago on July 22, 1934, for which Purvis was originally given high praise.

Reports indicate that J. Edgar Hoover, another a middle-class Southerner, was unhappy with the popularity Purvis received from the John Dillinger case. Hoover didn't consider it appropriate for an FBI agent to be singled out for his individual accomplishments. In a recent PBS special Hoover is quoted as saying: "no one employee of this Division can be responsible for the successful termination of any one case... Through cooperative efforts a case is broken."

Public Enemies, the 2009 Feature Film

Michael Mann's release of the Depression era feature film Public Enemies, slated to open this week, will bring the John Dillinger case back to life. Starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, the film depicts Purvis' determined pursuit of Dillinger, whom many thought of as a type of Robin Hood. In fact, Dillinger is considered one of the most colorful and celebrated criminals in history due in part to the major impact he had on the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as his overall "celebrity" during the Depression era.

The upcoming feature film Public Enemies is based on the 2004 book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI" by Bryan Burrough.