Page "John Dillinger" Paragraph 54

Dillinger attended the film Manhattan Melodrama at the Biograph Theater in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Dillinger was with Polly Hamilton and Ana Cumpănaş.

Once they determined that Dillinger was in the theater, the lead agent, Samuel P. Cowley, contacted J. Edgar Hoover for instructions, who recommended that they wait outside rather than risk a gun battle in a crowded theater.

He also told the agents not to put themselves in harm's way and that any man could open fire on Dillinger at the first sign of resistance.

When the movie let out, Purvis stood by the front door and signaled Dillinger's exit by lighting a cigar.

Both he and the other agents reported that Dillinger turned his head and looked directly at the agent as he walked by, glanced across the street, then moved ahead of his female companions, reached into his pocket but failed to extract his gun, and ran into a nearby alley.

Other accounts state Dillinger ignored a command to surrender, whipped out his gun, then headed for the alley.

Agents already had the alley closed off, but Dillinger was determined to shoot it out.