David Cotten's 1935 Hudson Terraplane -- As it sat on the floor of Bay City Auto Co at 1120 N. Water St -- Last year before its sale. Bay City Motor Co. Car in Public Enemies Film to be Released Wednesday
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History.
Crime.
Bay City.
Those could be the reference tag lines for an upcoming film thriller.
The much-touted Johnny Depp film "Public Enemies" will debut Wednesday with the 1935 Hudson Terraplane from the Bay City Auto Company in a supporting role.
The movie, Universal's new picture starring Depp as Depression-era gangster John Dillinger, is set for release Wednesday July 1. The crime film also stars Christian Bale as famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis.
More than a year ago (who can remember back that far?), crime film action scenes were filmed on Water Street and Washington Avenue. Those car chases and gun fighting may pop public in celluloid, but not in Public Enemies.
Supposedly, the Bay City street shots were made for Clint Eastwood other crime dramas or perhaps a Stephen King film.
The Bay City Terraplane, now owned by a Galesburg, Illinois, car collector, is shown in Public Enemies scenes shot in Chicago.
Illinois media reported that Mike Patton of Galesburg bought the car from David Cotten of Bay City Auto Co. in December, 2007 after seeing the vehicle advertised on the Internet.
The studio also was on the hunt for the car, but Mr. Patton beat them to it. He commented to Galesburg.com: "If I had been two or three days later, they would have gotten the car and that would have been the end of it. It was fate, or luck, or whatever you want to call it."
Depp and director Michael Mann viewed pictures of the Terraplane and decided "that was the car," according to reports. Patton agreed to sell the car to the studio with the right to buy it back after the film. It will come with documentation on its film role.
The Terraplane, in gleaming ivory when it was on the showroom floor in Bay City, will appear in the film repainted in black.
Movie executives installed an automatic transmission because they didn't think Depp could drive a car with manual shift.
Dillinger reportedly favored the Hudson Terraplane for getaways since the vehicle could travel nearly 100 miles per hour.
Universal also acquired another of Patton's cars, a 1930 Pierce Arrow roadster, for the film.
Ironically, the film will feature a crime character, Pretty Boy Floyd, who actually was in Bay City during the 1930s.
Bay City's Water Street was the actual scene of the arrest of two members of the Bonnie & Clyde gang in 1932. In fact, the incident happened right on the second floor of the Bay City Auto Co. building, 1120 N. Water St.
(See details on the Pretty Boy Floyd rampage here and the Bonnie & Clyde gang arrests in the book, Ghosts, Crimes and Urban Legends of Bay City, Michigan, pages 69-79.)
Another Michigan connection to the Public Enemies film is that a vintage clothing store in southwest Michigan provided some of the costumes for "Public Enemies."
The studio bought some 400 items of 1930s clothes and accessories from Apparel From the Past, Marsha Ruby's store at Shawnee Road Antiques in Berrien County's Oronoko Township. Among the items were shoes, gloves, dresses, hats, earrings and jewelry.
Official Plot Synopsis:
"In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)-- the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.
"No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone --from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.
"But while the adventures of Dillinger gang later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi)-- thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw's capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI.
"He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing 'Clark Gable of the FBI.' However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals -- from the infamous 'Lady in Red' -- to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti -- were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger."
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