Set in Chicago during the Great Depression era, Public Enemies tells the true story of legendary bank robber John Dillinger, the charismatic thief whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis, as well as a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public, who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression. The adventures of Dillinger's gang, which in its latter stages included the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson, thrilled many, but to Hoover he was a menace, making him America's first Public Enemy Number One. Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts and it was only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen, who were real gunfighters, and orchestrating epic betrayals, from the infamous "Lady in Red" to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti, were Purvis and the FBI able to finally close in on Dillinger.
