Scarecrow suggests | Like "Public Enemies"? Find more Dillinger on DVD

We begin with two films named "Dillinger": The first is from 1945 and stars Lawrence Tierney as the titular criminal. The film earned an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay and was also banned for several years by the Chicago Censorship Board for its "brutal and sensational" subject matter. The "Dillinger" from 1973 stars Warren Oates as the anti-hero, viewing his heyday through the eyes of FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson).

For a look at another side of the Dillinger drama, 1979's "Lady in Red" (1979) focuses on the women who would lead to his eventual downfall. Polly Franklin (Pamela Sue Martin) leaves her abusive home for the hard-luck streets of Chicago. She finds work as a prostitute in a brothel run by the kindly Anna Sage (Louise Fletcher of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"). Soon Polly hooks up with a dashing mystery man, whom Anna deduces must be the notorious criminal. Fearful of being deported (the real-life madam was named Ana Cumpanas, an illegal Romanian immigrant), Anna makes a deal with the authorities and tips them off to their attendance at the theater, where the threesome will be easily spotted by her red dress.

Other films inspired by real-life criminal elements: The essential "Bonnie & Clyde" (1967) with Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty and one infamous shootout; "Ned Kelly" (1970) starring Mick Jagger as the legendary Australian outlaw and featuring songs written by Shel Silverstein; Sean Connery's Oscar-winning performance in Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables" (1987); and Terence Malick's "Badlands" (1973), based on the 1958 Charles Starkweather-Caril Ann Fugate killings in Nebraska. It stars Martin Sheen as the James Dean-styled angry outsider Kit and Sissy Spacek as his pop-culture-obsessed teenage girlfriend. They shack up in a treehouse before tempers boil over; the two head off on a deadly spree after Kit shoots her father for trying to keep the couple apart.

It's hard to think about cops 'n' robbers movies without mentioning a legendary cinematic gangster: James Cagney. While his acting career spanned many genres, Cagney is best remembered for gritty crime films like "Public Enemy" (1931), "Angels With Dirty Faces" (1938), "Roaring Twenties" (1939) and "White Heat" (1949).

Some more crime-spree-thieving-bandit films from great directors:

Howard Hawks' original "Scarface" (1932); Robert Altman's "Thieves Like Us" (1974); Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" (1993); Martin Scorsese's "Boxcar Bertha" (1972) and "Goodfellas" (1990); Walter Hill's "Last Man Standing" (1996); Steven Spielberg's first theatrical feature, "The Sugarland Express" (1974); Mike Newell's "Donnie Brasco" (1997, also starring Johnny Depp); and any of "Public Enemies" director Michael Mann's other work including his solid re-imaging of "Miami Vice" (2006) and the epic crime thriller "Heat" (1995).

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