The Lady in Red is a film directed by Lewis Teague in 1979 that is a greatly fictionalized version of the life of Polly Hamilton, Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's last girlfriend. Dillinger is played by Robert Conrad opposite Pamela Sue Martin as "Polly Franklin", the renamed version of the real-life Hamilton. The story deviates from truth in almost every detail, especially in its misleading title; Anna Sage (as played by Louise Fletcher) was the infamous "lady in red" rather than Polly. The film has enjoyed a cult following as one of Roger Corman's many B-movie classics. The film also stars Christopher Lloyd as a sadistic mobster named "Frognose" and Robert Forster in an uncredited role as a gunman named "Turk".
The ubiquitous Thompson M1921 makes many appearances throughout the film in the hands of bank robbers, policemen, and FBI agents, almost always with a drum magazine. Polly Franklin (Pamela Sue Martin) handles one after the bank robbery, handing it off to Eddie "the Kid" (Glenn Withrow) who uses it to hold off the oncoming police and FBI agents at a gas station.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingAn unnamed bank robber during an early scene fires his Thompson off during a gun battle.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe same bank robber shoots at several policemen in the small town.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAn FBI agent prepares to take down Dillinger by loading up a Thompson's drum magazine. It is interesting to note that, although many shots are shown of FBI agents loading long guns such as Thompsons and shotguns to prepare, only handguns are used by the agents at the Biograph Theater.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAn undercover FBI agent fires his Thompson at Polly's gang.Error creating thumbnail: File missingEddie fires his Thompson at the police and FBI agents who corner him and Polly near a gas station.
Another policeman in the small town fires at the bank robbers with a Winchester Model 1912.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe policeman fires his Winchester. Strangely, when the shot is shown to hit the bank robber's car, it makes a very small hole as though fired from a rifle.
Colt Detective Special
Turk (Robert Forster) draws a Colt Detective Special on Polly to prove a point that his targets never know what hit them when he's assigned to kill one of them.
FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Alan Vint) uses a M1911A1 pistol to shoot and kill Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater. Based on the color of the parts and the bore diameter, it appears to be a Colt Mk IV Series 70 or similarly anachronistic variant.
An FBI agent places a .32-caliber Iver Johnson Revolver with white grips near Dillinger's corpse after he is shot and killed in order to justify the killing. This reflects the ongoing dispute on whether or not Dillinger was armed at the time of his death; the FBI argues that when Dillinger was killed, he had a .380-caliber Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless in his pocket.
