One For The Road: The Day John Dillinger Died

By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 23, 2012 10:40PM

Angie Naron

On July 22, 1934, temperatures hit 102 degrees. It was one of the hottest days in Chicago history, and it outdone on July 24 when it hit 105 degrees, still the hottest day in Chicago history. As a result of the triple-digit temperatures on 24 people died on July 22. And John Dillinger went to the movies. Doesn't it seem strange that we remember the latter, rather than the former?

We all know the story of John Dillinger, right? The Tribune writes:

Dillinger's girlfriend was a red-haired waitress named Polly Hamilton. Her landlady, Anna Sage, who was to become known legendarily--though inaccurately--as "the Woman in Red," was Dillinger's confidant and knew his identity.

In the heat of that July, movie houses advertised that they were "air-cooled." Perhaps that's what made Dillinger decide to take Hamilton and Sage to a movie that evening. If so, there were 24 heat-related deaths that day.

Dillinger told the women he wanted to go to the Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue where " Manhattan Melodrama," starring William Powell and Clark Gable, was playing. Sage told the law.

Here's an old newsreel.