John Dillinger's big-screen reincarnation is bringing heightened interest in the gangster, and a Tucsonan got a hefty sum for one of Dillinger's guns sold at auction this weekend.
As the Dillinger movie "Public Enemies" plays at eight metro-area theaters, the small pistol Dillinger carried in his sock when he was arrested here in 1934 was sold at auction Saturday for $95,600.
That's more than twice what the Heritage Auction Galleries auction house predicted it would garner.
The seller, "a member of a prominent Tucson family," owned the gun for more than 50 years. It went to a "Los Angeles area collector," according to a news release from the auction house.
"It's never left Tucson since 1934," said Dennis Lowe, arms and militaria director for Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas.
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The seller wanted to remain anonymous so he doesn't become a victim of theft, Lowe said Sunday.
Heritage Auction Galleries does not know if the buyer purchased it for himself or as an agent for someone else, Lowe said.
The Remington .41-caliber Double Derringer was expected to sell for $35,000 to $45,000, based upon the unique materials and the fact there is no other comparable gun.
"The magic of the auction is that two people decide they want it, there are no rules and there are no limits," Lowe said in an interview Sunday.
The movie has also prompted a bit more interest in Tucson's Hotel Congress, where Dillinger and his gangsters stayed before it caught fire the week they were arrested here.
Hotel Congress owner Richard Oseran said he has seen more people lately checking out photos hanging in the hotel's first-floor hall showing the gang and the fire.
The hotel had an event the day the movie was released in theaters, and it hosts an annual "Dillinger Days" event and re-enactment in January.
"There's always interest," Oseran said of the hotel's connection to the Depression-era gangster.
One of the things he's consistently heard since the movie came out was how unfortunate it was that the hotel scenes were not filmed at the Tucson hotel, Oseran said. "A lot of people felt slighted as result," he said.
By Saturday, online presale bidding on Dillinger's gun was up to $60,000, and the final bid in a telephone auction was $80,000. The auction house added a 19.5 percent premium for the final price of $95,600.
The sale was prompted by the release of the Dillinger movie starring Johnny Depp, Lowe said.
"That's what motivated him to sell it," Lowe said.
Other items in the auction included general arms plus military and Western Americana, including leather holsters that sold for $4,000 to $6,000 each.
But the gun was the crown.
"This was far and away the most important single piece in the sale," Lowe said.
Other Dillinger guns and confiscated items are permanently on display at the Tucson Police Department, 270 S. Stone Ave. The display is open to the public when the lobby is open, said Tucson police Officer Chuck Rydzak.
Despite daily news of economic woes, auctions have continued to see success. Many items in Saturday's auction brought in more than expected, in some cases up to eight times the predicted amount, Lowe said.
"What we're seeing, very simply, is that while we obviously are in the midst of an economic downturn, . . . we do not see any depression in demands and prices paid for great collectibles. If anything, we're seeing prices driven higher because in some cases money is being driven into more three-dimensional assets that have a proven track record as this kind of material does."
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