The Black Bird

To get out of the heat this afternoon, I found myself at my local movie theatre watching the newly released "Public Enemies". More interesting than the story of Dillinger's rise and fall from bank robber/rock star status was the portrayal of the love affair between he and Billie Frechette. Of course this portrayal was enhance by the beauty of the 2 actors who played Frechette and Dillenger, Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard.

I found myself so fascinated by the character of Billie that I immediately came home and started doing some research. I think what fascinated me about the character in the film was that there was extra care taken to make it know that she was of mixed blood. A person of color. Evelyn "Billie" Frechette was the product of a French father an a Native American mother who was a member of the Menominee Tribe. In the film they make this apparent by not only telling the story of her childhood and back round, but also by giving her a Native American Accent and in several scenes she is wearing turquoise and Native American jewelry.

Of course the film completely romanticized Frechette and Dillenger's relationship. However, everything that I found in my research does say that she was the love of Dillinger's life. She was much more involved in his life of crime than the film leads you to believe and I also found it interesting that she was actually an educated woman. She spent 1936 to 1941 on a speaking tour of the US, sharing her stories about her life with Dillenger.

I think the most fascinating fact that I found out about Frechette was that after Dillenger's death and her release from prison, she returned to the Menominee Reservation of her childhood, to live out the rest of her life.