Dillinger is a fictionalized melodrama focusing on the crime spree of John Dillinger, the legendary 1930s-era bank robber. It was produced by King Bros. Productions, a company formed in 1942 by Frank, Herman, and Maurice King, who had previously hired Tiomkin to score their 1943 feature Unknown Guest. Tiomkin provides a lengthy, robust score that fills three quarters of the production’s running time, with the galloping rhythms for the crime montage and pursuit sequences balanced by a tender romantic theme. The critic for the Hollywood Reporter observed that “Dimitri Tiomkin’s score, with its piano dissonants [sic] contributes enormously to the suspense and dramatic evolution.”