August 22, 1972: Two men attempt to rob a bank in Brooklyn. They fail miserably: the money they'd hoped for isn't there, the cops get tipped off immediately, and within 30 minutes they're in a hostage situation with the FBI. Things really get crazy when reporters learn that one of the robbers is gay and married to a trans woman. The crowd of journalists and onlookers grows into the hundreds, desperate for a glimpse of this charismatic live-wire who's robbing the bank not for greed or thrills, but to fund his partner's sexual reassignment surgery. Sound familiar? This is the plot of Dog Day Afternoon , the 1975 film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, and Chris Sarandon. It remains a high-water mark of New Hollywood, where the best acting talent of the day came together on a film that was truly exceptional. But equally exceptional was the fact that the film was based on a true-life incident. Drawing on extensive archival research, film historian Rachel Walther delves into the film's backstory, tracing how an unbelievable true crime tale of love, bank robbery, and LGBTQI+ activism became a box-office smash and catapulted a group of Brooklyn outsiders into the media spotlight.

Name-checked on TV shows from The Simpsons to Drunk History , and now a Broadway play, Dog Day Afternoon 's legacy continues to inspire filmmakers, writers, and actors. Walther's deep dive interrogates the film's place in the 1970s zeitgeist, set against a background of antiwar activism and the fight for gay and trans rights, and in doing so shows its continuing relevance today.