The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (film)
This article possibly contains original research. (December 2008) |
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roger Corman |
Screenplay by | Howard Browne |
Produced by | Roger Corman |
Starring | |
Narrated by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2 million[1] |
Box office | $1.7 million (US/CA)[2] |
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a 1967 American
Corman, better known as a director and producer of low-budget
A young Bruce Dern plays one of the victims of the massacre, and Jack Nicholson has a bit part as a gangster. Also featured are Jan Merlin as one of Moran's lieutenants and veteran Corman actor Dick Miller as one of the phony policemen involved in the massacre. Leo Gordon makes an early screen appearance as Heitler.
Plot
An organized crime war breaks out between two rival gangs in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. The leader of the Southside Gang is the notorious Al Capone, who resents the growing activities of his nemesis George "Bugs" Moran, the leader of the North Side Gang. Moran also wants control of the city's bootlegging and gambling operations, and his lieutenants Peter and Frank Gusenberg use threats and intimidation to make speakeasy owners do business with them in exchange for "protection". Peter Gusenberg also argues and fights with his moll, particularly over her extravagant spending of his money.
As the body count escalates, Moran reminds his men how Capone eliminated the previous North Side leaders while Capone remembers how Northside leader
With an elaborate plan in motion to eliminate Moran and his gang, Capone retreats to his winter home in
In the aftermath, Capone is shown dispatching two of those responsible for carrying out the attack (John Scalise and Albert Anselmi) as he learns of their plans to betray and kill him. Moran is eventually forced out of Chicago and later dies of lung cancer while in Leavenworth Prison, while Capone, following his release after serving a prison term in Alcatraz, dies of syphilis. No one is ever actually charged for the murders, but those responsible either disappear by going into hiding or are violently killed.
Cast
- Jason Robards as Al Capone
- George Segal as Peter Gusenberg
- George "Bugs" Moran
- Jean Hale as Myrtle Gorman
- Clint Ritchie as Jack McGurn
- Frank Silvera as Nick Sorello
- Joseph Campanella as Albert Wienshank
- Richard Bakalyan as John Scalise
- David Canary as Frank Gusenberg
- Bruce Dern as John May
- Harold J. Stone as Frank Nitti
- Kurt Kreuger as James Clark
- Paul Richards as Charles Fischetti
- Jake Gusik
- Milton Frome as Adam Heyer
- John Agar as Dean O'Banion
- Mickey Deems as Reinhardt Schwimmer
- Celia Lovsky as Josephine Schwimmer
- Tom Reese as Ted Newberry
- Jan Merlin as Willie Marks
- Alexander D'Arcy as Joe Aiello
- Reed Hadley as Hymie Weiss
- Gus Trikonis as Rio
- Charles Dierkop as Salvanti
- Tom Signorelli as Bobo Borotto
- Alex Rocco as Diamond
- Leo Gordon as Heitler
- Rico Cattani as Albert Anselmi
- Uncredited
- Dick Miller as Adolph Moeller
- Jonathan Haze as Boris Chapman
- Jack Nicholson as Gino
- Mary Grace Canfield as Mrs. Doody
- Barboura Morris as Jeanette Landsman
- Joan Shawlee as Edna
- Betsy Jones-Moreland and Buck Taylor as Poolside interviewers
Background
Development
Roger Corman said he wanted to produce a film about the "gangsterism" that "played a significant role in the development of American culture" but "I wanted to do it honestly, and not in the usual romanticized man-against-the-system."[4]
Corman was drawn to the idea of making a film about the St. Valentine's Day massacre, which had never been the main subject of an entire film (though it had been frequently referenced in other films). Corman said that the massacre was the day that "... changed the whole public face of gangsterism - public outcry broke Capone's stranglehold on society."[4]
The massacre had been the focus of a Playhouse 90 episode, "Seven Against the Wall", broadcast in December 1958 and written by Harold Browne, who had researched the period and the event extensively. Corman hired Browne to write the script for the film. Browne felt that the gangsters were "... complex human beings, shrewd, cunning men whose qualities of leadership, had it been directed into honest channels, might have contributed to this country's history, rather than leaving a scar."[4]
Corman had recently endured an unhappy experience working for Columbia but still wanted to try working at a major studio. In February 1966, he signed on to make the film from Brown's script with
Corman made the film following the great success of The Wild Angels.[7] While The Wild Angels had a budget of $350,000, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was budgeted at $2.5 million.[8] It was the most expensive film that Corman had made.[9] He later claimed that the film cost $1 million and that the rest was studio overhead.[10]
Corman said, "There comes a time when the public conscience needs jolting, and in St. Valentine's Day Massacre this is our intention. It is also certain that the movie will make money - crime is always box office."[4]
Corman wanted classical actors to play gangsters and offered the part of Capone to Orson Welles and that of Bugs Moran to Jason Robards. However, Fox did not want Welles, advising Corman that Welles would try to take over directing; they instead suggested that Robards play Capone. Corman felt that Robards was not physically large enough for the role of Capone and was better suited to play Moran, but did not want to cause trouble after his experience with Columbia and went along with the suggestion.[3]
Corman wanted to cast Jack Nicholson in a key supporting role, but Fox insisted that the director use an actor whom they had under contract. However, Corman did manage to cast Nicholson and Bruce Dern in small roles that were used for the entire length of the shoot, ensuring them a decent payday.[11]
Shooting
Corman originally wanted to shoot the film on location in Chicago but eventually shot it on the Fox backlot.
Before filming, Corman found photos of the murder scene. He asked the actors to study the stills before rehearsals and the shoot. After one take, the massacre looked like that of the photos, and each actor's collapse matched the positions in which the victims fell in the real massacre.
The film was one of the few that Corman directed from a major Hollywood studio with a generous budget and an open-ended schedule. However, Corman was disgusted with the great waste of time and money involved with typical film production techniques. He was given a $2.5 million budget and completed the film with $400,000 to spare.[12] Corman, an independent director, was most comfortable in his own style: shoestring budgets and condensed shooting schedules. The shoot took just over seven weeks, though this marked the longest duration for any of Corman's films. "By the end of the movie I was very weary," he said.[9] Nonetheless, the film is generally considered one of his best as a director.[by whom?]
Corman later wrote that "... physically, it is one of the best films I ever directed because I was able to walk around the lot and pick those fantastic sets."[13]
Reception
According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $4,550,000 in rentals to break even and made $4,165,000, meaning it made a loss.[14]
In 2009,
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, saying that: “At the end of this nonsense, to be sure, there is a massacre to brighten things up a little. But then the pall sets in again.”[15]
Home media
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was released as a
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
- rentals accruing to the distributors.
- ^ a b c Corman p 126
- ^ a b c d e Browning, Norma Lee (25 June 1967). "'not Just Another Tinseltown Gangster Film': MASSACRE MASSACRE MASSACRE". Chicago Tribune. p. i56.
- ^ Martin, Betty (3 Feb 1966). "Warner's Cameras Whir". Los Angeles Times. p. c11.
- ^ Ma Barker to von Richthofen: an interview with Roger Corman Strick, Philip. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 39, Iss. 4, (Fall 1970): 179.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (18 Sep 1966). "Roger Corman: A Good Man Gone to 'Pot'". New York Times. p. 127.
- ^ Chicago Massacre on a Big Budget Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 8 Nov 1966: c8.
- ^ a b an interview with ROGER CORMAN Goldman, Charles. Film Comment; New York Vol. 7, Iss. 3, (Fall 1971): 49-54.
- ^ Corman p 128
- ^ Corman 127
- ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p266
- ^ Capone p 127
- ISBN 9780818404856.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "The St. Valentine 's Day Massacre movie review (1967) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
Notes
- Corman, Roger; Jerome, Jim (1988). How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. DaCapo Press.
- ^ In real life, Aiello was killed over a year later by hitmen.