Al Capone (film)

Last updated
Al Capone
Al Capone (1959 film).jpg
Film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by Richard Wilson
Written by Malvin Wald
Henry F. Greenberg
Produced byLeonard Ackerman
John Burrows
Starring Rod Steiger
Narrated by James Gregory
Cinematography Lucien Ballard
Edited by Walter Hannemann
Music by David Raksin
Distributed by Allied Artists
Release date
  • March 25, 1959 (1959-03-25)(US)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budgetunder $1 million [1] or $550,000 [2] [3]
Box office$2.5 million (rentals) [4]

Al Capone is a 1959 biographical crime drama film directed by Richard Wilson, [5] written by Malvin Wald and Henry F. Greenberg and released by Allied Artists. It stars Rod Steiger as Al Capone.

Contents

The finished film was noted for its deglamorized portrayal of Capone. [6]

Plot

Chicago, 1919: A young Al Capone arrives to work for mob boss Johnny Torrio. He meets Torrio's top man, "Big Jim" Colosimo, who runs business and politics in the First Ward while secretly on Torrio's payroll.

Prohibition is enacted a year later, causing Torrio and other gangsters like Dean O'Banion, George "Bugs" Moran and Earl "Hymie" Weiss to compete for profits in bootleg liquor and beer. Colosimo is too old and comfortable to desire the new liquor racket, so Capone convinces Torrio to allow Colosimo's assassination, making Torrio kingpin.

A reform mayor is elected, so Torrio and Capone change their base of operations to Cicero, a few miles away. Capone also has O'Banion killed and makes a play for Maureen Flannery, the widow of one of Colosimo's men.

Weiss and Moran return the favor by ordering Torrio to be shot. Torrio barely survives the attempt and retires to Italy, turning the full rackets over to Capone. Capone retaliates by killing Weiss and forcing merchants throughout the city to pay for "protection." A sergeant in the Chicago police, Schaefer, is promoted to captain and vows to end the bloodshed and extortion and put Capone behind bars.

With the heat on from the cops, a crooked newspaperman named Keely tries to bribe Schaefer but fails. He persuades Capone to move to Florida until things cool down. From a safe distance, Capone masterminds the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, with several of Moran's men gunned down in a Chicago garage.

Capone and Moran call a truce, but when he learns Keely has been helping a Moran plot to kill him, Capone ends the reporter's life instead. Maureen finally has her fill of Capone's corruption and violence, while Schaefer, now an inspector, and the feds find a way to finally put Capone away—on charges of tax evasion, earning him 11 years at Alcatraz.

The final scene has Capone brutally beaten by Alcatraz inmates, who are delighted to catch him without bodyguards.

Cast

Production

Films based on the lives of real-life gangsters had been banned under the Production Code, but the ban was lifted in the late 1950s, leading to films such as Baby Face Nelson (1957). J. Edgar Hoover criticized the film and a proposed film about Pretty Boy Floyd was dropped. [1] However, in 1957 Lindsley Parsons and John Burrows announced that they would produce a film about Al Capone for Allied Artists. Jack DeWitt was assigned to write the script, [7] [8] Malvin Wald and Henry Greenberg, who were known for writing true-life screenplays, also contributed to the script. [9] [1]

Rod Steiger reportedly refused the producers' first offer to star in the film because he felt that the initial screenplay inappropriately romanticized Capone and criminality. He claimed to have declined the role three times. According to TCM, Steiger agreed to play the role only after the producers agreed to rewrite the script. [5] [1] He said: "This isn't just another crime drama aimed at the sensational market. I think it's a good social document. It shows how an unscrupulous man can prey on society." [10]

Fay Spain was cast following a strong performance in a television play. [11]

Filming began on September 16, 1958. [12]

Reception

Critical

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Bosley Crowther commented that with so many old films about Capone, it was questionable whether a new one was needed, but that this film had the "modest justification" that "it has a strong documentary flavor and Rod Steiger is an odious skunk in the title role." [13]

Variety called the film "a tough, ruthless and generally unsentimental account" and "also a very well-made picture." [14]

Box office

Al Capone won a Laurel Award as 1959's "Sleeper of the Year." [15] It was the highest-grossing new film at the American box office in May 1959, and third-highest overall behind Some Like It Hot and Imitation of Life . [16]

The film's box-office performance was described as "phenomenal" and Allied Artists went on to produce several other biopic gangster films, including The Big Bankroll and The George Raft Story . [17]

According to Kinematograph Weekly the film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959. [18]

Lawsuit

Al Capone's sister sued the filmmakers for $10 million for having failed to secure her permission to produce the film, citing invasion of privacy. [19] [20] A judge ruled in the filmmakers' favor. [21] Capone's sister, widow and son later sued Desilu and the other producers of The Untouchables for $6 million but lost that suit as well. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Capone</span> American gangster and businessman (1899–1947)

Alphonse Gabriel Capone, sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bugs Moran</span> American criminal (1893-1957)

George Clarence "Bugs" Moran was an American Chicago Prohibition-era gangster. He was incarcerated three times before his 21st birthday. Seven members of his gang were gunned down and killed in a warehouse in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of February 14, 1929, supposedly on the orders of his rival Al Capone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Torrio</span> Italian-American mob boss

John Donato Torrio was an Italian born-American mobster who helped build the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s later inherited by his protégé Al Capone. Torrio proposed a National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s and later became an adviser to Lucky Luciano and his Luciano crime family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymie Weiss</span> Polish-American mob boss (1898–1926)

Earl J. "Hymie" Weiss, was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone. He was known as "the only man Al Capone feared".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Drucci</span> American mobster

Vincent Drucci, also known as "The Schemer", was an American mobster during Chicago's Prohibition era who was a member of the North Side Gang, Al Capone's best known rivals. A friend of Dean O'Banion, Drucci succeeded him by becoming co-leader. He is the only American organized crime boss to have been killed by a policeman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Jim Colosimo</span> American mobster (1878–1920)

Vincenzo Colosimo, known as James "Big Jim" Colosimo or as "Diamond Jim", was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who emigrated from Calabria, Italy, in 1895 and built a criminal empire in Chicago based on prostitution, gambling and racketeering. He gained power through petty crime and heading a chain of brothels. From 1902 until his death in 1920, he led a gang known after his death as the Chicago Outfit. Colosimo was assassinated on May 11, 1920, and no one was ever charged with his murder. Johnny Torrio, an enforcer whom Colosimo imported in 1909 from New York, seized control of Colosimo's businesses after his death. Al Capone, a close associate of Torrio, has been accused of involvement in Colosimo's murder but was not yet in Chicago at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Outfit</span> Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago Outfit is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, which originated in the city's South Side in 1910. It is part of the larger Italian-American Mafia.

Chicago, Illinois, has a long history of organized crime and was famously home to the American mafia figure Al Capone. This article contains a list of major events related to organized crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Gusenberg</span> American mobster (1892–1929)

Frank Gusenberg was an American contract killer and a victim of the Saint Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago, Illinois.

The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was an Irish-Polish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s. It was the principal rival of the South Side Gang, also known as the Chicago Outfit, the crime syndicate of Italian-Americans Johnny Torrio and Al Capone.

Salvatore "Frank" Capone was an Italian-American mobster who participated in the attempted takeover of Cicero, Illinois by the Chicago Outfit. He worked in the businesses with his brothers Al Capone and Ralph Capone.

<i>Capone</i> (1975 film) 1975 American biographical crime film

Capone is a 1975 American biographical crime film directed by Steve Carver, written by Howard Browne, and starring Ben Gazzara, Harry Guardino, Susan Blakely, John Cassavetes, and Sylvester Stallone in an early film appearance. The film is a biography of the infamous gangster Al Capone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean O'Banion</span> American Mobster

Charles Dean O'Banion was an American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the brutal Chicago bootlegging wars of the 1920s. The newspapers of his day made him better known as Dion O'Banion, although he never went by that first name. He led the North Side Gang until 1924, when he was shot and killed, reportedly by Frankie Yale, John Scalise and Albert Anselmi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Hand (Chicago)</span> Criminal tactic used by gangsters

Black Hand extortion was a criminal tactic used by gangsters based in major cities in the United States. In Chicago, Black Hand extortion began around 1900 and had all but faded away by 1970, replaced by the Mafia. The Mafia was initially organized by Johnny Torrio and further organized by Al Capone into the extant Chicago Outfit sometime later. Black Handers in Chicago were mostly Italian men from Calabria and Sicily who would send anonymous extortion notes to their victims emblazoned with a feared old country symbol: the "Black Hand". The Black Hand was a precursor of organized crime, although it is still a tactic practiced by the Mafia and used in organized crime to this day. The Black Hand gangsters of this time period differed from the Mafia by lacking formally structured hierarchies and codes of conduct, and many were essentially one-man operations. Black Hand blackmail was also common in New York, Boston, and New Orleans. Victims would be threatened with being beaten, shot, or have their place of business bombed if they did not pay. Starting around 1909, Black Hand activity was causing difficulties for mob boss Big Jim Colosimo, a former Black Hand gangster and owner of brothels throughout Chicago. Colosimo's life was being threatened with demands for cash to ensure his physical safety. In an effort to fix the problem, he recruited Johnny Torrio, who was a member of New York's Five Points Gang at the time, to come to Chicago. Torrio would later become the famous successor to Big Jim Colosimo and mentor Al Capone as the organized crime ruler of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Genna</span>

Angelo "Bloody Angelo" Genna was an Italian-born Chicago bootlegger and organized crime leader during the Prohibition era. The leader of his own Sicilian crime family, he was best known for his war with the North Side Gang leader, Charles Dean O'Banion. Genna masterminded the assassination of O'Banion in November 1924.

Michele "Mike the Devil" Genna was an Italian-born mobster in Chicago during the 1920s. He headed the Genna crime family with his brothers. He was killed by police officers after a shootout with North Siders, being one of the only American organized crime leaders to be killed by a policeman.

<i>The Making of the Mob: Chicago</i> American television miniseries

The Making of the Mob: Chicago is an American television miniseries, and the second season of The Making of the Mob, based on the iconic Chicago gangster Al Capone and his rise and fall in the Chicago Mafia. It is produced by Stephen David and premiered on July 11, 2016, on AMC in eight parts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Against the Wall</span> 11th episode of the 3rd series of Playhouse 90

"Seven Against the Wall" is an episode of the American anthology series Playhouse 90. It was about the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.

Gangster Land is a 2017 American action crime drama film directed by Timothy Woodward Jr. and starring Sean Faris, Milo Gibson, Jason Patric, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Peter Facinelli.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Scheuer, P. K. (Mar 6, 1959). "'Capone' put over by producing pair". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   167399110.
  2. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (May 7, 1959). "Eleanor Powell Explains Delay in Divorcing Ford". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. c8.
  3. ↑ "Allied Artists New Beef Up". Variety. 7 June 1961. p. 7.
  4. ↑ "1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety , 6 January 1960, pg 34.
  5. 1 2 Axmaker, Sean. "Al Capone (1959)". TCM. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Rod Steiger Plays Villain Again; Now He Deglamorizes Capone", Deseret News , May 30, 1959, p. 8A.
  7. ↑ Schallert, E. (Nov 9, 1957). "Capone film comes to life". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   167129919.
  8. ↑ THOMAS M PRYOR (Nov 9, 1957). "AL CAPONE STORY WILL BE A MOVIE". New York Times. ProQuest   114308399.
  9. ↑ Smith, C. (Apr 24, 1958). "THE TV SCENE". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   167255188.
  10. ↑ Leonard, W. (Nov 16, 1958). HOLLYWOOD SHOOTS CAPONE. Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest   182172659
  11. ↑ Hopper, H. (Aug 27, 1958). "Looking at hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. ProQuest   182280946.
  12. ↑ "MOVIELAND EVENTS". Los Angeles Times. Sep 6, 1958. ProQuest   167282906.
  13. ↑ Bosley Crowther, "Ancient History of 'Al Capone'; Steiger Takes Title Role at Victoria, Documentary Flavor Marks New Film", The New York Times , March 26, 1959.
  14. ↑ "Al Capone", Variety , December 31, 1958.
  15. ↑ 1959 Laurel Awards at IMDb.
  16. ↑ Wear, Mike (June 3, 1959). "'Hot,' 'Imitation' and 'Capone' Zingy With 'Shaggy' Standout Though May Its Typical So-So Self". Variety . p. 4. Retrieved August 30, 2019– via Archive.org.
  17. ↑ H. T. (Oct 18, 1959). "NOTED ON THE LOCAL SCREEN SCENE". New York Times. ProQuest   114803914.
  18. ↑ Billings, Josh (17 December 1959). "Other better-than-average offerings". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 7.
  19. ↑ "Capone kin to sue on film". Los Angeles Times. Oct 25, 1959. ProQuest   167551292.
  20. ↑ D. K. (May 7, 1961). "Capone family irked by film biog". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. ProQuest   141350053.
  21. ↑ "Rule against capone kin in movie damage suit". Chicago Daily Tribune. Jun 28, 1962. ProQuest   183178382.
  22. ↑ "Suit brought by Capone heirs dismissed". Chicago Tribune. Jun 17, 1964. ProQuest   179534060.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.