The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (film)

Last updated
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Roger Corman
Screenplay by Howard Browne
Produced byRoger Corman
Starring
Narrated by Paul Frees
Cinematography Milton R. Krasner
Edited by William B. Murphy
Music by Lionel Newman
Production
company
Los Altos Productions
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • June 30, 1967 (1967-06-30)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million [1]
Box office$1.7 million (US/CA) [2]

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a 1967 American gangster film based on the 1929 mass murder of seven members of the Northside Gang (led by George "Bugs" Moran) on orders from Al Capone. The picture was directed by Roger Corman, written by Howard Browne, and starring Jason Robards as Capone, Ralph Meeker as Moran, George Segal as Peter Gusenberg, and David Canary as Frank Gusenberg.

Contents

Corman, better known as a director and producer of low-budget B movies, was given his largest budget to date (estimated at $2.5 million) and the backing of 20th Century Fox to realize what he described as "the most accurate, authentic gangster film ever". [3] With a voiceover narration by Paul Frees, the film depicts in detail the events leading up to the massacre in a docudrama-style, with many authentic historical details.

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 Hymie Weiss tried to kill him, with flashback sequences including the September 1926 lunchtime attack on Capone at the Hawthorne Hotel restaurant in Cicero by Weiss and Moran and the murders of Dean O'Banion in November 1924 and Weiss in October 1926 by Capone's gang. Moran gives the order to have Patsy Lolordo, a crony and personal friend of Capone's who is also the representative of the Sicilian Mafia in Chicago, eliminated in order to replace him with an envoy more sympathetic to Moran. Moran's assassination plan sees him conspire with low-level mafiosi Joe Aiello to kill Lolordo and replace him with Aiello. Lolordo's bodyguards are corrupted, and the unarmed Lolordo is murdered in his apartment. In retaliation, Capone has Aiello tracked down and personally executes him as Aiello is fleeing the state on board a train. [lower-alpha 1]

With an elaborate plan in motion to eliminate Moran and his gang, Capone retreats to his winter home in Miami to establish an alibi. Meanwhile, his henchmen, two of whom are dressed as police officers, feign a police raid on a northside garage and execute five members of Moran's gang including Peter Gusenberg. Also at the garage and caught in the attack are mechanic Johnny May and optometrist Reinhardt Schwimmer (who enjoyed being around gangsters). Of the victims, only Peter's brother Frank survives and is taken to a hospital. Despite knowing that he will soon die, Frank refuses to tell the police anything. Moran, the apparent focus of the attack, is not in the garage as he had seen the "police car" approaching the garage and went instead to a diner, thereby escaping certain death. In a press conference at a hospital where he is supposedly being treated for influenza, Moran drops a verbal clue to the crime: "Only Capone kills like that," while Capone, holding a similar press conference in Miami, disparages Moran's sanity and intelligence.

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

Uncredited

Orson Welles was Corman's original choice to play Capone, but Twentieth Century Fox vetoed the deal, fearing that Welles was "undirectable". [3] The film's narration has a style similar to that of Welles but was delivered by actor Paul Frees.

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 Richard Zanuck at 20th Century Fox. [5] Corman later said that Fox had invited him in to pitch ideas, and he had told them about The St. Valentine's Day Massacre and a biopic about the Red Baron, but as Fox had just made The Blue Max , it opted for the gangster film. [6]

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. [4] He filmed the massacre scene in a Desilu lot that was converted to resemble the garage where the crime was committed, as the real garage had been demolished by the time the movie started production.

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, Empire magazine named the film #7 in a poll of the 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've (Probably) Never Seen. [ citation needed ]

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 Region 1 widescreen DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on May 23, 2006. It was issued as a limited-edition region-free Blu-ray by Twilight Time.

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 nicknames "Scarface" and "Snorky", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1925 to 1931. 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">Saint Valentine's Day Massacre</span> 1929 gang shooting in Chicago

The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 14, 1929. They were lined up against a wall and shot by four unknown assailants, two of whom were disguised as police officers.

<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">Jack McGurn</span> American mobster

Jack "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn was a Sicilian-American boxer, mobster, and eventually a made man and caporegime in Al Capone's Chicago Outfit.

<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">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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Aiello</span> Italian-American bootlegger

Giuseppe "Joe" Aiello was a Sicilian bootlegger and organized crime leader in Chicago during the Prohibition era. He was best known for his long and bloody feud with Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone.

Peter Gusenberg a.k.a. "Goosey" and his brother Frank were German-American contract killers and members of Chicago's North Side Gang, the main rival to the Chicago Outfit. Peter Gusenberg participated in an infamous attack on Al Capone during a vicious gang war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scalise</span> American mobster

John Scalise was an American organized crime figure of the early 20th century and, with partner Albert Anselmi, was one of the Chicago Outfit's most successful hitmen in Prohibition-era Chicago.

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.

William Jack "Three Fingers" White was a Prohibition gangster and member of the Chicago Outfit.

Antonio "Tony the Scourge" Lombardo was an Italian-born American mobster. He was consigliere to Al Capone, and later the President of the Unione Siciliana.

Pasquale Lolordo, also known as Pasqualino or "Patsy", was an Italian-born American Mafia boss from Ribera, Sicily, and head of the Chicago chapter of the Unione Siciliana, a "front" organization for the Mafia. Lolordo was considered one of the most powerful mafia bosses during the late 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Winkler</span> American mobster (1901–1933)

Gus Winkler was an American gangster who headed a Prohibition-era criminal gang specializing in armed robbery and murder for hire with Fred "Killer" Burke. Winkler was a senior associate of Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone and is considered a suspect in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Winkler is believed to be the first member of the National Crime Syndicate to be murdered for talking to the FBI.

<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">Fred Burke</span> American armed robber and hitman

Fred "Killer" Burke was an American armed robber and contract killer responsible for many crimes during the Prohibition era. He was considered a prime suspect in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Rio</span>

Franklin Rio also known as "Frank Rio" and "Frank Cline" was a member of Al Capone's Chicago-based criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit. He was also an alleged gunman in the famous 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

<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.

Organized crime in the 1920s.

References

  1. ↑ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN   978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
  2. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1967", Variety, 3 January 1968 p 25. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.
  3. 1 2 3 Corman p 126
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Browning, Norma Lee (25 June 1967). "'not Just Another Tinseltown Gangster Film': MASSACRE MASSACRE MASSACRE". Chicago Tribune. p. i56.
  5. ↑ Martin, Betty (3 Feb 1966). "Warner's Cameras Whir". Los Angeles Times. p. c11.
  6. ↑ Ma Barker to von Richthofen: an interview with Roger Corman Strick, Philip. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 39, Iss. 4, (Fall 1970): 179.
  7. ↑ Canby, Vincent (18 Sep 1966). "Roger Corman: A Good Man Gone to 'Pot'". New York Times. p. 127.
  8. ↑ Chicago Massacre on a Big Budget Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 8 Nov 1966: c8.
  9. 1 2 an interview with ROGER CORMAN Goldman, Charles. Film Comment; New York Vol. 7, Iss. 3, (Fall 1971): 49-54.
  10. ↑ Corman p 128
  11. ↑ Corman 127
  12. ↑ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p266
  13. ↑ Capone p 127
  14. ↑ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away: the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox . L. Stuart. p.  326. ISBN   9780818404856.
  15. ↑ Ebert, Roger. "The St. Valentine 's Day Massacre movie review (1967) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2022-03-31.

Notes

  1. ↑ In real life, Aiello was killed over a year later by hitmen.
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.