Vorhof zum Paradies

Not everyone gets the just of this movie but for those that do it is a laugh riot!! Stallone is hysterical as the animated Cosmos Carboni who is incessantly trying to make an easy buck with random scams. Armand Assante plays Lenny, Cosmos' older brother and voice of reason for the Carboni Boys. Finally, there is the younger brother Vick who can haul 300lbs of ice up 15 flights of stairs without blowing his breakfast but has the IQ of a gnat. So many scenes are gut busters in this movie and I don't want to give them away but a few of my favorites include: Stallone waking up hungover to discover a plate full of roaches on his previous night's dinner. He proceeds to take aim on the plate with his Louisville Slugger and shatters it along with the roaches with his brother and pet bird looking on. The same day he is out in the streets freezing with a stolen concierge outfit on, holding a monkey chained to a table and chanting "see the dancing monkey!" This is his latest money making scheme after Vick won the monkey in a previous night's arm wrestling match. Anyway, it's crude and low brow humor, but that is what makes this film a great Friday night viewing among good buddies.

... and maybe pick up an award or two. This movie is very well-done on every level, and LOT of fun to watch. Stallone's characterization of a lazy goofball who wants everybody else to bust their butts to make his dreams come true for him is just brilliant, possibly his very best performance. Actually, there's not a single bad performance in this whole movie and that's saying a lot, considering that some of the major roles were filled by guys who were professional boxers or wrestlers. In addition, the sets/costumes/lighting give a very good sense of place and time -- only the hairdos on the female leads tip you off that this was made in the late '70s.

Stallone made this film between "Rocky" and "Rocky II" and it shares alot of similarities with those films. It's the story of three brothers who dream of busting out of the poverty of Hell's Kitchen in New York during the mid-1940's.

Sly plays Cosmo Carboni, the street-wise hustler with no visible means of support but a head full of get-rich-quick schemes who hatches a plan to promote his brutish but gentle-natured brother (who's job is hauling giant blocks of ice all over the city) as a professional wrestler. Armand Assante plays his other brother, a cynical war veteran who was wounded in combat and now works as a mortician.

The story is peppered with colorful Damon Runyon-esque characters and a nicely balanced combination of humor and drama. Stallone writes and directs well, getting good performances from all his actors, and the film has a rich flavor and feeling for the period.

One of Stallone's least-known and least appreciated films, but it's well worth seeking out. Nicely done and entertaining.

Sylvester Stallone directed and produced as well as starred in Paradise Alley about three brothers named Carboni. Sly is a gladhanding con man of the first order. He might even have conned a 4F for himself to get out military service in World War II. Flat feet was a mighty subjective deferment back in the day.

Brother Armand Assante served however and now walk with a limp and is a bitter man now working as an undertaker. The youngest is a giant of a man Lee Canalito who works as an iceman. Carrying those blocks of ice up several tenement stories in Hell's Kitchen will develop your biceps.

When at Paradise Alley which is a local underground nightclub/sports arena Canalito wins an arm wrestling match with a local wrestler managed by the club owner Kevin Conway. It occurs first to Stallone that Canalito's physique and Rocky like training and dedication might be a way out of Hell's Kitchen. It starts to look that way, but the brothers themselves change in interesting ways.

I have to single out Frank McRae former football player who delivers a memorable performance as a down and out wrestler who lives on Conway's pocket change. His last scene with Stallone is memorable.

So is Conway. He's one nasty little customer, constantly using derogatory ethnic terms. Stallone made a very good point about the ethnic rivalries in working class neighborhoods like Hell's Kitchen. In the end Canalito embarrasses Conway, humiliates him more likely in a way that he will never be an intimidating figure again.

Paradise Alley might not have gathered the enduring following that Rocky did. But it is still a fine and enduring film.

If this film had been spoken in Italian and dubbed in English (like all Italian movies of the seventies) it would have scooped all of the European arthouse awards. It is an excellent film that I have watched many times, and one which always reminds me to respect Stallone as a serious and talented writer/director. This film is very funny and very engaging and can hold it's own with classics of the time such as Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties" or Lasse Hallstrom's "My Life As A Dog". It's a shame that Stallone has never equalled this work. First Blood had much to recommend it and can even stand a little analysis as a metaphor for the American Post-Vietnam psyche. Cliffhanger is pure 'leave-your brain-at-the-door' entertainment and Stallone is perfect in the part but he has done nothing (including Copland) that approaches the sheer art of Paradise Alley. I give it nine out of ten