Honor Thy Father

On the cheapo TV movie front, there's 1973's Honor Thy Father, an episodic, dull, and tedious foray into trying to make gangsters look sympathetic.

There are lots of familiar faces in HTF--Joe Bologna, Brenda Vaccaro, and a slew of character actors who got typecast as Mafioso. The trouble with the movie is that it's so boring and slapdash that you'll find yourself hitting the display on the DVD player to check how much time you have left.

Just to make sure that you know that this is a realistic portrayal of organized crime families, there's even the joy of watching--and listening to--Richard Castellano hacking up a lung from smoking (Gee, even Made Men get cancer!)

I'm afraid that watching crap like this may be carcinogenic.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It is a powerful antidote against dramatized, romanticized gangster sagas like The Godfather or Goodfellas. Apparently based on actual facts, the movie is the story of a New York Mafia boss's son. He tries to help his father because he thinks it is his filial duty.

There is a gang war on. Gangsters go into hiding. They are constantly in limbo. The father is in hiding. The son goes into hiding, in a different place. He is accompanied by an old, seasoned hit man - a magnificent performance by Richard S. Castellano of Godfather fame. As the two men just sit and wait - but wait for what? - in a shabby downtown apartment, the hit man passes the time reading Sartre's Being and Nothingness!

There is a fine sense of the absurd throughout this movie. The son hasn't got a clue what he is supposed to do. He just stands around asking everybody: What is going on? He never finds out. (Probably a chicken stolen somewhere in Sicily a hundred years ago, he suggests). Joe Bologna gives a wonderful portrait of Salvatore Bonanno. He plays a basically good natured, normal guy who can't cope with the circumstances that direct his life. It is wonderful how Bologna always has this strained expression on his face as Salvatore Bonanno tries to listen well and to understand. He has a wife and kids, and he wants to procure a respectable family life for them. His wife is scared and angry; she does not want to put up with a bunch of snoring, farting mobsters in her living room night after night!

Joe Bologna is paired with legendary italian actor Raf Vallone who plays Joe Bonanno, the father. And they really are a minor dream team! There is a model case of two people who can not communicate, although they really love each other. This is best shown in the final parting scene, when the son has to go to jail. They don't know what so say, they just stand, looking at each other. Finally the father shows the son his school report from Sicily he accidentally found while clearing out a desk. "Ninety in maths. Not bad, eh?" These are the father's cryptical final words. The son as usual doesn't know what to answer.

I guess the famous TV series The Sopranos owes more to this movie than to any of Coppola's or Scorsese's pictures.

Considering that this was a made for TV movie without a high budget, I was impressed. What carries the movie forward is the great acting. Raf Vallone is one of the best Italian actors in Italian cinema history as any Italian film buff can attest to. He portrays Joseph Bonanno with intensity, emotion, calm demeanor, and gives a well rounded and balanced performance. Vallone must have studied how Mr. Bonanno carried himself in life. It is obvious that he was an honorable person trying to protect his family, and Vallone depicts this perfectly. As for the other actors, they are all veterans of the New York Italian American school of acting: Joseph Bologna and Richard Castellano (of GODFATHER fame) give authentic portrayals of Sal Bonanno and Frank LaBruzzo. They are just so natural and very New York. Apparently they do not even need to act....they are just being themselves. That is why this movie is so realistic and genuine. Sam Coppola (of Saturday Night Fever as Mr. Fusco) and Carmine Caridi (of Prince of the City) also give admirable performances. Overall I rate this movie at 9 out of 10. I recommend it.

Twenty years earlier, it could have been made by a Phil Karlson in his peak shape. But Paul Wendkos was a great TV director too, very professional and his work here is also excellent and, made for TV, this kind of story can't be worst than for the big screen, on the contrary. Cast, directing story telling, everything is sharp, accurate, in the Sidney Lumet's style. I thought of PRINCE OF THE CITY, for a story speaking, in the Lumet's movie, from the police force point of view. Mafia leaders stories have never been lousy when made for the small screen audiences, though I have no example of bad movies on such plots for the large screen. This one, directed by Paul Wendkos.

At last, the story about New York's underworld. The real-life drama of notorious Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno and his heir apparent, son Salvatore (known as Bill).

This film suffers from a sloppy, shaking camera, which is probably present in the original aired version. It also happens to be blurry, making it hard to see faces. But that is probably from the transfer, and if an original negative exists, a decent DVD could be released.

The film does a very straightforward telling of the Bill Bonanno story, as it has been told by Gay Talese and by Bonanno himself. Exactly how true any of it is, well... that is a matter of opinion. The Bonanno family (both father and son) have spun a lot of baloney about their lives, and who knows how much is accurate. Amazingly, an objective biography has yet to be written.