La taverne de l'enfer

Stallones directing debut is a forgotten gem, back when it was released crushed by the critics and snubbed by the audiences. Wrongfully so, because this is great film that especially today makes you wonder whatever happened to Sylvster Stallone the artist. Here he was in all his glory: writer, director, star (even singer of the title song), and maybe that was the reason this film was ignored and critically lambasted back then. When Rocky came out, everybody body loved the writer-actor, but as we know, more sooner then later, people (especially the press) love to turn on the one they once favoured. Paradise Alley is a beautiful fim that needs to be rediscovered. Its made by someone who loves to tell a good, human story, captured in beautiful shots (just watch credit montage - the rooftop contest) Its full of colorful characters, full of warmth and feeling and wonderful humor. This film was a promise Stallone sadly later on never fulfilled, maybe because everyone turned so harsh on this one, which is something I will never understand. After decades of forgettable movies I wish Stallone would finally defy all nay-sayers and go back to stuff like this. He did by starring in Copland, but since then he made horribly choices as an actor, doing movies which didn't even make it to the theatres.

... 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.

Paradise Alley is set in 1946 in the dingy and dirty streets of Hell's Kitchen- or the Bowery, take your pick, maybe more like the Bowery- and is centered on a group of characters, specifically three brothers, and how they try to maintain in their squalor or, as it turns out, try and make a way for themselves to get out. It's a sentimental picture as it tries to act super tough and muscular, and it's kind of like a Saturday afternoon movie for the guys who have already seen Rocky and Rambo flicks too many times and want to see something sort of "different". It certainly is. And not always in a good way.

What I liked was seeing how the actors playing the brothers interacted. Cosmo, Victor and Lenny are impressionable and work very well as this trio dynamic. One had high aspirations and has a big mouth but a fairly good heart, another is a crippled war hero who's life has not worked out at all like he might have wanted for himself or his girl, and the other is a fairly content and BIG-sized ice delivery man who finds himself needing money to want that boat house. I liked also how Stallone put these characters against the lumbering idiot gangsters who were too bumbling to really make it as big-shots but could be threatening enough to other bums and the like in the neighborhood. Not to mention the character and performance of Frank McRae as the 40-something wrestler who lives in total degradation even as he's very good at what he does. Oh, and Tom Waits of course, for a role that is merely a blip but one that brings a smile all the same.

The problems seem to come for Stallone that he isn't confident enough to take the material where it needs to go as a down-and-dirty grungy street flick. He gussies it up with over-blown camera moves and editing tricks (I hated the freeze-screen effects used), and seem to not always be as strong with dealing with melodrama and the natural way people talk as he did in the first Rocky. If there was a time to make this story maybe it was right after he has his first big success, and then move on to more conventional stuff. But it is at times fairly schmaltzy, and not all of the acting is very good (the female actresses are all pretty weak, and for a couple of good scenes Lee Canalito feel really flat as the "happy" wreslter brother dubbed "The Salami"). Stallone and Asante fare better with the material, and even Stallone himself goes hammy with his own words in some scenes; Stallone is Stallone, not a Pacino or De Niro, so heavy-duty dramatic scenes don't seem to cut it out as well.

And yet, the film does have its moments. I especially dug that final wrestling match, the two contenders (the other being, I think, Terry Funk) duking it out as a rain storm is coming down in the arena and the power keeps cutting in and out with lightning effects thrown in. Stallone does make this an epic and nasty and brutal final bout, and it does bring a pretty satisfying completion to a film that is enjoyable but too clichéd by half.

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.

Probably Stallone's most under valued work, this film reminds the viewer just what talent he had behind the camera (see also Rocky II to IV). The story follows the three Carboni brothers in 1940s New York, as they each try to make their way through life in the slums of Hells Kitchen. Cosmo (Stallone) plans to turn his tough but dim brother Victor into a champion wrestler, and with the help of their third brother (Assante) they set about making their fortune. There are echoes of Rocky throughout the film, (small time nobody becomes admired champion), but what sets it apart is the humour. There are great lines throughout the film delivered with dead pan perfection from the mostly excellent cast, which also includes Stallone regular Joe Spinell. If you can make it through the hilariously bad opening number (sung by Stallone himself), there's plenty here to appreciate. This film is long overdue a release on DVD... come on Universal, how about it?