O Massacre de Chicago

Chicago, Prohibition, Gangsters, Machine Guns and Hollywood have long been inseparable companions ever since the real Prohibition Era was loosed upon us. Starting with James Cagney in THE PUBLIC ENEMY(1931), LITTLE CEASAR(1931) and SCARFACE(1932) are each powerful films that fit these qualifications like a proverbial glove. Each meets the individual criterion and tell their stories in somewhat different ways of story telling.They each use the point of view of the title characters.

And so that's the way it was, back in the day! And of course there have been revivals of this particular topic and Genre every so often. Hence we have been treated to The Prohibition/Depression Era Gangster films like ROGER TOUHY,GANSTER(1944)*, AL CAPONE and THE PURPLE GANG(both 1959), THE GODFATHER(s), I,II & III(1972,'73, '90) and soon and so forth, down thru the ages.

And of course on TV we had THE LAWLESS YEARS(1959-61) and of course, last but hardly the least,THE UNTOUCHABLES(1959-63)to give further lore to the celluloid underworld. It is probably likely that we'll always have some of these Gangster Soap Operas every so often.

As for this ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, we must say we saw it at the old Double Drive-In on the Southwest Highway in Chicago when it was in newly released/first run status. We saw it again, recently on cable TV, on Turner Classic Films or Fox Movie Channel. It might sound peculiar, but did you ever hear of a movie getting better? Let me explain.

The original viewing was done by a 20 year old, still wet behind the ears kid, who just viewed any movie as another entertainment to be viewed, (devoured-up, if you will) and forgotten. There was really no sense of a "Medium" or being "An Art Form". With age of course, is supposed to come wisdom, or at least a little experience under one's belt.

After a period of nearly 40 years has passed, this writer has found himself to be not a'movie fan',but rather a 'film buff'. The big difference is in the viewing over the years and,more importantly,all of the reading of film books and periodicals containing the history and background information.

As for the title in question, THE ST. VALENTINE's DAY MASSACRE, well I can't say that it was every bit as good when viewed now as it was then. No, because it is even better! The movie was Produced and Directed by Mr. Roger Corman. Now the brain (mine, for what it's worth) takes one name of The Director/Producer and adds it to the venue of a Drive-In Movie Theatre and it computes to a cheapie, a grade "B" film at best. And to be honest, until just recently, I had thought that this movie was a product of the ever popular, Amerkican-Interntional Pictures. After all, that's where Roger Corman used to hang his hat.

This 20th Century-Fox production is really a well done movie, deserving of a new respect and frequent showings.** The costuming, the autos and the sets are all very good and approximate the real locales in Chicago and nearby suburban Cicero, Illinois. The mock up of the famous and infamous Garage on North Wells Street has a very authentic look to it. Even the type of apartment building used by the conspirators is a Chicago-type building, of which there are still thousands of the yet in use there today.

Mr. Corman pursues a form of the Docudrama to a large degree, in unveiling the story. The voice over narration gives us, the viewers the benefit of all that has been learned since then. Also, we have the information of the official Police Investigation now available for the Public Record.In this we have many conclusions that have been made, but not proved, sort of educated guesses.

The story starts out giving the viewer a great deal of background info about the state of Chicago's Underworld at that time in the late 1920's We are privy to the old Northside, Southside, Westside rivalries that the various Gangs were involved in. The previously mentioned Narrator, Voice Actor Par Excellance, Paul Frees, is very busy from beginning to end in supplying us with factual material about the criminal careers of the peoples involved.

As a historical fact we observe the Gangland Killings of Northside Big Shot Hoods Dion O'Bannion(Chicasgo Native John Agar)and Hymie Weiss (Reed Hadley) and the continued battling over territories. Mr.Corman also includes a seemingly fantastic, but factual raid by the Northside Mob on Capone Gang Headquarters. A really large number of autos, replete with multiple Thompson Sub-Machine Guns attacked the favourite watering hole of the Scarface Mob. They failed to kill Capone or anyone of the gang, in spite of perhaps thousands of rounds of that super fast .45 caliber disbursement at the intended target.

Like any Hollywood treatment of a story taken from real life occurrences, there is a lot of filling in gaps and causes of these incidents. The unknown aspects of the people involved and their behaviour is also subject to guess work, albeit an enlightened, educated guess at that. Whatever was known about the characters in question was used as guidelines for molding on-screen persona.

One last time, please take a new look at it. On Cable/Satellite, in VHS or DVD, Purchase or Rental, make an evening with THE ST. VALENTINE's DAY MASSACRE.

* The real Roger Touhy, a Prohibition Era Gangster Headquartered in Northwest Suburban Des Plaines, Illinois sued 20th Century-Fox over this largely fabricated story. Hint To Hollywood: A realistic Roger Touhy story really would make a great film! Check on it!

** Maybe my own fair city, Chicago, is missing the boat on this one! After all, why can't we have a Yearly Massacre Fest? It could be a rival to events all around the country such as: The Kentucky Derby, Mardi Gras, Sadie Hawkins Day or even The Bull Frog Leaping Contest of Calaveras County.

It took me a while before I really appreciated this film. Despite its flaws, this is probably the most serious, accurate, and restrained treatment on the subject you're ever going to get without watching a straight-out documentary. What you have is sort of a "docudrama" on the infamous St. Valentine's Massacre, and the events leading up to it.

Not that the film ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE takes itself too seriously. It doesn't, but all of the over-the-top acting merely enhances the product. There are still some inaccuracies but the story adheres so closely to the actual facts that these discrepancies are easily forgiven. The violence shown might have been considered sensational in 1967, and this was most probably the intent, but it's pretty tame by today's standards. And if it falls short of being a great film, it's a near miss rather than one by a mile.

In this dramatization of the final showdown between the South Side and North Side gangs for control of Chicago's underworld in 1929, Jason Robards takes center stage as Al Capone. He might have been much older and looked nothing like the real Capone but then so what. As they say, you want an interpretation and not an impersonation. His histrionic performance, with all of its eye-rolling and exaggeration, strikes just the right note and does its part to help keep things moving throughout. This was an actor who knew what he was doing, and exactly how he should play it in this instance.

But it takes a while for Capone to show up, finally seen casually arriving in a limousine on his way to a board meeting with his underlings. The first hood to show up on screen is played (some could say overplayed) by George Segal as Pete Gusenberg, a member of the rival gang, who proceeds to intimidate a bar-owner. Actually, Segal gives a rather convincing performance as a very smug, arrogant thug who enjoys pushing people around, and acting like he's one bad dude, with guns and a gang to back him up.

A very effective technique employed throughout the film, provided by narrator Paul Frees, is the frequent voiceover commentary on various characters. Information is given, such as that the individual was born on this or that date, at whatever place, something about his background, and his place in the particular gang, etc. (often including his time of death as well). Not only does this provide an easily-understood guide for who's who, but it helps to get the viewer involved with these characters however unsympathetic or unsavory they might be.

In brief but well-played roles, on the Capone side, there's Paul Richards as Charlie Fischetti, Joseph Turkel as Jake Guzik, and Harold Stone as Frank Nitti, with a more conspicuous role played by Clint Richie as Jack McGurn, who gets put in charge of organizing the title massacre. That particularly bloody episode was designed to rid Capone of his archenemy and chief rival, George "Bugs" Moran, capably played by tough-talking Ralph Meeker. Moran was the head of the North Side gang, and in flashback scenes we're shown what befell Moran's two predecessors, Dion O'Bannion (played by John Agar) and Hymie Weiss (played by Reed Hadley).

The rest of the cast is made up of many fine actors, some familiar and others less so. Among the unlucky seven who have an appointment up against a certain garage wall, besides Segal's Pete Gusenberg, included are David Canary as Pete's brother Frank, Kurt Krueger as Moran's top lieutenant, Milton Frome as the gang's accountant, Joseph Campanella as a low-level employee, Bruce Dern as a mechanic, and Mickey Deems as a hanger-on. Not to be overlooked is the always excellent Frank Silvera as Nick Sorello, a not completely innocent pawn used in trying to set up Moran.

Almost every actor with a speaking role gets at least one good scene and a chance to shine, from the major actors right on down to several of the minor supporting players. An attempt is made to show some of the camaraderie and interaction among the members of each gang. The careful planning of the "hit" is laid out, including an amusing scene where two gunmen, posing as musicians, are renting a room from a wary landlady.

Such details add to the plot and the characterizations, with keen attention being paid to recreating a 1920s atmosphere, and don't forget all of the various gunplay and assorted mayhem along the way, leading up to the fateful massacre. They even throw in a completely superfluous fight between Gusenberg (Segal) and his girlfriend over a fur coat. Since it's only a brief rest from the action, and we get to rest our eyes on Jean Hale, then what's the harm. Enjoy this trip back in time to gangland Chicago.

Taking a step back from the intellectual surmising involving Godfather, Goodfellas et al., I thought this was an enjoyable film, 'a live action cartoon' as it was put.

Yep, sure it was a tad formulaic with characters going about their predetermined business and the armchair historians knew the conclusion of the film before it happened. I accept this as valid criticism, but I would stress more that it is supposed to be a quasi-documentary, with the solemn narrator venting sparse mechanical facts about each character and their relevance to the bigger picture as they were introduced. The film itself wasn't trying (I felt) to make a big artistic or intellectual statement, just an enjoyable and disposable piece of cinema. I think that it would be worse if it had been trying top make a 'big point' but fell on its arse, which a number of mobster-related films are guilty of.

As an enjoyable 'get on and enjoy the ride' movie I think it succeeded very well. Having only a basic knowledge of prohibition gangsterland, I found it quite gripping and that the documentary style enhance my enjoyment of an otherwise complex background. The set was also very well done, though Capone was miscast.

I would recommend this to most, unless they are Godfather fans!

8/10

This is a very entertaining account of the famous rub-out in 1929 Chicago. Jason Robards is a decent Al Capone, and thankfully, doesn't try for an Italian accent. He also wields a mean baseball bat, thus having Capone's malice down but not his mass. Ralph Meeker plays Bugs Moran, leader of the rival Chicago gang. The cast is loaded with familiar faces and future stars, and it seems like somebody gets bumped off every ten minutes. Harold J. Stone plays Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti and almost, but not quite, convinces me he could be Italian. George Segal has a riotous brawling scene with Jean Hale after he finds out she spent three grand on a fur coat. Joan Shawlee has a bit as a "streetwalking entrepreneur," as we call it now. Jack Nicholson has one line, which he grunts out in a hoarse voice pre-Don Corleone. And you may even feel sorry for Bruce Dern in this film.

The movie was directed by Roger Corman, and features some of his stock players, including Dick Miller as one of the hit men. Paul Frees supplies the narration, giving this a semi-documentary feel. But he is no Walter Winchell. Definitely worth a look.

Why is it that people quibble about Jason Robards not looking like Capone? Many actors who have played him, from F. Murray Abraham to William Forsythe, really didn't resemble him. Maybe it's because this film attempts a semi-documentary approach. Perhaps it's the most accurate Hollywood drama on Capone, but the other semi-documentaries of the time (such as Fox's own THE LONGEST DAY), had the look and lighting that reminded a viewer of a documentary, while this one doesn't. In fact, its style is more evocative of a 1930's Warner Bros. gangster film. Even George Segal's bullying the bartender and his mashing his girlfriend's face with food are bits very comparable to ones Cagney does in THE PUBLIC ENEMY. Segal playing a mean Cagney-type might seem very offbeat casting, but in this film it works, because all its casting is offbeat--even deliciously over the top. It's a lot of fun.