La taverne de l'enfer

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.

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.

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

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.

I bought this from HMV on Monday, because I wanted to check out this early Sly Stallone movie, and I've got to say that he made a sterling job of it, both behind and in front of the camera. The story (also by Stallone) borrows a little off ROCKY, but is nonetheless entertaining. Three brothers dream of escaping from the dreary Hell's Kitchen of the 1940s, so one of the guys, Cosmo (Stallone) persuades the youngest bro (Lee Canalito), a big, musclebound labourer, to take part in a wrestling competition in the hope that they will become rich. However, things are never as easy as they seem, as the brothers set out to discover. Critics have said in the past that Sly could never do comedy, but in PA, he has some funny one-liners and he displays wit, warmth and charisma as conman-with-a-heart Cosmo. Note the dramatic change in his character as the movie progresses. The supporting cast is strong, including Armand Assante as the oldest brother who too undergoes a change in character and Frank McRae as an over-the-hill wrestler. There is one nice directorial touch during the film where Cosmo looks through the window of a girl he's been chasing and sees his brother's walking stick next to her bare feet. The wrestling sequences are well handled, as well, with plenty of blood and pounding flesh. I reckon this movie influenced countless 80s B-movie fare such as A.W.O.L. and THE CAGE, but this is the real deal, as it's better acted and pretty realistic. I'd say this was one of Sly's best, alongside FIRST BLOOD and NIGHTHAWKS.