Dog Day Afternoon

Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 American crime drama movie directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Frank Pierson and based on an article from Life magazine. The movie stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Chris Sarandon and Charles Durning. The story is about bank robbery in New York City.

Cast
The Life article described Wojtowicz as "a dark, thin fellow with the broken-faced good looks of an Al Pacino or Dustin Hoffman". Hoffman was offered the role when Pacino briefly quit. An 18-year-old actor was originally to be cast in the role of Sal to match the age of the actual Salvatore. The table below shows the main cast of Dog Day Afternoon.

Historical accuracy

The movie was based on the story of John Wojtowicz.  It keeps the basic facts of what happened, according to the Life article "The Boys in the Bank". According to the article, Wojtowicz, along with Sal Naturile, held up a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Brooklyn, New York on August 22, 1972.

After being arrested, Wojtowicz was convicted in court and sentenced to twenty years in prison.  He served six years.

Wojtowicz wrote a letter to The New York Times in 1975.  He said the movie was not completely true. He said the way his ex-wife was shown was not accurate.  He also said there was not a talk with his mother. He did say Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon's portrayals of him and his boyfriend Ernest Aron were good. Also, Sal was 18 years old, but is played by a 39-year-old.

Wojtowicz died of cancer in January 2006.

Awards
Dog Day Afternoon won the Academy Award for Writing – Original Screenplay (Frank Pierson) and was nominated for other Oscars:
 Best Picture (Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand)
 Best Director (Sidney Lumet)
 Best Actor in a Leading Role (Al Pacino)
 Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Chris Sarandon)
 Best Film Editing (Dede Allen)
The movie was also nominated for the following seven Golden Globes, winning none:
 Best Motion Picture – Drama
 Best Director – Motion Picture (Sidney Lumet)
 Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama (Al Pacino)
 Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (Frank Pierson)
 Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Charles Durning)
 Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (John Cazale)
 Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture – Male (Chris Sarandon)

The movie won other awards, including an NBR Award for Best Supporting Actor (Charles Durning) and a Writers Guild Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen (Frank Pierson) as well as the British Academy Award for Best Actor (Al Pacino). It was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.

In 2009, it was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

References

Other websites 

1975 comedy-drama movies
1975 crime drama movies
1970s LGBT movies
American comedy-drama movies
American crime drama movies
American heist movies
American LGBT movies
American black comedy movies
1970s English-language movies
LGBT comedy-drama movies
LGBT crime movies
Movies based on real life events
Movies directed by Sidney Lumet
Movies set in Brooklyn
Transgender in movies
United States National Film Registry movies
Warner Bros. movies
Movies about bank robbery
Movies set in the 1970s
American criminal comedy movies