The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Plot synopsis:
An organized crime war breaks out between two rival gangs in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. The leader of the Southside Mob is the notorious Al Capone, who resents his nemesis George "Bugs" Moran's activity in the city. Moran, too, wants control of the town's bootlegging and gambling operations. His lieutenants Peter and Frank Gusenberg use threats and intimidation to make tavern owners do business with them in exchange for "protection." Peter Gusenberg also argues and fights with his moll, particularly over her extravagant spending of his money.
Moran gives the order to have a crony of Capone's eliminated as the Chicago body count escalates. Inclusive are flashbacks to a lunchtime attack on Capone at a restaurant outside of Chicago by Hymie Weiss and Moran in September 1926 and the murders of Weiss in October 1926 and Dion O'Banion in November 1924 by Capone's gang.
In a bid to get rid of Moran once and for all, Capone goes to his winter home in Miami, Florida to establish an alibi while his henchmen, some dressed as cops, ambush and execute seven members of Moran's gang, including Peter Gusenberg, in a northside garage on February 14, 1929. Also at the garage - and caught in the attack - were Johnny May (Bruce Dern), a mechanic, and Reinhardt Schwimmer, an optician who enjoyed being around gangsters. Of the victims, only Frank Gusenberg, Peter's brother survives and is taken to a hospital. Despite knowing that he will soon die, Frank refuses to tell the police anything. Ironically, Moran himself, the apparent focus of the attack, was not in garage, and escaped certain death.
Each character is given a verbal voiceover biography as they are introduced, and in some video releases, the biographies of Rheinhard Schwimmer and Adam Heyer, two of the massacre victims, are removed from the soundtrack, possibly due to protest from surviving family members.
In the aftermath, Al Capone is shown dispatching those responsible for carrying out the attack. Moran dies in prison. No one is ever charged for the murders of St. Valentine's Day of 1929.

Tags: cult, suspenseful, neo noir, murder, historical

Review:
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.
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.
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.
"The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" is a very good gangster movie, released five years before the all-time great "The Godfather".
Also, the authoritative voice-over that runs the entire length of the movie pre-dates 'Goodfellas' by some 20-odd years.At first one might think that Jason Robards is woefully miscast as Al Capone, but this is not so.
The scene with George Segal and Jean Hale is reminiscent of the one between Glenn Ford and Hope Lange in "Pocketful of Miracles." And, after watching  it, one wonders why Jean Hale's filmography is so short.Only Jason Robards, Jr. really overdoes it, but who's to say that Capone himself didn't overact a bit?
Whereas GODFATHER gropes for a rich, mythic timelessness, MASSACRE seems brittle, thin, a mere pastiche of, variously, 30s Warners gangster films, 40s B-movies, or Corman's own early work.
Whereas Coppola's characters have passed into popular culture, Corman's gangsters are thinly characterised, theatrical, parodic; whereas GODFATHER's plot is slow-burning, tense, silent, punctuated with shocking shards of tangible violence, MASSACRE is almost cartoon-like in its relentless gunfire, which, because it's not rooted in character, does not have as traumatic an effect.Some of us, however, might recoil a little from the major film's more questionable posturing, and MASSACRE has many excellencies.
Most immediately pleasurable is the plot, mathematically simple, as Corman narrates the titular bloodbath like a theorem, showing A (Capone) meeting B (Moran) to create C (the massacre).
The theatricality of the acting adds to this, with Robards especially hamming away to amusingly grand effect, but theatricality is embedded too, as narratively crucial scenes become sites for rhetoric, oratory, dramatic performance, an actor declaiming to an enrapt public, hanging (for dear life) to his every word.Add to all this Corman's stunning, playful direction, confident and fluid, making interiors and objects live, fixing characters in their place.
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.
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 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.
When the untouchables were first broadcast on tv I enjoyed them.This movie is a continuation of that kind of entertainment even having some of the guest stars that were on that show like Paul Richards,Leo Gordon and Frank Silvera.Jason Robards plays Capone in his own style,not comparing him to other actors who have had the Capone part I would say his performance showed he was talented.A talent that would really show itself about a year later when he played the part of Cheyenne in"once upon a time in the west".In this gangster film a lot of quality is shown in the dress, cars and settings.The film is also in color which put it a notch above many previous mob films.The shooting scenes give the audience their fill.In one scene Bugs Moran and one of his men are doing a hit from a window,while his man lets loose with a chopper he uses a repeating shotgun(that's a guess)faster than anyone I've ever seen in the movies.What really could of gotten this movie a 10 is a bit more music,that kind of music that plays low but works on the emotions and nerves.Having a small part in the movie is Alex Rocco,later he would go on to play Moe Green In the "godfather".Curious dept: When Al Capone is being interviewed in Florida he is asked a question by a reporter with a moustache.To me the actor looks like Tony Dow from leave it to beaver.Anyone know?.
Featuring a good cast, including: George Segal, who's rarely better than he is here -- Ralph Meeker (Moran) --Corman's standby Dick Miller, Bruce Dern, and the intensified Jason Robards as Al Capone, in a part many feel he was miscast for.
"The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" was the first major studio/big budget film made by Roger Corman.
The film is not just about the mass killing but all the events leading up to it as well as an epilogue telling the sad finales of these folks.With an exceptional cast of excellent supporting actors, Roger Corman directing and a gritty sense of realism, you can't help but like and appreciate this movie.
When I first saw "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in 1967, I never would have guessed that legendary B movie maestro Roger Corman's attempt to break into the big-time would become one of my favorite films, but it did for a time.
Jack Nicholson is briefly glimpsed and even more briefly heard explaining why hitmen wipe garlic on their bullets ("If the bullets don't kill you..."), and he, too, echoes earlier caricatures of movie mobsters by speaking his one line in a silly rasp."The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" is a pleasant enough diversion for those who fondly recall their first exposure to Cagney and Bogart in "The Roaring Twenties" or scores of other gangster classics.
Funny thing is I think both Al Capone and Bugs Moran would have scoffed at the idea they would become modern mythic characters.Though it boasts color and better production values, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is really just a warmed over version of what the public had seen only a few years ago on The Untouchables.
For that matter The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was also released too soon after the film Al Capone that starred Rod Steiger in the title role.Jason Robards, Jr. as Al Capone and Ralph Meeker as Bugs Moran fit the roles well.
The film stops just this side of being played for laughs.The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a good factual retelling of the tale that kind of brought the gangster era in Chicago to a close..
So if Segal seems like Cagney, it is because they were both playing the same kind of doomed Irish/German hood.There is some criticism I have heard of Jason Robards as Al Capone but I find his performance great.
I watched this movie several times and Jason Robards does an excellent job as Al Capone.Yes I know Robert DeNiro did his part as Capone but the Untouchables was not about him so what he added to the movie was typical DeNiro('YOU Talking TO ME')attitude.Ben Gazzarra also did Capone but it seemed more of an effort for him to get it right, so the performance came out a little stale in the end.No,in my opinion Jason Robards did it right.I especially like the scenes that lead to the killing of Aiello..Where he talks to his friend Patsy and tries to warn him about the rumors he's hearing about Aiello trying to kill him and then finds out that Patsy was double-crossed by the person he thought was his friend (Aiello).The scene where Al (Robards)gets the phone call that Patsy is dead floored me because Jason Robards started speaking fluent italian with such anger it made the whole scene believable that you felt THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYED!
Let me say this from the beginning, in the realm of serious film making "St Valentines day massacre" is not a great movie, but in the Corman realm, it is a masterpiece.
Stone as Nitti (for some reason Hollywood likes casting Jews as Italians, i.e. Brando & Caan in GF 1) the great Ralph Meeker as Bugs Moran and before they made it big, Bruce Dern as a driver for the mob and Jack Nicholson, in an uncredited part as the wheel man for the guys who actually do the "massacre" shooting at the Clark Street garage.
And, by what I saw, I don't think that he recklessly squandered that dough on this production.Set in the year 1929 (in the crime-drenched metropolis of Chicago), TSVDM's story is, indeed, based on actual events that led up to a very special sort of Valentine's Day surprise that made the most sensational headlines that you could possibly imagine.Featuring plenty of swell-looking cars, cheap-looking whores, and deadly, drive-by shootings, TSVDM is an exciting gangster picture of treachery and double-crosses that, convincingly enough, captures the nostalgic feel of a "Depression Era" America.Other than a few "damns", and a couple of "hells", thrown in for good measure, this rough, tough macho-man picture contained no profanity, whatsoever.My one big beef about this picture has to do with the gross miscasting of actor Jason Robards as the ruthlessly violent Al Capone character.I mean, let's face it, Capone was, without question, one of the meanest and lousiest bastards imaginable.
The film has a strange feel to it  never really conveying the intensity of the violence of the situation but then getting close occasionally (for example a fight between a gangster and his moll).However it does feel like a B-movie in some ways  it is a bit pulpy and it looks cheap at some points.
However it still manages to be enjoyable but never, ever gets close to the gangster heights of things like Goodfellas or Godfather.Robards is a strange choice for Capone and he pales when compared to De Niro and others who have played the role.
Likewise much of the cast don't convince as gangsters and they don't convey either the danger or the glamour of their life styles.Overall it's worth a watch once as it is pretty interesting and it is probably one of Corman's best films.
Even though Roger Corman's 1967 gangster flick The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is based on fact and boasts an occasional documentary-style voiceover, don't go expecting gritty realism: Corman's mobsters are larger-than-life caricatures, more Bugsy Malone than The Godfather, and the action is of the over-the-top, rat-a-tat-tat, tommy gun blazing variety.That said, Corman's approach makes for a whole lot of fun, the comic-book violence and scenery chewing performances being hugely entertaining, like a melodramatic '30s B-movie given a lavish, technicolor sheen.
Corman commands memorable turns from an excellent cast that includes George Segal (cast against type as vicious thug Peter Gusenberg), Jason Robards as Al Capone, Bruce Dern, Joe Turkel, John Agar, Corman regular Dick Miller, and even an uncredited Jack Nicholson.Visually, the film is a treat: from the opening snowy scenes of Chicago to the inevitable bloody finalé, the film looks like a million dollars (because that was the budget), with wonderful production design, excellent period detail and great cinematography.
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.
This 1967 Roger Corman gangster flick is a rare up market sortie for the usually bargain basement producer, though the film looks to of been shot entirely on the old Fox studio lot, that and the colour film gives the movie a unrealistic unauthentic atmosphere.The movie is fairly accurate representation of known events though highly condensed but i found the narration particularly irritating and unnecessarily.But my biggest grip was the miscasting of Jason Robards as Al Capone he looks nothing like the real Capone and showed none of the charm that Capone was said to possess.
Big Al's Greatest Hit. The infamous St. Valintine Day Massacre in 1929 was the beginning of the end of Chicago mobster Alfonse "Big Al" Capone, Jason Robards, in that it drew the attention of the US Justice Department as well as IRS on him that eventually ended up putting him behind bars, for of all things tax evasion, and out of commission for good.
Director Roger Corman's first major movie that had him being taken seriously by the Hollywood big wigs who never thought that much of him and his talent as a serious filmmaker.P.S It was Capone's use of fake police to do his dirty work that was soon to be copied by fellow big time mobster "Lucky" Luciano two years later in the notorious September 10, 1931 massacre-Depicted in movies like "Stone Killer" & "The Valichi Papers"- of some 40 old line Mafia hoods in NYC and its surroundings that in the end made the mob or Mafia far more effective dangerous and successful, by letting non Sicilians to join it, then it even was during the Al Capone era..
I think Jason Robards was great as AL Capone he was neat and at the end close to the end of the movie he said why don't you Rodd in Hell.
The film focuses on the main players in both the gangs and focuses on the events up to and including the incident.As anyone who knows anything about Roger Corman would expect; the film does not benefit from a big budget and in some ways feels like a cheaper version of several big budget crime flicks.
The film has a sense of inevitability to it all the way through as it's always clear how it will end and while it contains no surprises; The St Valentines Day Massacre is at least a successful retelling of the famous event of it's title..
(his over-the-top portrayal of Al Capone has to be seen to be disbelieved), Ralph Meeker (appropriately tough as his Irish nemesis Bugs Moran), George Segal (as one of Moran's chief hoodlums  at one point, ludicrously involved in a bedroom brawl with his blonde moll), Bruce Dern (as a meek mechanic  and father of 7 kids  innocently mowed down in the notorious titular carnage), Frank Silvera (quite good as an Italian small-time hood who ends up playing a pivotal role in the proceedings), Harold J.
Then again Roger Corman spent most of his budget on a cast of thousands so maybe they were the only Screen Actors Guild members available for this semi-epic.Imagine "The Untouchables" television show (but in color) with Ralph Meeker reprising his Raymond Chandler stuff (but as gangster "Bugs Moran") and Jason Robards in the advance stages of rabies infection.
Jason Robard excellent as Al Capone and the dude Bruce Dern as the mechanic dude, James May was cool as well.This is my favourtie gangster movie of all time and to me it's scandalous only getting 3 stars in the film guideDUDES- YOU MUST WATCH IT!.
He was supported by a great cast that included Bruce Dern (Coming Home) and Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, As Good as It Gets).The documentary style employed by director Roger Corman (Frankenstein Unbound, The Wild Angels) really made the film as it was all based on true facts..
It's also funny to watch a gangster tracing the street on a Chicago map with his finger going from W-E instead of N-S.My heading refers to the fact that the films uncredited narrator is Paul Frees, famous cartoon voice actor who played Boris on the Bullwinkle show.
Great gangster movie from Roger Corman.
Roger Corman's "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" was filmed on a budget of exactly $1,000,000.
And look what he got for his cool million; Jason Robards, Ralph Meeker, George Segal, Joseph Campanella, Bruce Dern (a Corman stock player back then) and a host of other famous names including soon-to-be movie star Jack Nicholson.
The film stays relatively close to true events and except for the fact that Jason Robards doesn't look anything like the real Al Capone and is too old for the part, the movie is mostly historically accurate.
Robards could play this sort of almost lunatic anger better than anyone.Overall, not a bad movie, though more of a cult item for Roger Corman fans than gangster history buffs.
I'd like to think that Roger Corman and the cast had a jolly good time making this outrageous movie.
For "The St. Valentine's day Massacre", he was given a million dollar budget and three recognizable stars (Jason Robards, George Segal and Ralph Meeker) to play the leads.
The film was released by a major studio, 20th Century Fox.The picture tells the story of the famous 1929 Chicago massacre of seven gangsters and the events leading up to it.
Told in a documentary style not unlike TV's "The Untouchables" and narrated by Paul Frees, the story centers around the conflict between Al Capone (Robards) and "Bugs" Moran (Meeker).
Although Jason Robards doesn't look very Italian, he exudes The Big Feller's flamboyancy throughout this documentary styled movie about the infamous prohibition era massacre on February 14, 1929 at the Clark Street Garage in Chicago.