The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Director:

Roger Corman

Writer:

Howard Browne (writer)

Release Date:

30 June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime...

Plot Keywords:

Tommy Gun | Cult Favorite | Valentine's Day | Snow | Stealing Car

Cast

Jason Robards	...	Al Capone
George Segal	...	Peter Gusenberg
Ralph Meeker	...	George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
Jean Hale	...	Myrtle
Clint Ritchie	...	Jack McGurn
Frank Silvera	...	Nick Sorello
Joseph Campanella	...	Albert Wienshank
Richard Bakalyan	...	John Scalise
David Canary	...	Frank Gusenberg
Bruce Dern	...	Johnny May
Harold J. Stone	...	Frank Nitti
Kurt Kreuger	...	James Clark
Paul Richards	...	Charles Fischetti
Joe Turkel	...	Jake 'Greasy Thumb' Guzik (as Joseph Turkel)
Milton Frome	...	Adam Heyer

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (Suggested for Mature Audiences) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2006 uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (1967 cut) | Iceland:16 | USA:TV-PG | France:-12 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1967) | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Los Altos Productions

Trivia:

More squib charges were used in this film than in the three-hour war epic The Longest Day (1962).

Goofs:

Continuity: At the start of the movie when the woman is taking her clothes off the indoor clothes line, you can clearly hear 3 shotgun blasts. When the actual massacre is shown, there is only 1 double barreled shotgun in use and only 2 shots are fired.

Quotes:

Adam Heyer: Hello, boys. Something I can do for you?
Gangster dressed as a cop: Yes, you can shut up!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pretty Poison (1968)

Bang bang!!! Yer dead!!!

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