The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971)

This is the funny story about two warring Mafia gangs in New York. The weaker gang use incredibly a lion to blackmail the opposite gang's "clients". The police succeeds to stop one of the gang, while the other remain without the Boss.

Director:

James Goldstone

Writers:

Jimmy Breslin (novel), Waldo Salt

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Leigh Taylor-Young, Jo Van Fleet

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Kid Sally
Leigh Taylor-Young	...	Angela
Jo Van Fleet	...	Big Momma
Lionel Stander	...	Baccala
Robert De Niro	...	Mario
Irving Selbst	...	Big Jelly
Hervé Villechaize	...	Beppo (as Herve Villechaize)
Joe Santos	...	Exmo
Carmine Caridi	...	Tony, the Indian
Frank Campanella	...	Water Buffalo
Harry Basch	...	DeLauria
Sander Vanocur	...	Television Commentator
Philip Bruns	...	Gallagher (as Phil Bruns)
Philip Sterling	...	District Attorney Goodman
Jack Kehoe	...	Bartender

Storyline

This is the funny story about two warring Mafia gangs in New York. The weaker gang use incredibly a lion to blackmail the opposite gang's "clients". The police succeeds to stop one of the gang, while the other remain without the Boss.

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Plot Keywords:

mafia | gangster | new york city | punctuation in title | based on novel

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some violence, racial slurs, drug use and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 1972 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

A banda, amelyik nem tudott jól lőni

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hervé Villechaize 's voice is dubbed through the entire film by Paul Frees.

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Goofs

(at around 55 mins) Angela gets splashed bad with mud by a cop car. A second later it's just a few spots.

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Connections

Referenced in Cocaine Cowboys (2006)

User Reviews

Pretty poor

"Comedy" about two warring Mafia gangs in Brooklyn.

Purportedly the original book is hilarious and this movie has a great cast--but something went wrong. The jokes aren't very funny and the cast just seems to be unable to put across the punchlines. Flat direction doesn't help either.

I'm only giving it a 3 for Leigh-Taylor Young and Robert DeNiro (who are both very good and play a very appealing couple) and Jo Van Fleet who has the movie's only funny lines in a very broad, over the top, amusing manner.

But, all in all, this really isn't worth seeing.