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The Valachi Papers (1972) -- A crime-action movie based on a  best-seller, taken from prison conversations and the actual U.S. Senate testimony of Joseph Valachi, a high-ranking figure in the Mafia.

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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   772 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 14% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Massimo De Rita (dialogue)
Stephen Geller (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Valachi Papers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 January 1972 (France) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The syndicate. Genovese. Anastasia. Luciano. Masseria. Lucchese. Maranzano. The way they lived - The way they died. more
Plot:
When Joe Valachi (Charles Bronson) has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese (Lino Ventura),... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Best Polish mafia film I've seen more (16 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Carteggio Valachi (Italy)
Cosa Nostra
Joe Valachi - I segreti di Cosa Nostra (Italy)
Le dossier Valachi (France)
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Runtime:
France:110 min | USA:125 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:18 (re-rating) (1992) | UK:X (original rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1988) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1972) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1998) | Iceland:16 | France:-12 | West Germany:18 (nf) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | USA:R (original rating)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Anachronisms: During the chase scene which takes place during the 1920s in New York, a car goes into the river and in the background the twin towers of the World Trade Center under construction can be clearly seen. more
Movie Connections:

FAQ

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.
Best Polish mafia film I've seen, 13 October 2007
7/10
Author: birck from Philly

I give this a 7 stars because it was made the same year as Godfather I, so it didn't benefit from all the film-industry wisdom that followed that production. Rather, this is a character study of one mafioso, which is a separate issue from the operatic, all-systems-GO no-holds-barred approach Coppola was able to employ in The Godfather. it's a smaller film, and should be compared to, say, Mobsters (1991), which deals with the same period and some of the same characters as V.P. Charles Bronson's Valachi is adequate. He's a workaday, uneducated, down- home mob guy, and Bronson plays him as if he were Polish, with a job that he goes to every day, where everyone talks Italian. Because it is through his eyes that we see his world, some of the other characters become more vivid, e.g., Joseph Wiseman as Salvatore Maranzano. When I compare the casting of the incomparable Joseph Wiseman in this role as opposed to, say, Michael Gambon in the same role in Mobsters, or Anthony Quinn as an equally old-school rival in the same film, I wonder: None of these actors are Italian -American or even simply Italian; why do some of them work, and the others don't? Granted that Wiseman, Quinn and Gambon are all consummate professionals and true craftsmen as actors, if anyone mentions Salvatore Maranzano and the Castellammarese gang war of 1929, the face that will come to my mind is that of Joseph Wiseman. He and Charles Bronson make this film worth seeing.

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Is the castration scene true? gonog998
Other films on the old time gangsters? doo-buzz
Only PG rated? zauis1234
UK DVD out today..... willyphilli
dvd kidchocolate
VALACHI PAPERS pattyhyde
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