The Valachi Papers (1972)

When Joe Valachi (Charles Bronson) has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese (Lino Ventura), he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful attempt ... See full summary »

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Stephen Geller (screenplay), Peter Maas (novel),

Stars:

Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Bronson	...	Joe Valachi
Lino Ventura	...	Vito Genovese
Jill Ireland	...	Maria Reina Valachi
Walter Chiari	...	Gap
Joseph Wiseman	...	Salvatore Maranzano
Gerald S. O'Loughlin	...	Ryan (as Gerald O'Loughlin)
Amedeo Nazzari	...	Gaetano Reina
Fausto Tozzi	...	Albert Anastasia
Pupella Maggio	...	Letizia Reina
Angelo Infanti	...	Lucky Luciano
Guido Leontini	...	Tony Bender
María Baxa	...	Donna
Mario Pilar	...	Salierno
Franco Borelli	...	Buster
Alessandro Sperli	...	Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria (as Alessandro Sperlì)

Storyline

When Joe Valachi (Charles Bronson) has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese (Lino Ventura), he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful attempt to slit his throat puts him over the edge to break the sacred code of silence.

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Plot Keywords:

informant | prison | 1930s | mob boss | gangster | 

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Taglines:

The syndicate. Genovese. Anastasia. Luciano. Masseria. Lucchese. Maranzano. The way they lived - The way they died.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

6 January 1972 (France)

Also Known As:

Cosa Nostra

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Laurentiis Intermarco S.p.A., Euro-France Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

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. This is one of the most famous period reconstruction mistakes in film history.

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Connections

Referenced in The Bob Newhart Show: Old Man Rivers (1973)

User Reviews

The Singing Gangster

Charles Bronson starts to break out of spaghetti westerns and good character roles and becomes a leading man around the time The Valachi Papers came out. It was a big milestone in his career, playing the most famous gangster stoolie of all.

It's not quite true that all Valachi's testimony managed to do was get a lot of high television ratings for some re-election hungry Senators. Not that they didn't get it and didn't appreciate the side benefits of those famous televised hearings, but eventually what came out of the Valachi hearings was the RICO law which has in fact put quite a dent into organized crime.

The Valachi Papers has Charles Bronson telling FBI man Gerald S. O'Loughlin about his life and times in organized crime with La Cosa Nostra from the days of the Marranzano-Masseria wars until the present which would have been 1962. He doesn't really tell anything new to them, basically he confirms what had been gangster legend about the circumstances of many a demise. But with some hard documentation now, new laws are created to meet the problem.

Bronson does his best with Valachi, but the story has him pretty one dimensional. It's far from The Godfather where you really get inside the characters of the fictional Corleone family. Bronson sure has no conscience about what he did and I'm sure the real Valachi didn't either. In fact the only reason he turns informer is that Vito Genovese already mistakenly has him down as one.

Fans of the gangster genre and Charles Bronson should give this one a look. Others should see The Godfather all three parts.