Lucky Luciano (1973)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Francesco Rosi

Writers:

Jerome Chodorov (English adaptation)
Tonino Guerra (writer)

Release Date:

November 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The real story behind Lucky Luciano, the high priest of crime.

Plot:

Lucky Luciano is one of the bosses of the Mafia. He orders the slaughter of 40 other responsibles, therefore becoming the only boss...

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | U.S. Army | Post WWII | Kingpin | Sicilian

Cast

Gian Maria Volontè	...	Charles 'Lucky' Luciano
Vincent Gardenia	...	Colonel Charles Poletti
Silverio Blasi	...	Italian Captain
Charles Cioffi	...	Vito Genovese
Larry Gates	...	Judge Herlands
Magda Konopka	...	Contessa
Dino Curcio	...	Don Ciccio
Jacques Monod
Karin Petersen	...	Igea Lissoni
Edmond O'Brien	...	Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger (as Edmund O'Brien)
Charles Siragusa	...	Himself
Rod Steiger	...	Gene Giannini
Pier Maria Pasinetti		(as P.M. Pasinetti)
Luigi Infantino
Carlo Mazzarella	...	Radio Journalist

Also Known As:

A proposito Lucky Luciano (Italy)
Lucky Luciano (France)
Re: Lucky Luciano (International: English title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | France | Italy

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (re-rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Company:

Harbor Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Il cineasta e il labirinto (2004)

Definitely not your standard American Mafia movie

In this country, Lucky Luciano is one of those 20s legends who have so often been glamorized in movies; we tend to be fascinated by such characters, and although films tend to either explicitly condemn them or show them coming to bad ends, they are among the most infallibly popular Hollywood staples. We also would concentrate on Luciano's years in America, which could be a familiar plot of the rise and fall of a gang boss. But Rosi's film begins with him leaving this country; it relates the long career that he had in Italy, in the drug trade, a time that Americans know little of -- it doesn't form part of the legend. Most of all, Rosi deliberately downplays the glamor. The drug trade is big business, and this middle-aged Luciano is a very solid businessman; the director (and the actor) have undercut the expected charisma. The efforts of police and government against him are portrayed as "factually" as possible (which makes aspects of their discussions rather unintelligible to Americans). Of course, all these things will make the movie seem rather boring to many viewers here! If you're looking for gangster thrills, go elsewhere; this is a movie of ideas, a critique directed at Italy in particular.