Capone (1975)

Director:

Steve Carver

Writer:

Howard Browne (written by)

Release Date:

16 April 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The man who made the twenties roar! Now, after 45 years, his true story can be told!

Plot:

The story of the rise and fall of the infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone and the control he exhibited over the city during the prohibition years...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Prohibition | Female Nudity | Mafia | Female Frontal Nudity

Cast

Ben Gazzara	...	Al Capone
Harry Guardino	...	Johnny Torrio
Susan Blakely	...	Iris Crawford
Sylvester Stallone	...	Frank Nitti
John Cassavetes	...	Frankie Yale
Frank Campanella	...	Big Jim Colosimo
John Orchard	...	Dion O'Banion
Carmen Argenziano	...	Jack McGurn
George Chandler	...	Robert E. Crowe
John Davis Chandler	...	Hymie Weiss (as John D. Chandler)
Royal Dano	...	Anton J. Cermak
Joe De Nicola	...	Charles Fischetti
Angelo Grisanti	...	Angelo Genna
Peter Maloney	...	Jake Guzik
Dick Miller	...	Joe Pryor

Runtime:

USA:101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | UK:18 (re-rating) (1990) | UK:X (original rating) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (uncut) (2007) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1975) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Santa Fe Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the car chase, supposedly in the middle of Chicago, towering green mountains can be seen in the near distance at the ends of some streets, clearly indicating it's a studio set in California.

Quotes:

Capone: There should be a law against women drinking.
Crawford: Well, I think there is.

Movie Connections:

Edited from The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Okay film, but unhistorical and with poor casting.

There are enough pictures of Alphonse Capone available so that we know exactly what he looked like. Even though Ben Gazzara is a good actor, I couldn't watch this without thinking, "Not Capone, must be a different character of the same name." ;-)

Although a brutal man, Capone had enormous sense. He preferred making money to shooting down rivals, and always tried to negotiate first. He valued loyalty above all else, and he "broke the mold" by insisting that the clannish, ethnic gang style of old was gone and that a man's ethnic background ought to have no bearing in the outfit.

According to a recent biographer, Capone feared being shot and dying alone in the street more than anything else. Unlike in this film, he died as he had hoped: in bed surrounded by his family.

I've always been saddened by the thought that if Capone had wanted to go legit from the start, he could have done it. With his organizational skills he could have been anything he wished.