Trivia
Duke Mitchell made a follow up film called Gone with the Pope. He died before it was edited. Recently, the rights were purchased by Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski of Grindhouse Releasing. They are finishing the film for Duke Mitchell.
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Was distributed under multiple names including "The Executioner", "Massacre Mafia Style", and "Like Father, like Son". "Massacre Mafia style" was Mitchell's preference.
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According to the documentary Like Father, Like Son, Duke Mitchell actually plugged crippled stage manager Maurice Duke's wheel chair into an outlet and put his foot in a urinal because he was mad at him. This inspired the opening scene.
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Made in response to The Godfather, Duke Mitchell took many of the events in this film from real life stories he heard from mob buddies while performing stage shows.
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Frank Sinatra was offered a role in the film. His response was "Duke, I love you but I get paid real money to do real movies."
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The pimp crucified on Easter was based on a real incident that happened in Las Vegas in the late 1960's.
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Developed a cult following upon its release to VHS. This revived its theatrical run in Grindhouse theaters during the 80's.
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In the original treatments for the film, Jolly Rizzo was written as a black character (meant to be played by Mitchell's friend George Jacobs).
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In order to get extras for the wedding scene, Mitchell sent out real wedding invitations. Most of the people there thought they were going to a real wedding. He sold the wedding presents brought by the guest in order to have more funding for the film.
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A distribution deal for the film allowed it a European release. However, the deal also stated the film could not be shown in North America at all for 6 years. This distributor changed the film's title to The Executioner.
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Along with the theatrical premiere for Gone with the Pope, Grindhouse Releasing also debuted a brand new, pristine 35mm copy of Massacre Mafia Style. The new remastered version is now in dispute over who owns the rights to the film. It quite possibly might not be shown again in any format (Since one company owns the prints but another owns the rights to distribute).
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