A Bronx Tale (1993)

A father becomes worried when a local gangster befriends his son in the Bronx in the 1960s.

Director:

Robert De Niro

Writers:

Chazz Palminteri (play), Chazz Palminteri (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Lorenzo Anello
Chazz Palminteri	...	Sonny LoSpecchio
Lillo Brancato	...	Calogero 'C' Anello (age 17)
Francis Capra	...	Calogero 'C' Anello (age 9)
Taral Hicks	...	Jane Williams
Kathrine Narducci	...	Rosina Anello
Clem Caserta	...	Jimmy Whispers
Alfred Sauchelli Jr.	...	Bobby Bars
Frank Pietrangolare	...	Danny K.O
Joe Pesci	...	Carmine
Robert D'Andrea	...	Tony Toupee
Eddie Montanaro	...	Eddie Mush
Fred Fischer	...	JoJo the Whale
Dave Salerno	...	Frankie Coffeecake
Joe D'Onofrio	...	Slick (Age 17)

Storyline

Gangster Sonny is the big man in the Bronx neighborhood of an Italian small boy named Calogero. A shooting witnessed by the boy (nicknamed C) is the starting point of a lasting bond between the gangster and the boy. Father (bus driver Lorenzo), however, disapproves. C grows up under the wing of both men, torn between his own natural honesty and his fascination with Sonny. C's neighborhood cronies get involved in theft, use of guns, and racial fights. When C falls for an African American girl, things don't get any easier. C's leap to manhood is marked by tragedy, but also by his recognition of the many faces of love.

---

Plot Keywords:

gangster | racism | bus | african american | racist | 

---

Taglines:

One man lives in the neighborhood, another man owns it. A devoted father battles the local crime boss for the life of his son.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language and several scenes of violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

29 September 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

In den Straßen der Bronx

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$17,266,971 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Price Entertainment, Penta Entertainment, Tribeca Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kathrine Narducci brought her 9-year-old son to the open casting call to audition for the role of young Calogero. When she saw that the role of Calogero's mother was available she asked if she could also audition and got the part.

---

Goofs

The Beatles' "Come Together" is playing in Sonny's bar just before and during the "biker" scene. This song would not have been available on a jukebox, radio or anywhere else in 1968. It was not recorded until July 1969, and was not released until the fall of 1969.

---

Quotes

Lorenzo: [about C] The other night he tried to throw away his baseball cards because he said Mickey Mantle would never pay our rent.
Sonny: [laughs] He said that to you? I can't believe that kid.
[They all start laughing]
Lorenzo: That's not funny. Not when your kid has a bigger bank account than you do.

---

Crazy Credits

Dedicated to the memory of Robert De Niro, Sr.

---

Connections

Featured in Bullets Over Hollywood (2005)

---

Soundtracks

"Tell It Like It Is"
Performed by Aaron Neville

User Reviews

Growing Up In The Bronx

A Bronx Tale does take me back to New York City in the sixties. I grew up in Brooklyn then which certainly has always had its own identity. I'm glad that Chazz Palmentiri has given the Bronx an identity of its own. There are still parts of the Bronx which have the Italian neighborhood you see depicted here. But the Bronx is a Latino majority borough now, ironic when you consider part of the story of A Bronx Tale is the racial tension between the blacks and Italians.

The movie divides in two parts, the first is around 1960 with the background of the 1960 World Series, one of the best ever played where the Yankees of Mickey Mantle lost to the Pirates in seven games. Robert DeNiro is your average Joe, a bus driver by profession trying with his wife, Katherine Narducci, to raise their son who is eight years old. Young Francis Capra who is fascinated by the gangsters hanging out at the bar down the street, witnesses the local boss commit a murder. True to the neighborhood code he doesn't snitch to the police and the local boss takes him under his wing.

Chazz Palmentiri is the boss and he's an interesting character. A man who's risen to the top of his profession, he's got a sense of himself and what it took to get there. Life is about choices, he made his and he's going with the flow, but he knows it isn't for everyone. He advises young Capra to stay in school, but the more he advises the more fascinating Palmentiri becomes to DeNiro's dismay.

The second half of the story is in 1968, the Bronx as part of America ravaged by racial tensions, assassinations and the war in Vietnam. The little boy is now teenager Lillo Brancato who gets interested in a black girl, a big no-no in the crowd he comes from, but Palmentiri is the one person who encourages the relationship. Let's just say that everything, every element of the story comes full circle on one night in the Bronx in 1968.

The comparison to Goodfellas for me is obvious. The two kids who grow up to be Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta are taken under the wing of neighborhood boss Paul Sorvino who sees them as promising gangster material and they grow into the roles. Palmentiri keeps telling the young kid here do what I say not what I do, but in the end it takes some tragic events to set him on a right path.

DeNiro who you would normally expect in the gangster role is just fine as the father, a good man, not a perfect one by any means, but just a guy trying to do right by his family. It's Palmentiri however who really steals the film as the local gangster boss who's as street smart as they come, but even with all that can't anticipate all contingencies.

Lillo Brancato who went on to several other film roles and a long running one in The Sopranos certainly in real life didn't make the same choices as his character Calogero Anello did. Life really imitated art in his life story.

Nice to see the Bronx get its due.