Murder, Inc. (1960)

The rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.

Directors:

Burt Balaban, Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

Irve Tunick (screenplay), Mel Barr (screenplay)

Stars:

Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stuart Whitman	...	Joey Collins
May Britt	...	Eadie Collins
Henry Morgan	...	Burton Turkus
Peter Falk	...	Abe Reles
David J. Stewart	...	Louis 'Lepke' Buchalter
Simon Oakland	...	Det. Sgt. William Tobin
Sarah Vaughan	...	Singer
Morey Amsterdam	...	Walter Sage
Eli Mintz	...	Joe Rosen
Joseph Bernard	...	Mendy Weiss
Warren Finnerty	...	Bug Workman
Vincent Gardenia	...	Lazlo
Helen Waters	...	Mrs. Corsi
Leon B. Stevens	...	Loughran
Howard Smith	...	Albert Anastasia (as Howard I. Smith)

Storyline

Based on the true-life book of lawman Burton Turkus, this movie chronicles the rise and fall of the organized crime syndicate known as Murder, Incorporated. Focusing on powerful boss Lepke and violent hitman Reles.

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Plot Keywords:

organized crime | crime boss | new york city | brooklyn new york city | star witness | 

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Taglines:

From the Bullet-Riddled Pages of the Best Seller Comes the True Story!

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1960 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Asesinato S.A.

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Princess Production Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 99 min (FMC Library Print)

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor, later producer/executive, Robert Evans turned down the part of Reles, because it was "not the lead role" and Peter Falk was cast instead, becoming Falk's first Oscar nominated performance.

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Goofs

Joe Rosen was gunned down 13 September 1936, but the hit man arrives at the crime scene in a 1939 Buick.

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Quotes

Abe "Kid Twist" Reles: Hey, Joe, c'mon in, we've been waitin' for you.
[Reles lets Joey Collins into the luxury apartment he has been using]
Joey Collins: Eadie, I'd like to talk to you.
[to his wife sitting in the living room]
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles: Hey, Joe, listen, Joe, I was just telling Eadie, that you know, you're both friends of mine and I like ya, what I'd like to do is I'd like for you and Eadie to have this apartment.
Joey Collins: We don't want it.
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles: What do you mean, you don't want it?
Joey Collins: Well, just what I said.
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles: Well, maybe, Eadie wants it.
Joey Collins: Well, she doesn't.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

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Soundtracks

The Awakening
Written by George David Weiss (as George Weiss)
Performed by Sarah Vaughan

User Reviews

Falk Steals The Show And Gains A Career

Murder, Inc. was a B picture and I remember seeing it as a lad as the second part of a double bill back in the days when they had such things. As I was from Brooklyn the whole story of the gang was interesting to a 12 year old. Needless to say the neighborhood of Brownsville had changed quite a bit even in 1960 from 20 years earlier.

The film is based on a book by the real Burton Turkus who must have consented to the dramatic license taken to bring the story of the taking down of Louis Lepke Burkhalter the only top crime boss to this day ever to get the death penalty. But the atmosphere of the Jewish neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn is certainly captured as is the gang that made the place famous.

The film's a good one, not great by any means, but decent enough entertainment performed by a cast that are well known as competent players, but no box office draws in this cast. But one of them really made his own career with this film.

Peter Falk got the part of Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles who is one amoral example of humanity. Like Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano of more recent times in a career where he participated in a couple of dozen contract killings, when he's caught he offers to turn state's evidence. The end he met is part of gangland lore.

What Falk did was turn in a performance that so impressed the critics that he got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Remember Murder, Inc. was a B film, released with no fanfare so to speak so Falk's performance got the acclaim it did strictly by word of mouth.

The competition that year in this category was pretty good. The others who Falk was competing against were Jack Kruschen in The Apartment, Sal Mineo for Exodus, Chill Wills for The Alamo, and the eventual winner, Peter Ustinov for Spartacus. All of those others were high budget feature films with studios behind them with accompanying publicity machinery. Falk may have been there to round out the field, but just the fact he got there is an incredible tribute to his talent and that particular performance.

Murder, Inc. was not Peter Falk's debut big screen performance, but it is the one that made his career. The rest of the cast which consists of such familiar faces as Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Eli Mintz, Morey Amsterdam, Simon Oakland and Henry Morgan as Burton Turkus perform well enough, but Peter Falk as Reles will never leave you.

Talk about making one's own breaks.