The Last Don 

Sprawling Mario Puzo novel about an Italian family of gangsters draws the inevitable comparison to "The Godfather", but does find its own direction. Headed by Don Domenico Clericuzio, the ... See full summary »

Stars:

Danny Aiello, Joe Mantegna, Daryl Hannah

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Danny Aiello	...	Don Domenico Clericuzio 3 episodes, 1997
Rory Cochrane	...	Dante Clericuzio 3 episodes, 1997
Kirstie Alley	...	Rose Marie Clericuzio 3 episodes, 1997
David Marciano	...	Giorgio Clericuzio 3 episodes, 1997
David Gianopoulos	...	Petie Clericuzio 3 episodes, 1997
Danny Mastrogiorgio	...	Vincent Cleriuzio 3 episodes, 1997
Joe Mantegna	...	Pippi De Lena 2 episodes, 1997
Daryl Hannah	...	Athena Aquitane 2 episodes, 1997
Jason Gedrick	...	Cross De Lena 2 episodes, 1997
Robert Wuhl	...	Bobby Bantz 2 episodes, 1997
k.d. lang	...	Dita Tommey 2 episodes, 1997
Seymour Cassel	...	Alfred Gronevelt 2 episodes, 1997
Burt Young	...	Virginio Ballazzo 2 episodes, 1997
Dennis Boutsikaris	...	Skippy Deere 2 episodes, 1997
Michelle Burke	...	Claudia De Lena 2 episodes, 1997
Michael Massee	...	Jim Losey 2 episodes, 1997
Conrad Dunn	...	Lia Vazzi 2 episodes, 1997
Diane D'Aquila	...	Sophia Ballazzo 2 episodes, 1997
Chloe Clifford	...	Bethany Aquitane 2 episodes, 1997
Jody Racicot	...	Clericuzio Soldier 2 episodes, 1997

Storyline

Sprawling Mario Puzo novel about an Italian family of gangsters draws the inevitable comparison to "The Godfather", but does find its own direction. Headed by Don Domenico Clericuzio, the family executes a rival gang on the night of the Don's daughter's wedding, including her new husband, the son of his rival. Unfortunately the daughter gets pregnant and the repercussions of the night drift into the future. Spanning 1964-1985, the film jumps forward with the growing up of the grandson who has grown ruthless and scheming. A co-rival in the family is a nephew who has been raise to take his father's place in the family as a hitman and has established his place by assassinating a man who killed a Senator's daughter. However, he is proven to not be ruthless enough and moves into the family's casino business in Vegas. When the nephew falls in love with a beautiful actress, everything is set in place for the grandson to set up a coupe to take over the family.

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Plot Keywords:

daughter | rival | grandson | gangster | family relationships | 

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Taglines:

Power Isn't Everything... It's The Only Thing.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

11 May 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Last Don

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Konigsberg/Sanitsky Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

258 min 138 min (compact video) 137 min (part 1) 150 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The score was recorded at Paramount Studios with a 75-piece orchestra. A smaller orchestra of about 40 recorded additional music at Capitol Studios, Hollywood. The score was orchestrated conducted by Roger Bellon.

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Goofs

There is a scene which has Dante relaxing in a bathtub with his head propped against a pillow. However, Dante's head only rests against the pillow during the close ups, anytime the camera pulls away for a wide shot the pillow is resting behind Dante's head on the edge of the bathtub.

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Connections

Referenced in Son of the Beach: Mario Putzo's 'The Last Dong' (2000)

User Reviews

As a mini-series, transcends the genre...

As a mini-series, this production is *far* better than average. Presented as a movie it is only average. To be fair I rated "The Last Don" 6/10, but it should be noted that there are so many high quality gangster movies (Goodfellas, Scarface, Casino, The Godfather, to name a few) that "The Last Don" has some truly formidable competition.

Anyway, I was entertained, and watching the excellent cast at work was very enjoyable. Sure, we've seen it all before, but if that was the criteria to judge a film by I'd have to become a serious pessimist. This was a very fine production.