19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Setting the Mold for the Untouchables., April 28, 2004
Reviewer disclaimer: This review is done ONLY for "Al Capone" starred by Rod Steiger and NOT for the documentary about Al Capone.
This film, arguably, set the mold for the famous TV series The Untouchables, it was released only six months before the series was launched so the connection is obvious.
Rod Steiger stages Al Capone brilliantly; he gives the character an incredible ruthlessness, without overacting his part.
The film is presented almost as a documentary one. An impeccable black & white photography creates a very special climate. The epoch reconstruction is great and accurate, the cars, the clothing, the machine guns, every detail is taken into account.
The cast is very compact with Martin Balsam as Mac Keeley, a corrupt reporter; Nehemiah Persoff as Johnny Torrio, the gang leader immediately preceding Al Capone, and Robert Gist as the Irish ring leader Dion O'Banion in high performances.
The story line follows the rise of Capone from his start as an ordinary "gang soldier" thru Torrio's "partner" to Chicago's Big Boss and then to his sudden decline and imprisonment.
The movie shows all the backstage of political corruption and different gangs competing to take control of one of the biggest cities of USA. There are some very violent scenes (for the time the movie was released) as The Saint Valentine's Massacre and other showdowns among the gangsters.
Director Richard Wilson tells the story masterfully, giving a very crisp tempo to all the film, specially the action sequences.
The time elapsed since the release of the movie (1959) does not affect the product in any way.
It is a very commendable film for lovers of the genre and general public.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vintage Chicago, May 12, 2006
In this movie, Rod Steiger creates the definitive Al Capone. All other movie Capones pale in comparison. Steiger and Capone were made for each other. Both realize their essential natures in each other.
Steiger may not have captured the outward fact of Chicago's most notorious gangster. I have read complaints by Capone's relatives who said Capone was in reality soft-spoken and mild-mannered, not the coarse sawed-off-shotgun of a man that Steiger portrays. That may be true. My father knew Al Capone, and always amused my mother and me when he remembered him as being simply "amiable." But if Steiger doesn't capture the literal tone of the gangster, he captures his spirit - and more than that, he captures the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. He's loud, vulgar, violent, but always somehow poised on the edge of wanting to be something more, something better. So when he miserably fails and slips back into mere brutality, it is all the more tragic and compelling.
This is a riveting recreation that gets a lot of the broad historical succession of gangster takeovers correct - from Big Jim Colosimo to Johnny Torrio to Al Capone. What it fictionalizes, it fictionalizes to good effect. This movie will leave a lasting impression on you. It will make you once again see Capone as iconic Chicago, the way he used to be.
Forget about [...]. Chicago is a distinctively pudgy man walking cockily off down Michigan Avenue, his panama hat at a rakish angle.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Total deception, November 22, 2005
When it comes to these cheapie DVDs, there are many instances of deceptive packaging. This one, however, is probably the worst example since it's an outright lie. Despite the claim on the front that states "Rod Steiger in AL CAPONE" and the listing running time of 105 minutes on the back, this is actually a 50-minute 1998 TV documentary that contains a fleeting clip of Steiger from the 1959 movie that I thought I was getting. So how is the documentary? I wouldn't know, because I can't be bothered to sit through it. But don't blame the filmmakers...blame Digiview. As the old saying goes, "When you're expecting ice cream, even the best fish tastes like poison." Or how about this one: Spend your money on something--ANYTHING--else.
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