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2.0 out of 5 stars
Precursor to Sopranos, February 20, 2012
Had it been made in 1953 or 1963 "Honor Thy Father" might be considered a great gangster film. But instead it was made in 1973, post "Godfather" (1972), and as such it is more of an embarrassment than a success, even though it was a TV movie. The film is based on the critically acclaimed bestselling 1971 book by Gay Talese (1932), about the trials and tribulations of the Bonanno crime family in the 1960s. The film stars Joseph Bolgona and Raf Vallone, as son and father, with Brenda Vaccaro as Joe's wife and Richard Castellano (he played Clemenza in "The Godfather") as one of Joe's senior aides. (FWIW - This was only Bologna's second film. His best performance, IMHO, was in "My Favorite Year" (1982) where he played Sid Caesar. In that film he does a sketch about a mob boss, and I couldn't help but see that mob boss in his performance in this film. BTW - Caesar's mob boss was a caricature but Salvatore Bonano was not intended to be.) The executive producer is Charles Fries who specialized in TV movies and made more than 100 of them, most of which are forgettable. Among his better ones were "LBJ: The Early Years" (1987), "The Rosemary Clooney Story" (1982), and "The Neon Empire" (1989), Some might compare the film to an early version of "The Sopranos", which may be true, but as a film in the gangster genre it certainly doesn't hold up well when compared to "The Godfather" or "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), or even to such lesser films as "Mean Streets" (1973), "Goodfellas" (1990), "A Bronx Tale" (1993), or "Casino" (1995). All these films dealt, in one way or another, with the personalities and the family life of the mob, and all were able to provide a more satisfactory film experience. Of course, these other films were big screen releases, and TV movies in the 70s were far more limited in terms of what they could show.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Honor among criminals, March 22, 2009
WESTLAKE's edition of HONOR THY FATHER is stored in a glossy heavy paper gatefold cover. DVD extras include bios, filmographies and a photo gallery. The 1973 TV adaptation of Gay Talese's "Honor Thy Father" came in the wake of Coppola's THE GODFATHER. Obviously, "Godfather" is fiction that draws from real events while "Honor" is a fairly accurate portrayal of a real crime family, the Bonannos of New York. As it originally had commercial breaks, this movie is rather episodic. The restrictions of 70s network TV means it's also fairly bloodless and lacks the colorful language heard in most mob pictures. Although hampered by these and a small budget, the excellent cast does a fine job in recreating NY Mafia history. The Bononnos were one of the Five Families created in the wake of the Castellammarese War. At age 26, Joe Bonanno was youngest of the five family heads. His income derived then and prior to the War from gambling, loansharking, and racketeering. When the absentee Joe later lost his capo regime status to Gaspar DiGregorio this caused the "Banana Split," aka the Bonanno War. "Honor Thy Father" refers at times to the above, but is primarily the story of Joe's son Salvatore. Related item:
GOTTI (1996) is another TV film about a mob boss. Armand Assante stars as John Gotti-- the Teflon Don who after a lifetime of the worst sort of crime was finally convicted and sentented in 1992 to life imprisonment. Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating. (5.1) Honor Thy Father (TV-1973) - Joseph Bologna/Brenda Vaccaro/Raf Vallone/Richard S. Castellano/Joe De Santis/Gilbert Green/Marc Lawrence/Joseph Campanella (narrator)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
In the "Godfather"s shadow, April 3, 2011
[VHS Edition].
Small scale drama somewhat in the Godfather movie mold (Richard Castellano, at his fightin' weight here, about one year later), but has the bonus of being based upon a true story, not a composite, of sorts.
Has a Made For TV aura about it, however; a Reviewer adroitly noted the "episodic" nature, as if prepared for commercial inserts, at some point.
Father is Raf Vallone, an excellent character actor; as this Reviewer is not familiar with his career, I can only reference his performance as "Harlow"s step-father in the movie with Carroll Baker and Angela Landsbury, not a memorable film; though Vallone again plays his part with realism and nuance - a late scene where he shows his son his grammar school report card is touching - could he have made it the honest way?
Joseph Bologna (Son) and Brenda Vaccaro (Son's Wife), have some strong scenes, often quite steamy, though these moments are marred to some extent by the now cultist nature of the film - there are several spots where you might expect a Leslie Neilson cameo. Unintentionally funny. The narration by Joseph Campanella is fine but by 2011 it seems superfluous.
Worth watching.
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