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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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5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Crima Drama!!, April 16, 2002
By A Customer
This 1973 Movie starring Joeseph Bologna,Brenda Vaccaro tells about the rise and fall of the Bonnano Family.It's an excellent crime drama!!
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