Product Details

• Actors: Rod Steiger, Martin Balsam, Fay Spain, James Gregory, Nehemiah Persoff
• Directors: Richard Wilson
• Writers: Henry F. Greenberg, Malvin Wald
• Producers: John H. Burrows, Leonard J. Ackerman
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: May 5, 1993
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301967968
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,435 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Mystery & Suspense > Crime > Gangsters

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rod Steiger. That's why you need to see this well-crafted but otherwise undistinguished biopic of America's most iconic gangster. Produced for Allied Artists (the upscale version of Monogram, the studio that made Dillinger in the mid-'40s), the film gets underway with the Brooklyn hoodlum's arrival in Chicago on the eve of Prohibition. His old pal Johnny Torrio (Nehemiah Persoff) takes him on as right-hand man, and before you can say "spaghetti alla marinara," the ambitious Alphonse has persuaded "Johnny Papa" that they should eliminate their opera-loving boss, Big Jim Colosimo (Joe De Santis), and divide up the Chicago territory with "Bugs" Moran (Murvyn Vye), Dion O'Banion (Robert Gist), and "Hymie" Weiss (Lewis Charles). As scripted by Malvin Wald (The Naked City) and Henry F. Greenberg, and directed by Orson Welles protégé Richard Wilson, the film dutifully hits the high points of "Scarface Al"'s career. Stylistically, though, and despite the presence of cinematographer Lucien Ballard (who would also shoot Budd Boetticher's The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond), it's outclassed by any episode of the TV series The Untouchables, destined to make pop-cultural history three years later.

But Steiger, in an early starring role, is aces. He gets all the shadings: the courtier's faux-humility as he ingratiates himself with the bosses, the shrewd sizing-up of each rival's strengths and vulnerability, the need to have his way through charm or brute force--two valences of the same charisma. There are even uncanny moments (and this, of course, is pure accident--or mythic rightness) when you'd swear you could glimpse the once and future Tony Soprano. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Setting the Mold for the Untouchables., April 28, 2004

By	Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Chicago, May 12, 2006

By	R. Schultz (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great "Unknown" Film, October 20, 2009

By	cawriter "cawriter" (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Al Capone (DVD-R)

As a film fan, I don't know why some fine films get overlooked. Very few people know that early in his career (1959), Rod Steiger gave an amazing performance as Al Capone. Steiger brings all of Big Al's dark menacing qualities to life better than any other actor has done. And the film has much more than Rod's fine work. Unlike many other gangster films, this one has it all. It's gritty, well-written, crisply directed, blends character development with action scenes, and features a tremendous cast (Martin Balsam; James Gregory; Nehemiah Persoff; the little-known Murvyn Vye tremendous and creepy as "Bugs" Moran). Even the lighting and sets deserve praise. Fay Spain's overacting is the only weak link. Give this film a look; you won't be disappointed.