{"id":12532,"date":"2015-10-24T18:48:43","date_gmt":"2015-10-24T22:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12532"},"modified":"2015-10-24T18:48:43","modified_gmt":"2015-10-24T22:48:43","slug":"br-st-valentines-day-massacre-the-1967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12532","title":{"rendered":"BR: St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre, The (1967)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"StValentinesDayMassacre_BR\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Twilight Time<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0February 10, 2015<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 True Crime<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Vivid crime docu-drama chronicling the plotting and execution of the infamous machine gun slaughter of rival gang members by Al Capone during Prohibition era Chicago.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Isolated Stereo Music Track \/ Interview: \u201cRoger Corman Remembers\u201d (3:30) \/ Vintage Fox Movietone newsreel (4:41) \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with loner notes by Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

By 1967, Roger Corman was at a crossroads in his long and soon-to-be even more ridiculously prolific career, having grown tired of cranking out formula pictures for American International Pictures<\/a>, his home for roughly a decade, where he directed & produced a flurry of bug-eyed monster movies, Edgar Allan Poe shockers, and later biker and counter-culture films. Corman may have been loving referred to as being \u2018cheap\u2019 by his prot\u00e9g\u00e9s when he founded New World Pictures<\/a> in 1970, but so was AIP, and there\u2019s a sense Corman the director wanted to expand his horizons and take a crack at making motion pictures for the big studios, especially since former underlings like Francis Ford Coppola were doing pretty well, having gone from the Corman-produced Dementia 13<\/strong> (1963) to an emerging screenwriter with This Property is Condemned<\/strong> and Is Paris Burning?<\/strong> (both 1966).<\/p>\n

Corman had already directed a pair of gangster films \u2013 Machine-Gun Kelly<\/strong> with Charles Bronson for AIP and I, Mobster<\/strong> for Fox in 1958, a year before the premiere of the long-running crime series The Untouchables<\/strong> (1959-1963) \u2013 and with a reputation for delivering quality on a budget, he inked a deal with Fox to direct was what then for him his biggest budgeted production – $1 million \u2013 and Fox\u2019s cheapest of 1967. Both parties couldn\u2019t have been happier, and with Fox\u2019s extensive talent pool and standing sets, Corman was able to pull off what remains one of his best films; alongside The Intruder<\/a> <\/strong>(1962), it\u2019s probably his best non-horror movie.<\/p>\n

The proficiency of his direction, ability to handle a huge cast, and deliver a top-notch crime docu-drama reportedly based on news reports and court documents is clear right from the first scenes, because this retelling of the famous mass killing launched by Al Capone is packed with info, attitude, and moves with extraordinary efficiency.<\/p>\n

Corman had made The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> between two AIP counter-culture flicks \u2013 The Wild Angels<\/strong> (1966) and The Trip<\/a><\/strong> (1967) \u2013 so to have this tough, taut crime film pop up in the middle is proof he could, when the subject was right, make a fine picture.<\/p>\n

Part of Massacre<\/strong>\u2019s success lies in the no-nonsense script by prolific TV scribe Howard Browne, keeping the dialogue lean and neatly peppered with the occasional period argot, plus periodic, doom-laden commentary by grave-voiced Paul Frees, probably one of the greatest screen voices of the fifties (especially George Pal\u2019s War of the Worlds<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Another major element is the astonishing cast of actors, from starts to bit parts. It\u2019s a virtual who\u2019s who of established, up-and-coming, and veteran faces, with the latter group instantly recognizable to fans of late fifties \/ early sixties TV series.<\/p>\n

In the too-short interview piece on Twilight Time\u2019s crisp Blu-ray, Corman says he wanted Orson Welles for the role of Al Capone and Jason Robards (All the President\u2019s Men<\/a><\/strong>) as Bugs Moran, the rival gang leader in Prohibition Chicago who\u2019s core team of lieutenants and enforcers were wiped out by Capone\u2019s gunmen. Fox sais Welles was too problematic, and some swapping resulted in Robards playing Capone with fairly measured cigar-chomping gusto, and Ralph Meeker (Brannigan<\/a><\/strong>) taking the Moran role.<\/p>\n

Folded into the cast are George Segal as Moran\u2019s sadistic enforcer, Bruce Dern (The Wild Angels<\/strong>) as a doomed mechanic \/ innocent bystander, and in a barely speaking bit part, unbilled Jack Nicholson (The Little Shop of Horrors<\/strong>). Connoisseurs of Corman will easily spot members of his stock company, including unbilled Dick Miller (A Bucket of Blood<\/strong>) as a faux copper, Betsy Jones-Moreland (Creature from the Haunted Sea<\/strong>) as a poolside interview at the end, and Barboura Morris (A Bucket of Blood<\/strong>) in the opening scene.<\/p>\n

One suspects Robards\u2019 involvement in the film may have been contractual, finishing off his demands after uneven A-productions like Tender is the Night <\/strong>(1962) failed to boost his marquee value, while Jean Hale\u2019s feature film fling (The Oscar<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0 In Like Flint<\/a><\/strong>) pushed the actress back into TV.<\/p>\n

The action scenes are taut, and the gunplay is especially well exercised, with many cuts showing Tommy guns<\/a> mowing down victims, shredding pretty sets, and smoking after the magazines\u2019 have been emptied. (The editing may not be as hyperkinetic as rival period gangster flick Bonnie and Clyde<\/strong>, but it\u2019s interesting to note Corman\u2019s film beat the Oscar-winning classic to the box office by nearly 2 months \u2013 a classic trait of the savvy Corman.)<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s only one striking flaw in the production, it\u2019s the flat lighting which one has to presume was Corman\u2019s choice, perhaps thinking flat colour lighting would give the film a docu-drama feel instead of the more atmospheric B&W cinematography of his underrated anti-racist drama The Intruder<\/strong>. Prolific cinematographer Milton Krasner had shot a string of classics, including Nicholas Ray\u2019s goofy King of Kings<\/a><\/strong> (1961), the gorgeous Boy on a Dolphin<\/a><\/strong> (1957), and Fritz Lang\u2019s striking Scarlet Street<\/strong> <\/strong>(1945), so one suspects the film\u2019s look, while nicely composed, was a misstep by Corman wanting the film to look less like a fictional dramatic movie.<\/p>\n

TT\u2019s Blu-ray features a stereo isolated music track with (presumably) stock music recorded for the film, and while most of the film features period source tracks, the main & end music (Fred Steiner\u2019s uncredited handiwork) is a great deranged variation of speakeasy music \u2013 disjointed and appropriately unnerving for this classic saga of true crime in America.<\/p>\n

Julie Kirgo\u2019s excellent essay substitutes for a commentary track, tracking Corman\u2019s brief fling with Fox and the gangster genre, as well as writer Browne, who penned a Prohibition teleplay \u201cSeven Against the Wall\u201d for Playhouse 90<\/strong> in 1958.<\/p>\n

and TT\u2019s ported over a vintage Fox Movietone newsreel on Capone plus the theatrical trailer that appeared on Fox\u2019s basically bare bones 2006 release.<\/p>\n

Alongside Fox, Corman also tried to make the leap to the big-time with United Artists, directing Von Richthofen and Brown<\/strong> (1971), and while the period production offered another substantive budget, studio meddling ultimately convinced the director to hang up his hat for practically two decades, and focus on building New World into an established indie exploitation production & releasing company.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Corman would produce Capone<\/strong> (1975), a related gangster drama written by Browne, released by Fox, and offering another small part to stock company actor Dick Miller.<\/p>\n

The history of the St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre has appeared in countless print, TV, and filmic variants, but certain Al Capone remains its most notorious figurehead, after being so vividly dramatized in Brian De Palma\u2019s The Untouchables<\/strong> (1987).<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a>\u00a0— Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By 1967, Roger Corman was at a crossroads in his long and soon-to-be even more ridiculously prolific career, having grown tired of cranking out formula pictures for American International Pictures, his home for roughly a decade, where he directed & produced a flurry of bug-eyed monster movies, Edgar Allan Poe shockers, and later biker and counter-culture films…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[4050,4051,4044,4045,4048,691,4052,4046,392,4047,4049],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3g8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12535,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12532\/revisions\/12535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}