The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

When I first saw "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in 1967, I never would have guessed that legendary B movie maestro Roger Corman's attempt to break into the big-time would become one of my favorite films, but it did for a time. Ah, the innocence of youth. All that blood-letting in the big massacre scene appealed to my ghoulish instincts, and the semi-documentary approach made it feel like a history lesson. Watching the film on video recently, I still enjoyed it and was once more pleased to hear Alfred Newman's score, complete with an off-key piano (meant to symbolize the gangsters' rejection of law and order?), but now I see the film for what it is: a B movie in A movie dress; a film as realistic as the black and white gangster movies churned out by Warner Bros. in the 1930s.

The tone is slightly comic, especially when big Al affectionately glides his fist across the face of Jack McGurn, his favorite among the cutthroats on his payroll, and Jack shyly grins in appreciation. It is as hokey as George Raft tossing a silver dollar in the air in 1932's "Scarface."

The acting is over the top, of course, with Jason Robards, an uncharacteristically slim Capone, chewing the scenery, as they say, slamming his fist on his desk, bulging his eyes and shouting even his calmest utterances. George Segal seems to be imitating Cagney while the rest of the cast chews gum so often that you know if this film had been made today, Juicy Fruit would have a piece of the action by way of an official tie-in. In the midst of all this ham, Ralph Meeker manages to etch a subdued and believable portrait of Bugs Moran that easily claims the acting honors. In a small role as a mechanic, Bruce Dern also shines. Jack Nicholson is briefly glimpsed and even more briefly heard explaining why hitmen wipe garlic on their bullets ("If the bullets don't kill you..."), and he, too, echoes earlier caricatures of movie mobsters by speaking his one line in a silly rasp.

"The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" is a pleasant enough diversion for those who fondly recall their first exposure to Cagney and Bogart in "The Roaring Twenties" or scores of other gangster classics. But it's nothing more than that, and the shame is that it could have been much more. A more restrained, serious approach could have made it a precursor of sorts to "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas." Instead, it's a live action cartoon.

"The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" is a very good gangster movie, released five years before the all-time great "The Godfather". It's pretty accurate in its chronology, according to the books and documentaries I've seen about the incident, only a couple of dramatic licenses taken. The film unfolds like a documentary, showing the dynamics of the rival gangs and their blood feud. Opening with the killers leaving the garage and then the neighbors discovery of the massacre, it proceeds to detail the buildup to the crime. The victims are introduced, along with the killers and planners. Lots of good actors are in this, veterans of both the big and little screen. Jason Robards has been slammed for his over-the-top portrayal of Al Capone, but everything I've seen about Scarface shows that he was over-the-top himself. George Segal is especially good as a Moran gang member, Peter Gusenberg. Ralph Meeker is a tough , barrel chested Bugs Moran. Both gangs are filled with familiar, competent actors. Jean Hale has a nicely done cameo as a classic "gun Moll", Myrtle, Pete's squeeze. Even Jack Nicholson shows up as a Tommy gunner! The climactic massacre is chillingly accurate using forensic evidence to show how the victims fell and their final positions. All-in-all, a really good movie and record of one of the most famous and shocking events in American criminal history. 8 of 10.

Just one more movie that highlights how much better movies were 30+ years ago than they are now. If this story were told today, the gore would overwhelm most of the plot and all of the entertainment.

As is, even the shlock Roger Corman produces a highly enjoyable, rapid paced vehicle. The scene with George Segal and Jean Hale is reminiscent of the one between Glenn Ford and Hope Lange in "Pocketful of Miracles." And, after watching it, one wonders why Jean Hale's filmography is so short.

Only Jason Robards, Jr. really overdoes it, but who's to say that Capone himself didn't overact a bit? Certainly no one who's alive to write a review here.

More entertaining than many other 60's gangster flicks, including "Bonnie and Clyde," "Dillinger," and the depressing "Murder, Inc."

While "The Godfather" series and "Goodfellas" were much higher budget and quality productions, both had parts which were overextended or just downright dull (for example, the long drawn out day of Henry Hill's arrest in "Goodfellas").

This one doesn't. It rocks from beginning to end. And most of the cast (such as the ubiquitous Charlie Dierkop) look more like hoodlums than real hoodlums do. (I think.)

Very high marks for sheer entertainment value.

If you love movies, this Roger Corman entry into the gangster genre is a revelation. The story is told in a series of loosely connected episodes that supposedly document real circumstances leading up to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. A narrator tells us what we need to know for each scene, moving the action forward with an astonishing speed and clarity. Corman stamps the Docudrama style with this convention, and it really works; the immediate story is constantly informed by the narrator's voice-of-god telling of characters' past, present, and future circumstances. Even though the visual dimension of the film never escapes its studio locations, Corman's staging and his work with the actors gives it a sense of urgency. Corman has never really been talked about as an actor's director, but here he apparently had the time, the script, and I assume the inclination to let the players rip through the ceiling. The performances are all terrific. Jason Robards (looking nothing like Al Capone!) has an insane, maniacal smile that is often more unsettling than his violent rages. The camera seems to follow him around without the interruption of a cut; his mood swings keep his men in line and the viewer disarmed. True, Robards carries on, but it seems appropriate for the movie. George Segal has two great scenes that seem to play out without interruption. The one with Barbara Hale is a doozy. In fact, all through the film, Corman showcases characters in often ironic situations creating a tapestry of collective behavior that gives the film an amazing sense of vitality. Its the odd, subjective character detail that builds this story; we get involved not in the melodramatics of the story, per se, but rather in the lives of those individuals that come together who create the story.

In a very real way, Corman's approach pre-figures and creates the template for Coppola's internal view of the Mafia in the GODFATHER movies. It lacks the scope of Coppola's saga, for sure. But it sets the precedent. Corman was a terrific director. This movie was the only one he did for a major studio, 20th Century Fox. As a director, a major studio suited Corman, the artist. But as a producer, Corman has written about his distain for studio waste and book keeping. So for the next few years, before giving up directing altogether, Corman continued to work on his own under his safe and financially responsible American International umbrella. If you love movies, this is one you will cherish. Please give it a look. It a rich, satisfying, and disarmingly complex little gangster movie; terrifically entertaining.

It took me a while before I really appreciated this film. Despite its flaws, this is probably the most serious, accurate, and restrained treatment on the subject you're ever going to get without watching a straight-out documentary. What you have is sort of a "docudrama" on the infamous St. Valentine's Massacre, and the events leading up to it.

Not that the film ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE takes itself too seriously. It doesn't, but all of the over-the-top acting merely enhances the product. There are still some inaccuracies but the story adheres so closely to the actual facts that these discrepancies are easily forgiven. The violence shown might have been considered sensational in 1967, and this was most probably the intent, but it's pretty tame by today's standards. And if it falls short of being a great film, it's a near miss rather than one by a mile.

In this dramatization of the final showdown between the South Side and North Side gangs for control of Chicago's underworld in 1929, Jason Robards takes center stage as Al Capone. He might have been much older and looked nothing like the real Capone but then so what. As they say, you want an interpretation and not an impersonation. His histrionic performance, with all of its eye-rolling and exaggeration, strikes just the right note and does its part to help keep things moving throughout. This was an actor who knew what he was doing, and exactly how he should play it in this instance.

But it takes a while for Capone to show up, finally seen casually arriving in a limousine on his way to a board meeting with his underlings. The first hood to show up on screen is played (some could say overplayed) by George Segal as Pete Gusenberg, a member of the rival gang, who proceeds to intimidate a bar-owner. Actually, Segal gives a rather convincing performance as a very smug, arrogant thug who enjoys pushing people around, and acting like he's one bad dude, with guns and a gang to back him up.

A very effective technique employed throughout the film, provided by narrator Paul Frees, is the frequent voiceover commentary on various characters. Information is given, such as that the individual was born on this or that date, at whatever place, something about his background, and his place in the particular gang, etc. (often including his time of death as well). Not only does this provide an easily-understood guide for who's who, but it helps to get the viewer involved with these characters however unsympathetic or unsavory they might be.

In brief but well-played roles, on the Capone side, there's Paul Richards as Charlie Fischetti, Joseph Turkel as Jake Guzik, and Harold Stone as Frank Nitti, with a more conspicuous role played by Clint Richie as Jack McGurn, who gets put in charge of organizing the title massacre. That particularly bloody episode was designed to rid Capone of his archenemy and chief rival, George "Bugs" Moran, capably played by tough-talking Ralph Meeker. Moran was the head of the North Side gang, and in flashback scenes we're shown what befell Moran's two predecessors, Dion O'Bannion (played by John Agar) and Hymie Weiss (played by Reed Hadley).

The rest of the cast is made up of many fine actors, some familiar and others less so. Among the unlucky seven who have an appointment up against a certain garage wall, besides Segal's Pete Gusenberg, included are David Canary as Pete's brother Frank, Kurt Krueger as Moran's top lieutenant, Milton Frome as the gang's accountant, Joseph Campanella as a low-level employee, Bruce Dern as a mechanic, and Mickey Deems as a hanger-on. Not to be overlooked is the always excellent Frank Silvera as Nick Sorello, a not completely innocent pawn used in trying to set up Moran.

Almost every actor with a speaking role gets at least one good scene and a chance to shine, from the major actors right on down to several of the minor supporting players. An attempt is made to show some of the camaraderie and interaction among the members of each gang. The careful planning of the "hit" is laid out, including an amusing scene where two gunmen, posing as musicians, are renting a room from a wary landlady.

Such details add to the plot and the characterizations, with keen attention being paid to recreating a 1920s atmosphere, and don't forget all of the various gunplay and assorted mayhem along the way, leading up to the fateful massacre. They even throw in a completely superfluous fight between Gusenberg (Segal) and his girlfriend over a fur coat. Since it's only a brief rest from the action, and we get to rest our eyes on Jean Hale, then what's the harm. Enjoy this trip back in time to gangland Chicago.