Sugartime

From the New York Times of 27 June 2007, about a just released batch of CIA documents.

"One technician was arrested in 1960 after trying to bug a Las Vegas hotel room. The operation had been requested by Sam Giancana, the Chicago mobster, who was then helping the C.I.A. in a plot to assassinate Mr. Castro. Mr. Giancana had been concerned that his girlfriend, the singer Phyllis McGuire, was having an affair with the comedian Dan Rowan, and surveillance was ordered to "determine the extent of his intimacy" with her."

I think this is a 'telling' incident on several fronts.

Based on true events, but how accurate this movie depicts the facts is of question. This is a very interesting story. It does get a little slow in parts, and keeps you waiting for fever pitch that never arrives.

John Turturro plays mobster Sam Giancana, who while in Las Vegas falls in love with Phyllis McGuire, one of the singing McGuire Sisters. McGuire is aptly played by Mary-Louise Parker. Giancana stops at nothing in his whirlwind courtship of the sweet singer. The two become a big item and are summoned to appear before a Grand Jury in Chicago. Mobster Sam decides not to testify and goes to jail, ending up transfered to a Mexican prison.

Strong language runs rampant; this is a gangster flick after all. Your interest is maintained, but leaves you wanting to research the actual facts and events. Recommend for a lazy afternoon.

The real Sam Giancana was short, bald, old, and ugly. In my idealistic 20s I couldn't understand what Phyllis McGuire saw in him. If he had looked more like John Turturro, it would have made sense. Now, in my cynical 70s, I can see it was the butterscotch Cadillac convertible and probably a few other baubles, plus the seductive allure of being the mob boss's girl. Why didn't they use recordings of the real McGuire Sisters? They were pretty good singers, much better than whoever dubbed the songs in this movie. Still, the film is interesting because all these details didn't come out until long after the trio's stardom had faded.

HBO made-for-TV movies are usually based on actual historical events, the drama centered on a famous personality at a critical time in their careers. "Sugartime" is no exception, dramatizing the romance between mobster Sam Giancana, and singer Phyllis McGuire (one the three McGuire Sisters). Set in the early 1960s within memory-range of most American baby-boomers, and dealing with organized crime and the music industry, this should have been slow-pitch for HBO. But surprisingly they whiffed it, and pretty badly at that.

The movie is as flat as a pancake. Here's a man, as loathsome as his profession may be, he's at the top of it. And he's about to throw it all away (and maybe his life) for love. You might suppose there'd be some drama to this. Nope.

The movie is also sunk by the acting. The actors seem to be sleepwalking. The success of the whole endeavor seems to rest solely on 1960 Cadillacs, tacky gangster clothing, big hair, and countless renditions of the McGuire Sisters singing "Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening...". Give this a pass.

John Turturro and Mary-Louise Parker portray in fine fashion a mobster and his 60s pop-singer girlfriend. One can only speculate as to the factual accuracy of this insightful film about Sam Giancana and Phyllis McGuire. However, the film's repeated images of mobster brutality juxtaposed with a love story is chilling. This is a central theme in most mobster-genre movies, but it's not worn out here. "Sugartime" is one of the best of its genre.