While I have not seen this film since it's release I am anxiously awaiting the day when it gets the well-deserved DVD release.
I would like to set something straight: Another reviewer insinuated that this is a "Godfather" rip-off, and nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact this film is the (largely) true story of the Gallo Brothers and particularly "Crazy" Joe Gallo. I have something of a personal interest in the movie because I lived in NYC during the days of the mob war triggered by the Gallos, and actually had the dubious honor of meeting Joe Gallo several times after his release from prison in 1971 (he had spent ten years educating himself in prison, and became something of a social butterfly and curiosity of the entertainment and arts crowd. I believe this is portrayed in the film.) As to the "Godfather" thing: Coppola/Puzo naturally used many real occurrences and characters from the real-life mafia. This has been analyzed to death elsewhere so I'll be specific here re the Gallo connection:
The sequence in GFII where Frankie Pantangeli is lured into an empty bar and the killers attempt to strangle him, only to be thwarted when a Police Officer enters the bar and sees the victims feet protruding from behind a table ACTUALLY happened. It is an EXACT re-enactment of the attempt to murder Larry Gallo in the Sahara bar in Brooklyn in either the late 50' or early 60's, during the Gallo-Profaci war.
The character of Joey Zaza in GFIII is clearly based on John Gotti and largely on Joe Gallo, who had been responsible for the worst gang wars in New York since the 1930's.
When I have a chance to see this again, I'm going to add my review, as I don't generally comment on movies unless I have recently viewed them.
One personal not: The one thing a do recall when I saw it the day it opened was that the great Peter Boyle did an excellent job, the thing that stuck out was Boyle was very tall and bald. Joe Gallo was shortish and dark blond as I recall.
UPDATE August 2007: I've just gotten a chance to see this again, and I'm surprised that it holds up very well indeed. This is a nearly perfect cast..Rip Torn is excellent as Richie (Larry Gallo) Peter Boyle is as usual right on his game. Luther Adler makes a great Profaci and Eli Wallach is nearly perfect as "Don Vittorio" (Carlo Gambino) He would get to essentially reprise the role in Godfather III. The only person better suited to the part would have been the great Richard Conte (though he had basically played Gambino as Don Barzini in The Godfather). Paula Prentiss does her best with a small, thankless and poorly written part.
The movie is fairly true to the facts (as we know them), but does need to condense and fictionalize events. Example: Two separate attempts to kill Joe and Larry Gallo are presented very effectively as one single event.
As much as I am a Peter Boyle fan, I have to say that I always felt that he was not the right person for the part. My own dream cast for this would have been Harvey Keitel, who was physically closer to Joe Gallo, and had the same kind of intensity as Boyle.
For some odd reason (probably that he was (and is)still alive), the third Gallo brother, Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo is absent completely from the film; Henry Winkler plays a much watered-down character named "Manny" in his stead. And a fun point: The name Gallo is never used in the film...however, in a scene where Joe is arrested for shaking down a liquor store, the place is comically stacked to the rafters with wine boxes marked "Gallo" in huge letters!!
All in all, a film that deserves true classic status in the mob-movie genre.
I would like to set something straight: Another reviewer insinuated that this is a "Godfather" rip-off, and nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact this film is the (largely) true story of the Gallo Brothers and particularly "Crazy" Joe Gallo. I have something of a personal interest in the movie because I lived in NYC during the days of the mob war triggered by the Gallos, and actually had the dubious honor of meeting Joe Gallo several times after his release from prison in 1971 (he had spent ten years educating himself in prison, and became something of a social butterfly and curiosity of the entertainment and arts crowd. I believe this is portrayed in the film.) As to the "Godfather" thing: Coppola/Puzo naturally used many real occurrences and characters from the real-life mafia. This has been analyzed to death elsewhere so I'll be specific here re the Gallo connection:
The sequence in GFII where Frankie Pantangeli is lured into an empty bar and the killers attempt to strangle him, only to be thwarted when a Police Officer enters the bar and sees the victims feet protruding from behind a table ACTUALLY happened. It is an EXACT re-enactment of the attempt to murder Larry Gallo in the Sahara bar in Brooklyn in either the late 50' or early 60's, during the Gallo-Profaci war.
The character of Joey Zaza in GFIII is clearly based on John Gotti and largely on Joe Gallo, who had been responsible for the worst gang wars in New York since the 1930's.
When I have a chance to see this again, I'm going to add my review, as I don't generally comment on movies unless I have recently viewed them.
One personal not: The one thing a do recall when I saw it the day it opened was that the great Peter Boyle did an excellent job, the thing that stuck out was Boyle was very tall and bald. Joe Gallo was shortish and dark blond as I recall.
UPDATE August 2007: I've just gotten a chance to see this again, and I'm surprised that it holds up very well indeed. This is a nearly perfect cast..Rip Torn is excellent as Richie (Larry Gallo) Peter Boyle is as usual right on his game. Luther Adler makes a great Profaci and Eli Wallach is nearly perfect as "Don Vittorio" (Carlo Gambino) He would get to essentially reprise the role in Godfather III. The only person better suited to the part would have been the great Richard Conte (though he had basically played Gambino as Don Barzini in The Godfather). Paula Prentiss does her best with a small, thankless and poorly written part.
The movie is fairly true to the facts (as we know them), but does need to condense and fictionalize events. Example: Two separate attempts to kill Joe and Larry Gallo are presented very effectively as one single event.
As much as I am a Peter Boyle fan, I have to say that I always felt that he was not the right person for the part. My own dream cast for this would have been Harvey Keitel, who was physically closer to Joe Gallo, and had the same kind of intensity as Boyle.
For some odd reason (probably that he was (and is)still alive), the third Gallo brother, Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo is absent completely from the film; Henry Winkler plays a much watered-down character named "Manny" in his stead. And a fun point: The name Gallo is never used in the film...however, in a scene where Joe is arrested for shaking down a liquor store, the place is comically stacked to the rafters with wine boxes marked "Gallo" in huge letters!!
All in all, a film that deserves true classic status in the mob-movie genre.