The real Vincent Coll was probably turning in his grave. This movie is laughably bad. It was hard for me to actually sit and watch it keeping a straight face. Whenever I saw John Chandler on screen I couldn't stop laughing. John Chandler has to be the worst choice I've ever seen to play Mad Dog Coll. The whole time I'm watching the movie I'm saying to myself, "This guy's a gangster?" They had the nerve to cast a little wimp as Vincent Coll.
The real Vincent Coll was known to be tall and handsome. John Chandler is neither. I also have to agree with a critic above that mentioned Chandler's teeth. Chandler looked like Mister Ed with a gun. Every time he spoke I laughed. He has such a funny voice. Whenever he tried to act tough I just laughed.
As also mentioned above, this movie is not one bit accurate. If you're going to make a movie about a real person and change things this much, at least change the names. There was no way this movie could've been about Mad Dog Coll. They just got too many things wrong. This movie was so poorly made that they didn't even know how Coll died. They show the police kill him when in reality it was probably Dutch Schultz that had Coll killed. I never heard of giving the police credit when a mobster gets whacked. It's so stupid, it's funny. I turned this movie on one day with a couple friends. We love the gangster movies and we were all familiar with Mad Dog Coll from books and TV. We couldn't believe who was cast in the role. Having John Chandler play Vincent Coll is like having Gene Wilder play Al Capone. Yes, believe me, it's that bad. With such a horrible lead actor like this it's very hard to take the movie seriously. It plays like a comedy. The movie is cheap, poorly made, and a joke. I was trying to maybe see the movie as a spoof of Coll's life, but it strays so far from the real story and the real person that it can't even be related to Coll as a spoof. Maybe it can be seen as a spoof of gangster pictures. This guy Chandler is no James Cagney. He's not even gum on Cagney's shoe.
So the bottom line is, I don't recommend this movie at all. It's extremely inaccurate, poorly made, there's a dumb theme song that comes on in the beginning and in the end, it has a terrible script, cheap sets, bad directing, bad acting, and it has John Chandler. John Chandler can never be taken seriously in this movie or probably any movie. It's no surprise this was his first and last starring role. I feel sorry for Telly Savalas, Vincent Gardenia, Gene Hackman(who is on screen for a few seconds without ever speaking a line), and Jerry Orbach, for even appearing in such a bad movie. All are fine actors and all were wasted. What a dog this movie was.
The real Vincent Coll was known to be tall and handsome. John Chandler is neither. I also have to agree with a critic above that mentioned Chandler's teeth. Chandler looked like Mister Ed with a gun. Every time he spoke I laughed. He has such a funny voice. Whenever he tried to act tough I just laughed.
As also mentioned above, this movie is not one bit accurate. If you're going to make a movie about a real person and change things this much, at least change the names. There was no way this movie could've been about Mad Dog Coll. They just got too many things wrong. This movie was so poorly made that they didn't even know how Coll died. They show the police kill him when in reality it was probably Dutch Schultz that had Coll killed. I never heard of giving the police credit when a mobster gets whacked. It's so stupid, it's funny. I turned this movie on one day with a couple friends. We love the gangster movies and we were all familiar with Mad Dog Coll from books and TV. We couldn't believe who was cast in the role. Having John Chandler play Vincent Coll is like having Gene Wilder play Al Capone. Yes, believe me, it's that bad. With such a horrible lead actor like this it's very hard to take the movie seriously. It plays like a comedy. The movie is cheap, poorly made, and a joke. I was trying to maybe see the movie as a spoof of Coll's life, but it strays so far from the real story and the real person that it can't even be related to Coll as a spoof. Maybe it can be seen as a spoof of gangster pictures. This guy Chandler is no James Cagney. He's not even gum on Cagney's shoe.
So the bottom line is, I don't recommend this movie at all. It's extremely inaccurate, poorly made, there's a dumb theme song that comes on in the beginning and in the end, it has a terrible script, cheap sets, bad directing, bad acting, and it has John Chandler. John Chandler can never be taken seriously in this movie or probably any movie. It's no surprise this was his first and last starring role. I feel sorry for Telly Savalas, Vincent Gardenia, Gene Hackman(who is on screen for a few seconds without ever speaking a line), and Jerry Orbach, for even appearing in such a bad movie. All are fine actors and all were wasted. What a dog this movie was.