{"id":3891,"date":"2024-09-07T03:18:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T03:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3891"},"modified":"2024-10-13T18:47:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T22:47:25","slug":"the-st-valentines-day-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/09\/07\/the-st-valentines-day-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre <\/strong>(1967)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th<\/sup> Century Fox\/Drama-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 100 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No MPAA rating (strong violence, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Roger Corman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Howard Browne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Lionel Newman and Fred Steiner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Milton Krasner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 30, 1967 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Clint Ritchie, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Richard Bakalyan, David Canary, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Kurt Kreuger, Paul Richards, Joe Turkel, Milton Frome, John Agar, Mickey Deems, Celia Lovsky, Tom Reese, Jan Merlin, Alex D\u2019Arcy, Reed Hadley, Gus Trikonis, Charles Dierkop, Tom Signorelli, Rico Cattani, Alex Rocco, Leo Gordon, Michele Guarini, Dick Miller, Jonathan Haze, Jack Nicholson, Paul Frees (narrator).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $1.7M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Roger Corman, the director of the ambitious if not wholly effective historical crime drama The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong>, originally wanted Orson Welles to play Chicago crime boss Al Capone, but Fox shot down the idea deeming the actor-filmmaker \u201cundirectable\u201d. Instead, Jason Robards (originally cast as Capone rival George \u201cBugs\u201d Moran) got the part. I can\u2019t say what the Citizen Kane actor would have done with the role, but Robards plays it to the hilt with a performance that often has him chewing away at the scenery. He\u2019s pretty good, but I still prefer Robert De Niro\u2019s Capone in The Untouchables.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Primarily known for low-budget pictures featuring bikers, women in prison and Vincent Price in Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, Corman made a rare venture into big studio filmmaking with The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong>, a dramatization of the real-life mass murder of seven members of a rival gang by Capone\u2019s men on the morning of February 14, 1929. It was the culmination of a territorial war between Capone and the Northside Gang led by Moran (Meeker, The Dirty Dozen) for control of Chicago\u2019s bootlegging operations. In a bid to wrest control from Capone, Moran arranges for the murder of Mafia boss Patsy Lolardo (Guarini) in hopes that his successor will not protect his enemy. In turn, Capone has one his associates, \u201cMachine Gun Jack\u201d McGurn (Ritchie, Bandolero!), arrange the incident that will ultimately turn the tide of public opinion against gangsters and their illegal activities.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Corman presents The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> in the style of a docudrama with a narrator (an uncredited Paul Frees) introducing each character with a brief mini-bio- name, date of birth, position, list of offenses, date and manner of death, etc.- very much in the style of Welles. It\u2019s an interesting idea, different from anything he ever did up to that point, but one that sometimes makes The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> feel more like a history lesson than entertainment. I almost felt like I should be taking notes in case there\u2019s a test afterwards. It gets confusing with all the names, dates and data, a feeling that isn\u2019t helped by a jumbled narrative that abruptly shifts into flashback mode with nary a warning to the viewer.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sure, The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> has its structural weaknesses, but that doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t like it. Robards\u2019 performance adds a nice element of camp, never mind that he doesn\u2019t bear the slightest physical resemblance to Al Capone. He does manage to capture the kingpin\u2019s volatile temper and propensity for violence sometimes even carrying out hits himself. That\u2019s where it really counts, I suppose. Meeker is also good as Moran, a slippery sort who lucks out of being present at the garage when the massacre happens. George Segal, mainly known for comedies like The Owl and the Pussycat and A Touch of Class, shows his dark side as Moran henchman Peter Gusenberg, a vicious sort we first meet intimidating a speakeasy owner into switching over to their brand of illegal beer. A young Bruce Dern (Coming Home) has a small role as a driver\/mechanic caught up in the slaughter. Corman regulars Jack Nicholson and Dick Miller show up in uncredited roles as a hood treating his bullets with garlic and a fake policeman respectively.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In terms of historical accuracy, The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> gets it mostly right. The only inaccuracy, made for dramatic purposes I\u2019m sure, is the murder of Mafia turncoat Joe Aiello. He wasn\u2019t killed until well after the St. Valentine\u2019s Day massacre (October 23, 1930, to be exact). That being said, the scene where Capone confronts him on a train trying to leave town rings with suspense and dread. Other than that, Corman\u2019s pretty much on the money. The violent finale- violent for 1967 just before the end of the Production Code, that is- was accomplished through use of crime photos taken at scene. Corman clearly did his homework.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> has some great scenes, one of the best being a flashback to an attempt on Capone\u2019s life while he\u2019s eating in a restaurant. He and his associates take cover on the floor while a parade a period-authentic cars drive by with tommy guns blazing away. Prohibition-era Chicago is stylishly recreated on backlot sets making it resemble a gangster movie from the 30s. The clothing, interiors and vehicles are all period authentic. The picture looks great especially when you consider that Corman brought it in under budget by about $400,000 (Fox gave him $2.5 million). For the most part, The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/strong> is a decent gangster flick if you don\u2019t let yourself get bogged down by personal and historical details.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre (1967)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Drama-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 100 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No MPAA rating (strong violence, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Roger Corman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Howard Browne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Lionel Newman and Fred Steiner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Milton Krasner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 30, 1967 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Clint Ritchie, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Richard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/The-St-Valentines-Day-Massa.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3891"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5576,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891\/revisions\/5576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}