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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: 3/29/2011
Director: Steve Carver
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Sylvester Stallone, John Cassavetes, Susan Blakley, Harry Guardino
Year: 1975
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The Movie:
Directed by Steve Carver in1975 for producer Roger Corman from a script by Harold Brown, Capone stars Ben Gazzara as the titular mobster. We meet him as a young man on the mean streets of Brooklyn where he catches the attention of a local mob boss named Johnny Torrio (Harry Guardino). Impressed by his drive, Torrio ships Capone off to Chicago where he gives him a job and soon enough, he's working his way up the ranks and walking over a pile of bodies of rival gangs lead by Hymie Weiss' (John Davis Chandler) and Bugs Moran (Robert Phillips) along the way.
After amassing a pretty good business in the bootlegging market and branching out into selling girls, gambling operations and the protection racket, he winds up romancing a pretty blonde named Iris Crawford (Susan Blakely). As business gets bigger, Capone starts handing off more and more to his second in command, Frank Nitti (Sylvester Stallone), but the cops are closing in on Capone and his stay at the top isn't going to last forever…
Capone the movie might take a little while to catch up to Ben Gazzara as Capone the man, in that he's not the most convincing casting choice to play Al in his early years (he looks a bit too old) but once the age of the character starts to better match the age of the performer Gazzara turns out to be a pretty good fit for the part. As Capone's sense of self importance and ego grow to legendary proportions, it gives Gazzara carte blanche to take it over the top from time to time and if he never quite hits Tony Montana levels of scenery chewing, he's not too far behind. Stallone is also really good here as Nitti and Susan Blakely not only delivers a decent performance as Iris but provides some pretty serious eye candy as well. John Cassavetes gets billed pretty high but isn't in the movie for more than a few minutes. He's fun as a New York mobster named Frankie Yale but doesn't add much to the picture outside of his screen presence. Dick Miller and Martin Kove also pop up in small roles.
With that said, the film's low budget can be a detriment. It's well known that this picture recycles a scene originally shot for and used in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (also written by Harold Brown) and the fact that the footage doesn't quite match the material shot for this picture makes it stick out. The script shows little concern for realism or accuracy in regards to the real Al Capone's personal history, but makes up for it with an awesome blood soaked finale. It might not be a masterpiece but the rock solid casting choices ensure that it's always entertaining while Carver's skills behind the camera keep the production values stronger than average for a low budget Corman film.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout!'s 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is strong and the movie looks very good on DVD. Grain is apparent but never to the point of distraction and print damage is minimal when it's even noticeable in the first place. Color reproduction looks dead on and black levels are strong. Skin tones also look quite good and are reproduced nicely here - all in all, the image is very good.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono track on the disc is also fine. It's well balanced without any problems and provides clean, clear dialogue and replicates the score nicely.
Extras include a great commentary from director Steve Carver moderated by Mondo Digital's Nathanial Thompson. Carver is quite talkative here, discussing in a fair bit of detail how and why certain actors were cast, where different parts of the film were shot, what it was like working for Corman and more. It's a thorough and interesting discussion that contains quite a bit of good information about the picture. Aside from that look for two different trailers for Capone and one for The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (from which this movie recycles a bit of footage). Menus and chapter stops are also provided.
The Final Word:
Capone has got some flaws, a few of which are pretty obvious, but it's well acted and well written and quite an engrossing and dramatic portrayal of America's most famous mobster's fall from grace. Shout! Factory has recognized this one as the strong movie that it is and treated it accordingly with a great presentation and a very worthwhile commentary track.
