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'''''The St. Valentine's Day Massacre''''' is a 1967 [[Crime film|gangster film]] based on the 1929 [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] [[Saint Valentine's Day Massacre|mass murder of seven members of the Northside Gang]] (led by [[George "Bugs" Moran]]) on orders from [[Al Capone]]. It was directed by [[Roger Corman]] and written by [[Howard Browne]].
'''''The St. Valentine's Day Massacre''''' is a 1967 [[Crime film|gangster film]] based on the 1929 [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] [[Saint Valentine's Day Massacre|mass murder of seven members of the Northside Gang]] (led by [[George "Bugs" Moran]]) on orders from [[Al Capone]]. It was directed by [[Roger Corman]] and written by [[Howard Browne]]. Corman called it "the most accurate, authentic gangster film ever".<ref>Corman p 126</ref>


The film stars [[Jason Robards]] as Al Capone, [[George Segal]] as [[Peter Gusenberg]], [[David Canary]] as [[Frank Gusenberg]] and [[Ralph Meeker]] as George "Bugs" Moran.
The film stars [[Jason Robards]] as Al Capone, [[George Segal]] as [[Peter Gusenberg]], [[David Canary]] as [[Frank Gusenberg]] and [[Ralph Meeker]] as George "Bugs" Moran.


[[Orson Welles]] was originally supposed to play Capone, but [[Twentieth Century Fox]] vetoed the deal, fearing that Welles was "undirectable."<ref>Corman Roger & Jerome, Jim ''How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime'' DaCapo Press 1988</ref> The film's narration has a style similar to that of Welles but was narrated by renowned Hollywood voice actor [[Paul Frees]].
[[Orson Welles]] was originally supposed to play Capone, but [[Twentieth Century Fox]] vetoed the deal, fearing that Welles was "undirectable."<ref>Corman p 126/ref> The film's narration has a style similar to that of Welles but was narrated by renowned Hollywood voice actor [[Paul Frees]].


A young [[Bruce Dern]] plays one of the victims of the massacre, and [[Jack Nicholson]] has a bit part as a gangster. Also featured are [[Jan Merlin]] as one of Moran's lieutenants and veteran Corman actor [[Dick Miller]] as one of the phony policemen involved in the massacre.
A young [[Bruce Dern]] plays one of the victims of the massacre, and [[Jack Nicholson]] has a bit part as a gangster. Also featured are [[Jan Merlin]] as one of Moran's lieutenants and veteran Corman actor [[Dick Miller]] as one of the phony policemen involved in the massacre.
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Corman made the film following the huge success of ''The Wild Angels''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Roger Corman: A Good Man Gone to 'Pot'|first=Vincent|last=Canby|newspaper= New York Times |date=18 Sep 1966|page= 127}} </ref> While ''Angels'' had a budget of $350,000, ''Massacre'' was budgeted at $2.5 million.<ref>Chicago Massacre on a Big Budget
Corman made the film following the huge success of ''The Wild Angels''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Roger Corman: A Good Man Gone to 'Pot'|first=Vincent|last=Canby|newspaper= New York Times |date=18 Sep 1966|page= 127}} </ref> While ''Angels'' had a budget of $350,000, ''Massacre'' was budgeted at $2.5 million.<ref>Chicago Massacre on a Big Budget
Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 8 Nov 1966: c8. </ref> It was the most expensive movie he had ever made.<ref name="comment">an interview with ROGER CORMAN
Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 8 Nov 1966: c8. </ref> It was the most expensive movie he had ever made.<ref name="comment">an interview with ROGER CORMAN
Goldman, Charles. Film Comment; New York Vol. 7, Iss. 3, (Fall 1971): 49-54. </ref>
Goldman, Charles. Film Comment; New York Vol. 7, Iss. 3, (Fall 1971): 49-54. </ref> (Corman later claimed the film cost $1 million and the rest was studio overhead.<ref>Corman p 128</ref>)


Corman said, "There comes a time when the public conscience needs jolting and in ''St Valentine's Day Massacre'' this is our intention. It is also certain that the movie will make money - crime is always box office."<ref name="norma">{{cite news|title='not Just Another Tinseltown Gangster Film': MASSACRE MASSACRE MASSACRE|first=Norma Lee|last= Browning|newspaper= Chicago Tribune |date=25 June 1967|page= i56}}</ref>
Corman said, "There comes a time when the public conscience needs jolting and in ''St Valentine's Day Massacre'' this is our intention. It is also certain that the movie will make money - crime is always box office."<ref name="norma">{{cite news|title='not Just Another Tinseltown Gangster Film': MASSACRE MASSACRE MASSACRE|first=Norma Lee|last= Browning|newspaper= Chicago Tribune |date=25 June 1967|page= i56}}</ref>


Corman wanted classical actors to play gangsters and offered the part of Capone to [[Orson Welles]] and Bugs Moran to Jason Robards. However Fox did not want Welles, advising Corman that he would try to take over directing; they suggested that Robards play Capone. Corman felt Robards was not physically large enough for the role of Capone and was better suited to play Moran, but did not want to cause trouble after his experience with Columbia and went along with the suggestion.<ref>Corman p 126</ref>

Corman wanted to cast [[Jack Nicholson]] in a key supporting role but Fox insisted the director use an actor they had under contract. However Corman did manage to cast Nicholson and [[Bruce Dern]] in small roles that were used for the entire length of the shoot, ensuring them a decent payday.<ref>Corman 127</ref>
===Shooting===
===Shooting===
Corman originally wanted to shoot the film on location in Chicago but eventually did it on the Fox backlot.<ref name="norma"/>
Corman originally wanted to shoot the film on location in Chicago but eventually did it on the Fox backlot.<ref name="norma"/>
Line 104: Line 107:
The shoot took just over seven weeks, the longest ever schedule for a Corman film. "By the end of the movie I was very weary," he said.<ref name="comment"/>
The shoot took just over seven weeks, the longest ever schedule for a Corman film. "By the end of the movie I was very weary," he said.<ref name="comment"/>


Corman later wrote that "physically, it is one of the best films I ever directed because I was able to walk around the lot and pick those fantastic sets."<ref>Capone p 127</ref>
==Reception==
==Reception==
According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $4,550,000 in rentals to break even and made $4,165,000, meaning it made a loss.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv/page/326 326]|title=The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox|url=https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv|url-access=registration|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M|year=1988|publisher=L. Stuart}}</ref>
According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $4,550,000 in rentals to break even and made $4,165,000, meaning it made a loss.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv/page/326 326]|title=The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox|url=https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv|url-access=registration|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M|year=1988|publisher=L. Stuart}}</ref>
Line 119: Line 123:
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
==Notes==

*{{cite book|last1=Corman||first1= Roger|last2=Jerome|first2= Jim|title=How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime|publisher= DaCapo Press |year=1988}}
==External links==
==External links==
* {{IMDb title| 0062301 }}
* {{IMDb title| 0062301 }}

Revision as of 06:58, 3 January 2020

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoger Corman
Written byHoward Browne
Produced byRoger Corman
StarringJason Robards
George Segal
Ralph Meeker
Bruce Dern
Jack Nicholson
Narrated byPaul Frees
CinematographyMilton R. Krasner
Edited byWilliam B. Murphy
Music byLionel Newman
Fred Steiner
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • June 30, 1967 (1967-06-30)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.175 million[1]
Box office$1.7 million (US/CA)[2]
691,328 admissions (France)[3]

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a 1967 gangster film based on the 1929 Chicago mass murder of seven members of the Northside Gang (led by George "Bugs" Moran) on orders from Al Capone. It was directed by Roger Corman and written by Howard Browne. Corman called it "the most accurate, authentic gangster film ever".[4]

The film stars Jason Robards as Al Capone, George Segal as Peter Gusenberg, David Canary as Frank Gusenberg and Ralph Meeker as George "Bugs" Moran.

Orson Welles was originally supposed to play Capone, but Twentieth Century Fox vetoed the deal, fearing that Welles was "undirectable."Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). (Corman later said Fox invited him in to pitch ideas and he told them about Massacre and a biopic about the Red Baron; Fox had just made The Blue Max so went with the gangster film.[5]

Corman made the film following the huge success of The Wild Angels.[6] While Angels had a budget of $350,000, Massacre was budgeted at $2.5 million.[7] It was the most expensive movie he had ever made.[8] (Corman later claimed the film cost $1 million and the rest was studio overhead.[9])

Corman said, "There comes a time when the public conscience needs jolting and in St Valentine's Day Massacre this is our intention. It is also certain that the movie will make money - crime is always box office."[10]

Corman wanted classical actors to play gangsters and offered the part of Capone to Orson Welles and Bugs Moran to Jason Robards. However Fox did not want Welles, advising Corman that he would try to take over directing; they suggested that Robards play Capone. Corman felt Robards was not physically large enough for the role of Capone and was better suited to play Moran, but did not want to cause trouble after his experience with Columbia and went along with the suggestion.[11]

Corman wanted to cast Jack Nicholson in a key supporting role but Fox insisted the director use an actor they had under contract. However Corman did manage to cast Nicholson and Bruce Dern in small roles that were used for the entire length of the shoot, ensuring them a decent payday.[12]

Shooting

Corman originally wanted to shoot the film on location in Chicago but eventually did it on the Fox backlot.[10]

He filmed the Massacre scene in one of the Desilu lots which got converted to look like the garage where the crime was committed. (The real garage was torn down by the time the movie started production). Another matter was the recreation of the Massacre itself: before filming, Corman found photos of the mass murders. Then he had the actors for the scene study the stills, followed by rehearsals and the shoot. After one take, the massacre came in the way it looked in the old photos and the collapse of each actors followed the positions the murder victims fell in the real massacre.

The film was one of the few that Roger Corman directed from a major Hollywood studio with a generous budget and an open-ended schedule. While most directors would love such an assignment, Corman was disgusted with the incredible waste of time and money involved with "typical" movie production techniques. He was given a $2.5 million budget and made it for $400,000 less.[13] Corman, an independent director, was most comfortable in his own style: shoestring budgets, and shooting schedules measured in days, rather than weeks. Nonetheless, it is generally considered one of his best films as a director.

Towards the end of the film shoot, Corman felt that the movie was too "male heavy" and added a character who was played by Dee Gardner, who resembled Jean Harlow.[14]

The shoot took just over seven weeks, the longest ever schedule for a Corman film. "By the end of the movie I was very weary," he said.[8]

Corman later wrote that "physically, it is one of the best films I ever directed because I was able to walk around the lot and pick those fantastic sets."[15]

Reception

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $4,550,000 in rentals to break even and made $4,165,000, meaning it made a loss.[16]

Legacy

DVD/Blu-Ray

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was released to DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on May 23, 2006 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD. It was later issued as a Limited Edition Region Free Blu-Ray by Twilight Time.

See also

References

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
  2. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1967", Variety, 3 January 1968 p 25. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.
  3. ^ Box office information for Roger Corman films in France at Box Office Story
  4. ^ Corman p 126
  5. ^ Ma Barker to von Richthofen: an interview with Roger Corman Strick, Philip. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 39, Iss. 4, (Fall 1970): 179.
  6. ^ Canby, Vincent (18 Sep 1966). "Roger Corman: A Good Man Gone to 'Pot'". New York Times. p. 127.
  7. ^ Chicago Massacre on a Big Budget Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 8 Nov 1966: c8.
  8. ^ a b an interview with ROGER CORMAN Goldman, Charles. Film Comment; New York Vol. 7, Iss. 3, (Fall 1971): 49-54.
  9. ^ Corman p 128
  10. ^ a b Browning, Norma Lee (25 June 1967). "'not Just Another Tinseltown Gangster Film': MASSACRE MASSACRE MASSACRE". Chicago Tribune. p. i56.
  11. ^ Corman p 126
  12. ^ Corman 127
  13. ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p266
  14. ^ Hollywood's 'New Harlow' Would Rather Be Herself NORMA LEE BROWNING. Chicago Tribune 8 Feb 1967: d1.
  15. ^ Capone p 127
  16. ^ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 326.

Notes

  • Corman, Roger; Jerome, Jim (1988). How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. DaCapo Press. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

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