Al Capone

source: Al Capone

Trailer—Al Capone

Al Capone

Rod Steiger looks to be having a whale of a time chewing not only the scenery, but also the props and a few fellow cast members' legs as the notorious Al 'Scarface' Capone. And although he overacts shamelessly, he's great fun to watch. While the plot may stick reasonably close to reality, Capone's domestic issues look to be pure fiction, with no mention made of his wife and child. But there's plenty of violent action, lots of treachery and backstabbing, and a neat turn from Martin Balsam as a less than esteemed member of the press.

Like so many mid-century biographical films, Al Capone marches through the man's life, giving equal weight to each way-point. It also fails miserably by providing no psychological or historical context for how he became one of crime's most notorious characters. In fact, the film succeeds in white-washing this killer. He woos the widow of one of his victims. He repeatedly makes the point that he's never been convicted of any crime. People die, but there is no depiction of Capone's ruthless, brutal side. Rod Steiger in the title role does an admirable job with the shallow script, but this is not enough to make the film worth watching. Oddly, there's no mention of Elliot Ness and when it comes to summing up Capone's end, we're told he died of "an incurable disease." What, audiences in 1959 couldn't handle the word "syphilis"?

Rod Steiger gave a splendid performance here as the ruthless gangster who spared no one in his quest to attain the top of the mob world. Cunning, vicious and any other nasty adjective I could think of, Steiger was memorable here in the title role. He totally captured the man he portrayed. He also had great support with Nehemiah Persoff, who played his mentor. Persoff seemed to relish in these kinds of parts. He played a comedic hoodlum in the same year in "Some Like it Hot," and was often on the show in top gangster form in television's "The Untouchables." The movie showed that Steiger tried to have a private life, no less than with the widow of one of his many victims. Of course, business always came first. The movie was a little spoiled when the ending came very quickly. Otherwise, we have a fascinating portrait of a mobster at his worst and the times he lived in.

"Al Capone" is a bio-pic which is quite entertaining...although here and there changes were made in his life in order to make the film more entertaining. It also was apparently changed at the request of the star, Rod Steiger, as he didn't want the film to glamorize the gangster...and I think this is probably why I enjoyed the film so much! Capone is brutal and a jerk...and it clearly is the case throughout the film. As for Steiger, he is excellent in the lead...cold, nasty and full of venom. Overall, well worth seeing and well made.

I loved this black and white movie. It stared Rod Steiger who comes across like Mr. Tony Soprano actually. It was told in the tradition of a biography. Capone was so violent yet a great businessman. This movie is borderline FILM NOIR. Mr. Capone, in the movie, starts out as a simple bouncer and them works his way up to the bossman of the Chicago Syndicate. He eventually was convicted on INCOME TAX evasion and sentenced to 11 years at THE ROCK. The movie even takes us into THE ROCK where it shows Capone and how he loses his power. What makes this movie really great is simply ROD's portrayal of Scarface. He plays it very very well. If I had to choose ANY GANGSTER movie from that subject matter, this is it.

Al Capone does give us a clear picture of the rise and fall of the colorful gangster. He is played convincingly by Rod Steiger. The supporting cast does a fine job, especially Martin Balsam who plays a Capone associate. The film is, for the most part, realistic, but the violent scenes come close to being non-violent compared to today's standards. If you liked the old TV series The Untouchables, you will like Al Capone.

The years have not been kind to this flat 50's style recreation of 20's style gangsterism. The film is overwhelmed by Rod Steiger's performance and underwhelmed by the stiff conventionalism of the era's film making. The roaring 20's presented in the repressed 50's where decadence is bad table manners and spouting, yelling, and mumbling display an uneducated ignorance. Everything in this movie is tame where it should be wild and soft where it should be coarse. Historically Hollywood never did quite get it right, to be kind, and not even until very recently has the true ugliness and understanding of the unfairly glamorized criminal been portrayed for the destructive force that it is. Even so, even today, entertainment usually supersedes responsibility, but not because of community standards and motion picture code restraint.