Capone (1975) User Reviews

Gross Out

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 22 July 2004]

I kind of liked it. It's played straight (I think) but it's really pretty amusing. You've seen it all before -- the chattering Tommy guns, the blood all over, the cigars, the sex, the flowers at the funeral, "My own Bruddah," the oaths of loyalty, the betrayals, the shotguns, the scratchy opera records, the Model A Fords twirling around on wet streets, the booze, the speakeasies, the flapper molls, the guy starting the car which is deconstructed by the hidden explosives, Deanie O'Banion, Bugs Moran, Hymie Weiss, Jake Gadjusek, the Genna brothers, the knives, Chicago neighborhoods that look like the Universal Tour, the fist fights -- and Al Capone.

I thought Rod Steiger had closed the book on turning Capone into an outrageous clown in "Al Capone," but Ben Gazzara outdoes him here. This was released shortly after "The Godfather". You can tell because Gazzara, not satisfied with a little cotton in his cheeks like Brando, seems to have stuffed a couple of Kaiser rolls or ABD pads in his cheeks. They stand out like a chipmunk's. And when he has a fat cigar in his mouth his voice sounds as if it's coming from a place far distant, echoing off twisting walls, a kind of TUBA of a voice. His physical instrument is overplayed as well. When he's happy his smile is that of an alligator. Giving orders he lowers his head like a bull and glares up from beneath his brows. He croaks when he tries to soothe someone and otherwise bellows.

The vulgarity is engaging. "Them f******s have been shoving their ****s up my *** for too ******** long now, those *****ing *****s! ****** the ***** *****s of the ***** ** *****, *** ******ing ****ers!"

And then there is Susan Blakely. She was Al Pacino's second and closest girl friend in "Serpico." She didn't have much of a part. She has a small part here too but it's all on display. All of her parts are on display. You get to know Susan Blakely pretty well, let's say, including her obstetrical aspect, which I think adds to the general comedic impact of this epic narrative.

But the movie isn't sexy, any more than it's tragic or dramatic. We don't care whose head explodes. We don't care who gets shot, shived, or syphilitic.

What an unexcelled piece of trash. I really enjoyed it.

Kiss Bang

[JoeytheBrit · 5/10 · 21 February 2010]

There's some decent names – Ben Gazzara, Harry Guardino, blink-and-you'll miss-him John Cassavetes – in this cheap biopic produced by Roger Corman but you can only assume they were on their uppers when it was made because it's not particularly interesting. Ben Gazzara's depiction of Capone borders on parody at times, and the film's opinion of him is unclear to say the least. It gives little insight into Capone's early years and while it sometimes has characters describing him as an animal it also depicts him as a caring, almost sympathetic, lover of a hard-living (but lusciously soft-bodied) flapper played by Susan Blakely. The plot takes us through Capone's life from the late teens to the mid-forties when, riddled with syphilis, his mind shot, he fishes at a swimming pool and raves about the Bolsheviks to people who aren't there. It probably touches all the bases – without really telling us much – but the truth of the story it relates is perhaps open to question. I was surprised to see a pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone pop up as Capone's right-hand man who sells his boss out so that he can wear the crown. There's not much here about Stallone that suggests he's going to become a major action star – in fact he's probably miscast – but then everything about this film seems to be a little half-hearted.

The well timed double cross

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 3 February 2015]

The role of Al Capone, a large and expansive one is one that many actors just love to do. Joining the ranks of players who've essayed Chicago's legendary crime boss is Ben Gazzara. He ranks favorably with such folks as Rod Steiger, Jason Robards, Jr., Neville Brand and Robert DeNiro.

Roger Corman produced this film simply entitled Capone and we see Al Capone from his early days as a hoodlum in Brooklyn going west as Horace Greeley said to seek fame and fortune and he certainly finds it. The Chicago gang wars of the Roaring Twenties have passed into legend and some of those legends are portrayed here if not quite accurately.

In between all the violence is Susan Blakely who bares her all for art in this film. She's a pleasure driven, hedonistic, flapper from the Roaring Twenties and she's the girl who sparks Capone. Not a mention of the fact that he was a married man and also probably tried out all the women who went to work in Capone bordellos. It's no doubt where he got the syphilis that killed him eventually.

The theme of Capone is that one rises in the gangster ranks by the well timed double cross. It's how Capone rises and how he's dethroned. None of the gangster lore that has come down says what you see in the film is how it happened. In fact I doubt a lot of it. But it makes a nice story.

Gazzara is a mesmerizing Capone and young Sylvester Stallone is Frank Nitti who succeeds him as head of his organization. Blakely is one sexy woman and a lot of tongues will be hanging out.

Roger Corman gives us yet another version of Scarface. No doubt we'll see many more.

Almost nothing is accurate in this movie.

[Gringotec · 9 June 2002]

Psychopath? In his last years due to syphilis maybe, but even the movie's final scene showing him in Florida surrounded by gangster friends (allegedly including Frank Nitti, who had died some years earlier) rather than his family was absurd. Why did the film ignore his wife, son, siblings, and brother Ralph, who was the most important brother in the organization? And what's with that broad Iris, with him through out the movie? Pure fiction.

Even the killing of Jim Colosimo at his restaurant was baloney. Frankie Yale did it, though the lone witness recanted. One writer claims Capone hadn't yet arrived in Chicago at that time. Johnny Torrio knew Capone from New York, saw potential, and brought him west, so even the movie's opening scene of Capone's alley fight as a means of meeting Torrio was nonsense. Further,it was the George "Bugs" Malone gang that attacked Torrio in front of his apartment building, not a Capone plan... and you can bet the Torrio's didn't have a sign in front of their house displaying their true name! I could go on and on here about substituting fancy for fact, events omitted, but space is limited. Capone's social skills were far above average amonghis peers and the public. He always bargained first, not shot first, and had great loyalty to his men and kept his end of agreements. Visit a bookstore to get the true story instead of believing this absolutely ridiculous flick. BTW, Capone never exposed himself on the golf course or anywhere else, as far as is known.

Better Than You Think

[sunsetstrip-37579 · 6/10 · 18 May 2018]

OK I was bored, I watch this movie and the writing is not great. But the cast is fabulous: Ben Gazarra, John Cassavettes, Harry Guardino, Susan Blakely (who got quite naked, thank you very much) AND... a 29 year old Sylvester Stallone.

Lots of shooting, double crossing, you can do worse.

Interesting look on the life of Al Capone.

[Captain_Couth · 6/10 · 15 October 2003]

I found Capone to be a very interesting film. The action scenes were well staged and the acting was surprisingly good. Ben Gazzara was excellent as Capone. He managed to capture Al Capone's VD induced psychosis very well. It's a shame that this film was never put out on video in the US. Unlike most biopics, I found this one to be very entertaining. Yo, check out Stallone as Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti

Recommended, if you can find it.

B+

CAPONE (Steve Carver, 1975) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 27 April 2007]

Cheaply-made and over-simplified account of the life and times of the most notorious gangland figure of The Roaring Twenties; clearly intended as exploitation - with liberal doses of nudity and foul language to embellish the typical blood-soaked exploits - the Fox film was produced by Roger Corman (who was associated with any number of similar genre efforts, released in the wake of BONNIE AND CLYDE [1967] and which became an even greater commodity after THE GODFATHER [1972]).

As Capone, Ben Gazzara chews more than the scenery - as he obviously has placed something in his mouth to help 'authenticate' his delivery! Similarly, so as to give the impression of realism, the script continuously precedes scenes with the date and year when the event depicted is supposed to have happened; still, this doesn't prevent the film from appearing clichéd most of the time! Curiously, the film ends with Capone on parole going mad in some luxurious mansion - a turn of events which, as far as I know, is completely fabricated.

With the various real-life characters and myriad factions on display, one is prone to lose track of who's killing who and why - but, for all that, the carnage is constant and moderately well-staged (though, at one point, Corman inserts footage from his own film THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE [1967], also a Fox production!). The cast is made up of veterans like Gazzara, Harry Guardino and a cameo by John Cassavetes, and newcomers such as Sylvester Stallone (a pretty good pre-stardom role as Capone's right-hand man who eventually has his boss ousted!), regular baddie Martin Kove (as a thug from a rival clan) and lovely Susan Blakely as Capone's young but free-spirited moll.

Needless to say, the film doesn't do justice to the character (seen in countless other gangster pics, the most significant impressions perhaps being those given, Method-style, by Rod Steiger in AL CAPONE [1959] and Robert De Niro in THE UNTOUCHABLES [1987]) - but neither is it the disaster Leonard Maltin claims, having slapped a BOMB rating to it! By the way, while the print on Fox's R2 DVD is O.K., the audio is pretty lousy (often displaying a distracting hiss).

Quite Entertaining B Movie

[slightlymad22 · 7/10 · 28 January 2015]

Despite giving Sly Stallone second billing (after Ben Gazzara) and a nice big picture on my DVD cover, he is not a lead actor in this movie.

Ben Gazzara, Harry Guardino, Susan Blackeney (Yes that Susan Blackeney from "Lords Of Flatbush") are all listed before Sly who is listed under "Starring" with three other actors. Sly doesn't even appear until thirty one minutes in to it, and he doesn't speak a line of dialogue until ten minutes later, his part does grow as the movie enters its second half.

Plot In A Paragraph; Set over several years, this is the story of Al Capone's rise and fall in the gangster underworld.

Gazzara over acts and hams it up a lot. It's almost as if he thinks he is appearing in a spoof Capone movie. Harry Guardino is great as Johnny Torrio, as is Susan Blakely, I think her open crotch shot, must be the first one for a leading actress in a mainstream Hollywood film. Martivn Kove is very good in his supporting role. Dick Miller has an enjoyable small role as a cop on the take too. Following on from his first good role in 'Flatbush' the previous year, Sly under plays it as Frank Nitti and continues his early career with another steady supporting role.

Nobody can fault Capone for its effort. It covers several decades (taking several liberties with the truth along the way) in a short running time, but it's campy B movie quality all the way, as it rushes through a lot of gangster activity.

It's never dull and is quite entertaining in a trashy low budget way.

Don't expect The Godfather

[tomgillespie2002 · 5/10 · 6 May 2011]

Never one to be concerned with realism, historical accuracy or taste, Roger Corman took on the now legendary story of gangster Al Capone. Corman is on production duties here, but the film has his trademarks all over it. Capone (played by Ben Gazzara, a little more convincingly than Jason Robards in the enjoyable The St. Valentine's Day Massacre) is jailed and questioned after beating up two policemen, to be bailed out by Frankie Yale (John Cassavetes) and Johnny Torio (Harry Guardino) who hold a growing influence over the police department. Capone is then taken under Torio's wing, as they try to distribute alcohol in Prohibition-era Chicago, while trying to calm the ongoing gang wars that are getting increasingly bloody.

As stated earlier, don't expect The Godfather. This is a gangsters tale, exploitation style. The film seems to want to tell Capone's story without getting bogged down in the details, and instead going for maximum entertainment value. And it does work to a certain degree - Ben Gazzara's ludicrously over-the-top performance is a lot of fun, and the fact that he's a genuinely very good actor adds a bit of class to the role. But I feel Corman's earlier gangster effort, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (which he directed) was a lot more fun. That had a lot more going on to hold the attention, while the episodic nature of this film does get a bit repetitive after a while. Also, the majority of this film is not just a mere spin on the truth, it's outright lies. However, it's worth watching for Gazzara alone, and an early performance from Sylvester Stallone as Frank Nitti.

www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Terrible

[filmbuff1970 · 6/10 · 24 May 2002]

I have seen many actors hamming it up.But Ben Gazzara plays Al Capone in Al Jolson mode.I swear he was going to sing Mammy before the end.This is a really tacky movie made because The Godfather was such a hit.Avoid like the Plague.1 out of 10

Gangster Al Capone rises from street thug to powerful mob boss in Chicago of the Roaring Twenties

[mlraymond · 2/10 · 15 October 2006]

This film is a real curiosity.It is notable for a few reasons: raw language that would not have been allowed prior to the Seventies, but might be close to the way real gangsters would have spoken to each other; total frontal nudity, and an early appearance by Sylvester Stallone. The portrayal of Al Capone by Ben Gazzara is so broad as to be farcical, apparently on purpose.There is a lot of exaggerated humor and comic antics in the film that make it seem like it wasn't meant to be taken too seriously. By contrast, the 1959 Al Capone with Rod Steiger had a certain gallows humor and bleak comedy, but never at the expense of the historical figures being portrayed. When Rod Steiger bellows and blusters, connives and threatens, you believe he's Al Capone. Gazzara seems almost to play Capone as if he were in a Saturday Night Live sketch. I saw this movie in its original release to theaters, with a high degree of audience involvement. An elderly gentleman, who had apparently had a few too many before the show, talked to characters in the movie and gave advice and pointed out things throughout the screening, climaxing with a gunfight where Al Capone was ambushed by rivals, and the elderly viewer stood up in the aisle, pointed his cane at the screen like a tommy gun and hollered "I'll help you, Al!", while firing his cane at the screen. This somehow seems the appropriate spirit in which to view this film.

The first muff shot in a movie by a major studio.

[rlcsljo · 8/10 · 8 August 2002]

Very few people remember this film (why is beyond me, it is one of the better acted gangster films--Even Sly Stallone does a decent job). But to the few of us that really remember this, it is because of a relatively unknown actress called Susan Blakely.

This is the first time from a major motion picture studio that an actress spread her legs (while completely nude, by the way) and showed us her very blond "Delta of Venus"--absolute motion picture history that, unfortunately should have catapulted her to the Sharon Stone level, but didn't.

I had to order from Great Britain and convert it from PAL to NTSC, but it was worth it!

Thanks forever, Susan!

A highly fictionalized biopic of Al Capone

[smatysia · 6/10 · 16 July 2022]

A highly fictionalized biopic of Al Capone. Seeing Ben Gazzara in this called to mind his role as the small-town crime boss in Roadhouse. He did truly chew the scenery in this one, but then I think you have to in order to play Capone, as his violence and psychopathy is well-known. Susan Blakely was lovely and did the gangster moll thing quite well. Overall, it's decent but not great.

RUBBISH!

[dilsonbelper · 1/10 · 17 May 2020]

This hollow if AND perversely UNwatchable exercise in self-annihilation builds to a violent finale that finally makes good on the biopic's sordid potential, as Trank shoots his way out of oblivion with a sequence in which Capone does the same. It's a climax that manages to blur the line between truth and legend, and to clarify Trank's ambition of making a movie about how one tends to infect the other.

Lots of action but not much else

[broadfoot · 13 March 2003]

If you were looking for an Al Capone biography that was more exciting than the 1959 film with Rod Steiger, you might like this one, but the only exciting thing for me were the gun battles. Ben Gazzara does well in the title role, but you can tell he has cotton in his jowls because some of his dialogue is incomprehensible. The casting was ideal, having Italian-American actors playing a gang of Italian-American mobsters (especially Sylvester Stallone as Frank Nitti). There is one point the film gets wrong. At the end of the movie, Nitti travels to Florida in 1946 to visit Capone, who is dying of syphilis. In real life, Nitti committed suicide in 1943, before Capone died.

Recommended only for a boring day.

Non-history lesson

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 28 August 2019]

Steve Carver's follow-up to Big Bad Mama, this Roger Corman-produced effort follows the life story of Al Capone, episodically tracking his life and control over Chicago. It stars Ben Gazzara as Capone, Susan Blakely (The Concorde...Airport '79) as his girl Iris, John Cassavetes as Frankie Yale and Sylvester Stallone as Frank Nitti.

This being a Corman film, you also get a Dick Miller appearance. It's as welcome as always. Corman had already made one Capone movie, 1967's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, but this movie features more than just that one event.

Years later, Stallone would tell Ain't It Cool News that "I particularly enjoyed working on Capone, because it was like the cheesy, mentally challenged cousin of The Godfather".

The film follows the most important dates of Capone's life, such as a May 16, 1918 bust that left Capone scarred after being thrown through a window; September 23, 1919, when he decided to kill his boss "Diamond" Jim Colosimo; September 20, 1926 when Nitti saves him from a hit ordered by Hymie Weiss; and February 14, 1929, when the aforementioned St. Valentine's Day Massacre wiped out the Gusenberg brothers.

There was some controversy over the nudity in this film, as Susan Blakely goes beyond full frontal here, nudity that wouldn't appear in mainstream Hollywood movies again until Basic Instinct.

It all ends with Capone suffering from syphilis, driven so mad that he doesn't even recognize Nitti. The hitman finally opens up about how he felt about his boss, remarking how he only cared about killing people. As he leaves, Capone continues to get crazier, ending with him dying a year later. This scene was shot at Barbra Streisand's estate.

If you're hoping for a historically accurate film, you may want to skip this. After all, Capone's car didn't come from a window, but from a knife wound inflicted by Frank Gallucio over a remark Capone made to Gallucio's sister. And the whole last part of the movie, where Nitti visits Capone, it would have been impossible. Nitti killed himself in 1943, three years before Capone died.

Don't bother

[simonw-78695 · 3/10 · 28 May 2021]

One of the worst acting IV ever seen Stallone is ok in this but small part story and main aftor who plays Capone is one of the worst they have chosen for the part and the audio in this movie is questionable at best movie sucks hard.

Nothing comes close (may contain spoilers)

[MachineGunKath · 10/10 · 3 April 2002]

The movie is a largely fictional account of the life of Al Capone. When it was released, the critics bashed it, saying it was far too violent. It's a mobster film for crying out loud! It's gonna be violent! But enough complaining. There will always be some people who we'll never know exactly what they look like. Al Capone was one of those people. Ben Gazzara takes one look at the challenge and chucks it out the window. He is Capone, no question. Nobody else comes close. Not even Robert De Niro. This guy walks the walk and talks the talk, even if he has stuffed his cheeks with cotton wool. Susan Blakely is effective as the fiery Iris Crawford. She changes from a toilet-mouthed, cigarette-smoking, booze-swilling bitch to an 'innocent' dumb blonde gangster's moll halfway through, even if she does have trouble keeping her clothes on after her 'transformation'. Sylvester Stallone's Frank Nitti is just the kind of SOB you'd like to kick in the balls. Seriously. He's a traitor. His last words are "The guy you really gotta watch out for ain't across the street at all. He's the bum standing on the same ladder you are, right behind you." This has been his ethos all the way through the film. Harry Guardino's Johnny Torrio is perfect in every way but one. He's too tall. But asides from that, he's the best screen Torrio I've seen. (Actually, he's the only one I've seen) Overall, this film is exellent, but suffers from the stigma of having Roger Corman on the production crew. It's an amazing film, and anyone who is interested in the 1920s mobster era should watch it. 9/10

Good Spoof of Al Capone !

[elshikh4 · 9 January 2010]

Ahh the 1970s.. The home of the weird and unprofessional bad movies!

At first, I said to myself; this is a movie where its problem is being poor. After a while, I said to myself; this is a movie where its problem is its lead actor. Then, I noted that the director wasn't handling the matters well, or wasn't handling the matters. Maybe at one later point, I accused the script too. But, eventually, I found out that it wasn't about many problems; it was about this movie being wholly a big problem!

After the success of (The Godfather - 1972), then (The Godfather: Part II - 1974), there was suddenly an intensive concern about the history of mafia with the life of the American mobsters in the 20th century's first half, their families, mistresses, enemies and their ruling Tommy guns, where a wave of followers was made. Just recall cinematic movies like: (The Don Is Dead - 1973), (Dillinger - 1973), or TV ones like: (Honor Thy Father - 1973), (The Virginia Hill Story - 1974). Now, here's (Capone - 1975); the movie that will give you a good reason to hate (The Godfather) and its success!

It looks like the 70s's exploitation movies, but it isn't. It's worse. The production is totally nonexistent. For instance, the sets were like something I saw tenth of times at that era's TV shows; the ones that take place in the 70s's days (I suspect that I saw the bar, of the start of the movie, in one of Starsky & Hutch's episodes before!). The shots of the assassins in their cars, from the scene in which (Capone) was getting shot in the daylight, were clearly being borrowed from another movie due to shameful difference between the visual taste of them and the ones of this movie! Thanks to the IMDb, I knew that these shots were edited from another movie (The St. Valentine's Day Massacre - 1967) which's by the way directed by (Capone)'s producer Roger Corman (or should I say Capone's stingy producer!). Moreover, I'm sure that some suits, coats, cars, and perhaps machineguns were reused from (The Godfather)'s stuff.

There is no direction at all. And, I mean AT ALL. Unless you think that ending every scene by immersing it into red color is directing. But even if, this (Steve Carver) didn't do anything more. At one moment, there is an officer in his office threatening (Capone): "You are going to jail!", and (Capone) tells him that he won't since he bribed them all. Look at the way this scene was made as simply no effort of any kind was done; it was the perfect way how not to do it. And I HATED Mr. (Carver)'s endless close-ups like he didn't learn anything about filming but that!

The script is mechanic, like a version of (The Godfather) but after cutting everything except the assassinations scenes. So don't ask too much, or ever. Nevertheless, the question that I can't hold till now is why (Capone)'s right-hand man, played by (Stallone), sold him out at last?? I bet the movie makers themselves don't know or remember anything about it in the first place! "He didn't know that the man to be worry about is the one who's beside you, not in front of you" isn't enough motive or convincing reason. And what was the need for this imaginary girlfriend?! I suppose she was there to provide the movie with that shocking nudity, so the low work might get high profits! Generally, that script wasn't anyhow respectable biopic; it was rather a tasteless docu-drama about (Capone), written by someone who maybe read 2 pages summary about the man, then turned them, as they were, into a movie!

Still the main painful thing is (Ben Gazzara)'s performance. It should be taught in acting schools, and ironically I'm not kidding! This is beyond awful. Even if an actor wanted to be deliberately bad, he wouldn't be as half bad as this. (Gazzara) seemed like a nervous 9-year-old child trying to improvise (Capone) so seriously, being truly laughable for most of the time, and horrible to embarrassing extent for the rest. Just watch him saying: "Poison? What kind of way to kill a man is that?!"; purely unforgettable whether you want to laugh your heart out, or watch a man contorting his face to the max! But I can't blame the guy alone, of course he was clueless; since he was in the hands of writing and directing that didn't give a hoot!

Oh God, I can't forget the finale; it's the top of this movie's creepy shoddy time. So with this feeble TV-ish condition, I don't know how they got the nerve to show this cinematically?? Maybe because of the female nudity of it! Yes, nudity was a weapon that Hollywood used in its war against TV back then (till both descended to porn nowadays!). What kind of movie where the best of it is the performance of the young (Stallone) anyway?! But Hey. It succeeded in one thing though, which was being a good spoof of (Al Capone). But, unfortunately, not for all of its time!

Finally a question: If (Capone) was still alive, healthy and influential when that was released, do you think that he might have whacked this movie's makers?!

One Of The Greatest Mob Movies Ever!!!!!!

[MovieMan-112 · 10/10 · 14 September 1999]

"Capone" is an excellent gangster movie! Ben Gazzara plays the best Al Capone I have ever seen! Actors such as Robert De Niro, Rod Steiger, Jason Robards and even Eric Roberts (hee hee) have played Al Capone but none of them can come near the accuracy and brilliance of Ben Gazzara's Al Capone. This movie was bashed by most critics, who said that this was an "exploited" version of the Capone story and that it was too violent and too brutal. Well, wasn't Al Capone himself a violent and brutal man? He was far from being a "saint" I guarantee that. The cast is fantastic; Sylvester Stallone (in one of his first roles); John Cassavettes who is always terrific; and Harry Guardino - a name you may not recognize but whose face you've seen in many movies. So how can you go wrong? You can't! "Capone" wasn't a made-for-tv movie that omits violence and profanity...something a true mob movie MUST have. It was a movie that was released in theatres. It had a poster (I have the original one sheet) and a MPAA rating of "R - Restricted." It has a reasonable length (101 mins.) and a wonderful story that could be told by great actors in a realistic way - without having to worry about the rules of television. It is also the only Al Capone movie to explicitly show Capone himself going insane because of Syphilis. Unfortunately, this marvelous movie is out of print and hard to find so see it if you can. You'll never see a better Capone movie....I guarantee it

Now available to view on HULU.COM

[heckmand · 8/10 · 11 July 2008]

Several reviewers have mentioned that this movie is hard to find. It is currently available on HULU.COM. Unfortunately you have to watch a few commercials, but the good news is that the copy is excellent. The characters are well developed and the pace is quick. While I would not say that the plot is overly realistic, it is worth watching. If you are looking for an engrossing, albeit brutal, diversion then this is the fare for you. Definitely NOT FOR CHILDREN. One of Sylvester Stallone first movie appearance and well acted by him. The other characters offer excellent performances as well. You will recognize many character actors in this ensemble cast. Hope you all enjoy this nearly classic mob movie.

Ben Gazzara shines as Al Capone

[Petey-10 · 9/10 · 10 February 2012]

This movie tells the story of gangster Al Capone.The director of Capone (1975) is Steve Carver.The producer of the movie is Roger Corman.The role of Al Capone is played by Ben Gazzara.One week ago we sadly lost this terrific actor to cancer at the age of 81.He will be missed.Harry Guardino is brilliant as Johnny Torrio.Susan Blakely is a real foxy lady and he does a wonderful job as Iris Crawford.Sylvester Stallone is seen here before his Rocky success playing Frank Nitti, and he does a really great job.John Cassavetes is excellent as Frankie Yale.Dick Miller is marvelous as Joe Pryor.This movie has got a lot of good stuff.There's one terrific car chase scene.It's a heartbreaking scene where Iris is shot to death and Al mourns next to her dead body.And the fall of a big man in the end is really touching to watch.Sure this biographical movie tells a fictionalized story of Capone being inspired by the real events.But it's all OK, since the story is so well told.

Okay film, but unhistorical and with poor casting.

[Douglas_Holmes · 21 December 2002]

There are enough pictures of Alphonse Capone available so that we know exactly what he looked like. Even though Ben Gazzara is a good actor, I couldn't watch this without thinking, "Not Capone, must be a different character of the same name." ;-)

Although a brutal man, Capone had enormous sense. He preferred making money to shooting down rivals, and always tried to negotiate first. He valued loyalty above all else, and he "broke the mold" by insisting that the clannish, ethnic gang style of old was gone and that a man's ethnic background ought to have no bearing in the outfit.

According to a recent biographer, Capone feared being shot and dying alone in the street more than anything else. Unlike in this film, he died as he had hoped: in bed surrounded by his family.

I've always been saddened by the thought that if Capone had wanted to go legit from the start, he could have done it. With his organizational skills he could have been anything he wished.

Bang-up Prohibition-era gangster saga

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 31 March 2011]

Although it plays quite liberally with the documented facts and makes a sizable number of historical blunders, this film nonetheless manages to be a worthy and engrossing presentation of the cagey and ambitious, but hot-headed and sadistic Al Capone's rise to power during the Prohibition era. Ben Gazzara delivers a marvelously fierce and volcanic portrayal of the notorious Capone: Cheeks stuffed with cotton, spitting out his profane dialogue with venomous aplomb, and glowering at his minions and enemies alike with unbridled seething rage, Gazzara's Capone makes for an appropriately loathsome and frightening psychopathic hoodlum. The strong supporting cast likewise do well in their parts: Harry Guardino as Capone's shrewd mentor Johnny Torrio, Susan Blakely as brash and free-spirited flapper Iris Crawford, Sylvestor Stallone as the traitorous Frank Nitti, Carmen Argenziano as loyal bodyguard Jack McGurn, John Davis Chandler as hateful rival Hymie Weiss, Royal Dano as crooked politician Anton J. Cermak, Dick Miller as wormy corrupt cop Joe Pryor, and Martin Kove as brutish strong-arm flunky Pete. John Cassavetes makes the most out of his regrettably small role as smooth capo Frankie Yale. Director Steve Carver, working from a tough no-nonsense script by Howard Browne, relates the absorbing story at a constant brisk pace, stages the thrilling shoot-outs with considerable muscular aplomb, and maintains a suitably gritty and hard-hitting tone throughout. Moreover, Carver deserves extra points for his decidedly harsh and unsentimental warts'n'all evocation of the 1920's period setting and his unsparingly graphic and equally unromanticized depiction of the more seamy and vulgar aspects of the mob. Vilis Lapenicks' cinematography makes nifty occasional use of slow motion and freeze frames. David Grisman's tuneful and jaunty score also does the trick. A solid and satisfying movie.

Not bad at all.

[Delrvich · 8/10 · 22 June 2020]

A little slow, at times. But, would make a great double feature, as first entry, with Capone (2020).