Al Capone **** (1959, Rod Steiger, Fay Spain, James Gregory, Joe De Santiis, Murvyn Vye, Nehemiah Persoff, Martin Balsam) – Classic Movie Review 10,627

Director Richard Wilson’s 1959 crime thriller biopic Al Capone showcases one of Rod Steiger’s quintessential performances, just stopping short of parody, as Chicago’s best known citizen, the Prohibition-era mobster Alphonse Capone (1899-1947), which lights up this documentary-style gangster film.

Al Capone is good enough to stand comparison with the classic mob movies of the Thirties. This great little B-movie boasts a script and direction as tough-nosed and compelling as the subject demands, but the main triumph is the truthful, revealing Steiger performance. It is shot in noir-style black and white by Lucien Ballard.

If it is all over the top and self-regarding, so were the lives described here.

Also in the cast are Fay Spain, James Gregory, Joe De Santiis, Murvyn Vye, Nehemiah Persoff, Martin Balsam, Robert Gist, Lewis Charles, Sandy Kenyon, Raymond Bailey, Al Ruscio, Ron Soble, Steve Gravers and Lewis Quinn.

Al Capone is directed by Richard Wilson, runs 104 minutes, is made by Allied Artists Pictures, is released by Allied Artists Pictures (1959) (US) and Associated British-Pathé (1959) (UK), is written by Malvin Wald and Henry F Greenberg, is shot in black and white by Lucien Ballard, is produced by John H Burrows and Leonard J Ackerman, and is scored by David Raksin.

Capone’s sister sued the film-makers for $10 million for invasion of privacy and for failing to get permission to make this film but the suit was dismissed in 1962

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,627

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