The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
I've had this limited edition release from Indicator kicking around for years and always forgot to watch it on Feb 14th, Well not anymore.
Directed by Roger Corman it tells the story in pseudo documentary form of the 1929 mass murder of seven members of the Northside Gang (led by George "Bugs" Moran) on orders from Al Capone.
Due to the voice over and matter of fact way said voice over tells you who won't survive the shooting, the film lacks any suspense or genuine intrigue and it never really grips. It isn't however a poor film, Corman had the biggest budget of his career for this Fox movie and used some superb sets (In typical Corman fashion most were borrowed from other films such as the Von Trapp family interiors from The Sound of Music doubling as Capone's luxurious home) and excellent period detail throughout.
Jason Robards as Capone, despite not looking at all like him, is really good, as is George Segal as Peter Gusenberg, one of Moran's chief thugs. Sadly though the rest of the characterisation is lacking due to script deficiencies despite having some quality acting talent on show.
The film is fun though, harking back to the James Cagney tommy gun gangster films of the thirties, with exuberant shoot outs and loads of bloody casual violence.
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