Al Capone

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.

Every dog has their day, and a bad dog is going to be put down once it is revealed that they are no good to be out in society. Al Capone managed to rise to the top of the Chicago underworld and control the mob during prohibition.

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.

Directed by Richard Wilson. Starring Rod Steiger, Martin Balsam, Fay Spain, Nehemiah Persoff, James Gregory, Joe De Santis, Murvyn Vye, Robert Gist, Sandy Kenyon.

On the face of it, I was truly looking forward to seeing this movie because Rod Steiger is one of my all time favorite actors.But as the film progressed, I felt there was something wrong ?

Method actor Rod Steiger probably spent a lot of time prepping his impersonation of Twenties Chicago mobster Al Capone for the film of the same name. Method actors tend to do that sort of thing.

8 years before he won 1967 best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a small-town police chief In the Heat of the Night, Rod Steiger play a powerful role on the opposite side of the law, giving a magnetic performance as a notorious Chicago gangster who took the underworld into the business world.

In Richard Wilson's "Al Capone", there is a commodore who arrives to Capone's mansion in Florida. He seems to be a "distinguished" citizen, probably a member of the local aristocracy; and he is glad to be associated with Capone.

I first saw this film during its initial release in 1959. I found it fascinating and it led to my interest in gangsters.