The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Absolutely amazing

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This 1967 Roger Corman gangster flick is a rare up market sortie for the usually bargain basement producer, though the film looks to of been shot entirely on the old Fox studio lot, that and the colour film gives the movie a unrealistic unauthentic atmosphere.The movie is fairly accurate representation of known events though highly condensed but i found the narration particularly irritating and unnecessarily.But my biggest grip was the miscasting of Jason Robards as Al Capone he looks nothing like the real Capone and showed none of the charm that Capone was said to possess. This is really just a dressed up B movie, no shame there and as such is quiet watchable though far from memorable.A generous 5.75 out of 10.

Roger Corman could never be accused of excessive subtlety. And in "TSVDM" he doesn't disappoint his audience, with violence galore in extended shots. There are several scenes where the mob guys come out blasting with tommy guns and Corman gets his money's worth on each of them. Corman also lets a terrific cast have fun chewing up scenery, most notably George Segal as the vicious Peter Gusenberg. Segal has an unintentionally (well, maybe not) hilarious scene with the sexy Jean Hale as his wife, when they are having a spat because she's spent $3K on a fur. Segal smacks her around and Hale perfectly delivers a knee to his balls. Also enjoy Jason Robards as Capone, Harold J. Stone as Nitti (for some reason Hollywood likes casting Jews as Italians, i.e. Brando & Caan in GF 1) the great Ralph Meeker as Bugs Moran and before they made it big, Bruce Dern as a driver for the mob and Jack Nicholson, in an uncredited part as the wheel man for the guys who actually do the "massacre" shooting at the Clark Street garage. Jack has one line, look for him late in the movie.

If you're looking for a serious depiction of the infamous massacre and 1920s organized crime this isn't it (despite its semi- documentary style).Giving director Roger Corman his due, his forte was exploitation pictures. That's what this film is despite its higher budget and major studio status. One could say he was pushing the envelope by 1967 standards with its level of violence and depictions of prostitution.The slapstick comedic scene with George Segal and a scantily clad Jean Hale (her only scene) comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the unfolding narrative.There is a large ensemble of very capable performers including the smaller roles. This doesn't mean that all the actors are well cast or give good performances. Jason Robards, an otherwise fine actor, is totally out of his element as Capone. I think this partly explains his completely over the top performance that at times is unintentionally funny.The film is studio bound and has an artificial look and feel. There is little real character development and the frequent use of voice over narration is not cinematic. Some of the individual scenes and performances are worth viewing albeit sometimes for the wrong reasons.The film, when taken as a whole doesn't make the grade.

Helmed by low budget independent filmmaker Roger Corman, this was a pleasant surprise and perhaps the best directed film I've ever seen of his. Corman pulls no punches in delivering a brutal and action-packed account of organized crime war in the 1920s, centering on the friction between Al Capone and "Bugs" Moran, and ultimately leading up to the historical title climax. Featuring a good cast, including: George Segal, who's rarely better than he is here -- Ralph Meeker (Moran) --Corman's standby Dick Miller, Bruce Dern, and the intensified Jason Robards as Al Capone, in a part many feel he was miscast for. I thought Robards was a hoot, and a lot of fun in the part. One detriment for me was the frequent narration which began to get irritating, needlessly telling us the birthdate of every character on screen. ***1/2 out of ****