Lack of good storyline.

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

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.

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.

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

"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