The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) User Reviews

Realistic and mostly accurate

[waynec50 · 8/10 · 21 February 2006]

"The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" is a very good gangster movie, released five years before the all-time great "The Godfather". It's pretty accurate in its chronology, according to the books and documentaries I've seen about the incident, only a couple of dramatic licenses taken. The film unfolds like a documentary, showing the dynamics of the rival gangs and their blood feud. Opening with the killers leaving the garage and then the neighbors discovery of the massacre, it proceeds to detail the buildup to the crime. The victims are introduced, along with the killers and planners. Lots of good actors are in this, veterans of both the big and little screen. Jason Robards has been slammed for his over-the-top portrayal of Al Capone, but everything I've seen about Scarface shows that he was over-the-top himself. George Segal is especially good as a Moran gang member, Peter Gusenberg. Ralph Meeker is a tough , barrel chested Bugs Moran. Both gangs are filled with familiar, competent actors. Jean Hale has a nicely done cameo as a classic "gun Moll", Myrtle, Pete's squeeze. Even Jack Nicholson shows up as a Tommy gunner! The climactic massacre is chillingly accurate using forensic evidence to show how the victims fell and their final positions. All-in-all, a really good movie and record of one of the most famous and shocking events in American criminal history. 8 of 10.

Like Fine Wine, Roger Corman's ST. VALENTINE's DAY MASSACRE Has Gotten Better With Age! (of Course, So Have We, Right?)

[redryan64 · 8/10 · 26 July 2007]

Chicago, Prohibition, Gangsters, Machine Guns and Hollywood have long been inseparable companions ever since the real Prohibition Era was loosed upon us. Starting with James Cagney in THE PUBLIC ENEMY(1931), LITTLE CEASAR(1931) and SCARFACE(1932) are each powerful films that fit these qualifications like a proverbial glove. Each meets the individual criterion and tell their stories in somewhat different ways of story telling.They each use the point of view of the title characters.

And so that's the way it was, back in the day! And of course there have been revivals of this particular topic and Genre every so often. Hence we have been treated to The Prohibition/Depression Era Gangster films like ROGER TOUHY,GANSTER(1944)*, AL CAPONE and THE PURPLE GANG(both 1959), THE GODFATHER(s), I,II & III(1972,'73, '90) and soon and so forth, down thru the ages.

And of course on TV we had THE LAWLESS YEARS(1959-61) and of course, last but hardly the least,THE UNTOUCHABLES(1959-63)to give further lore to the celluloid underworld. It is probably likely that we'll always have some of these Gangster Soap Operas every so often.

As for this ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, we must say we saw it at the old Double Drive-In on the Southwest Highway in Chicago when it was in newly released/first run status. We saw it again, recently on cable TV, on Turner Classic Films or Fox Movie Channel. It might sound peculiar, but did you ever hear of a movie getting better? Let me explain.

The original viewing was done by a 20 year old, still wet behind the ears kid, who just viewed any movie as another entertainment to be viewed, (devoured-up, if you will) and forgotten. There was really no sense of a "Medium" or being "An Art Form". With age of course, is supposed to come wisdom, or at least a little experience under one's belt.

After a period of nearly 40 years has passed, this writer has found himself to be not a'movie fan',but rather a 'film buff'. The big difference is in the viewing over the years and,more importantly,all of the reading of film books and periodicals containing the history and background information.

As for the title in question, THE ST. VALENTINE's DAY MASSACRE, well I can't say that it was every bit as good when viewed now as it was then. No, because it is even better! The movie was Produced and Directed by Mr. Roger Corman. Now the brain (mine, for what it's worth) takes one name of The Director/Producer and adds it to the venue of a Drive-In Movie Theatre and it computes to a cheapie, a grade "B" film at best. And to be honest, until just recently, I had thought that this movie was a product of the ever popular, Amerkican-Interntional Pictures. After all, that's where Roger Corman used to hang his hat.

This 20th Century-Fox production is really a well done movie, deserving of a new respect and frequent showings.** The costuming, the autos and the sets are all very good and approximate the real locales in Chicago and nearby suburban Cicero, Illinois. The mock up of the famous and infamous Garage on North Wells Street has a very authentic look to it. Even the type of apartment building used by the conspirators is a Chicago-type building, of which there are still thousands of the yet in use there today.

Mr. Corman pursues a form of the Docudrama to a large degree, in unveiling the story. The voice over narration gives us, the viewers the benefit of all that has been learned since then. Also, we have the information of the official Police Investigation now available for the Public Record.In this we have many conclusions that have been made, but not proved, sort of educated guesses.

The story starts out giving the viewer a great deal of background info about the state of Chicago's Underworld at that time in the late 1920's We are privy to the old Northside, Southside, Westside rivalries that the various Gangs were involved in. The previously mentioned Narrator, Voice Actor Par Excellance, Paul Frees, is very busy from beginning to end in supplying us with factual material about the criminal careers of the peoples involved.

As a historical fact we observe the Gangland Killings of Northside Big Shot Hoods Dion O'Bannion(Chicasgo Native John Agar)and Hymie Weiss (Reed Hadley) and the continued battling over territories. Mr.Corman also includes a seemingly fantastic, but factual raid by the Northside Mob on Capone Gang Headquarters. A really large number of autos, replete with multiple Thompson Sub-Machine Guns attacked the favourite watering hole of the Scarface Mob. They failed to kill Capone or anyone of the gang, in spite of perhaps thousands of rounds of that super fast .45 caliber disbursement at the intended target.

Like any Hollywood treatment of a story taken from real life occurrences, there is a lot of filling in gaps and causes of these incidents. The unknown aspects of the people involved and their behaviour is also subject to guess work, albeit an enlightened, educated guess at that. Whatever was known about the characters in question was used as guidelines for molding on-screen persona.

One last time, please take a new look at it. On Cable/Satellite, in VHS or DVD, Purchase or Rental, make an evening with THE ST. VALENTINE's DAY MASSACRE.

* The real Roger Touhy, a Prohibition Era Gangster Headquartered in Northwest Suburban Des Plaines, Illinois sued 20th Century-Fox over this largely fabricated story. Hint To Hollywood: A realistic Roger Touhy story really would make a great film! Check on it!

** Maybe my own fair city, Chicago, is missing the boat on this one! After all, why can't we have a Yearly Massacre Fest? It could be a rival to events all around the country such as: The Kentucky Derby, Mardi Gras, Sadie Hawkins Day or even The Bull Frog Leaping Contest of Calaveras County.

Factual and Cartoonish--what fun!

[patrick.hunter · 8/10 · 24 May 2006]

Why is it that people quibble about Jason Robards not looking like Capone? Many actors who have played him, from F. Murray Abraham to William Forsythe, really didn't resemble him. Maybe it's because this film attempts a semi-documentary approach. Perhaps it's the most accurate Hollywood drama on Capone, but the other semi-documentaries of the time (such as Fox's own THE LONGEST DAY), had the look and lighting that reminded a viewer of a documentary, while this one doesn't. In fact, its style is more evocative of a 1930's Warner Bros. gangster film. Even George Segal's bullying the bartender and his mashing his girlfriend's face with food are bits very comparable to ones Cagney does in THE PUBLIC ENEMY. Segal playing a mean Cagney-type might seem very offbeat casting, but in this film it works, because all its casting is offbeat--even deliciously over the top. It's a lot of fun.

Maybe not great, but still a very good gangster film

[grstmc · 9 February 2004]

It took me a while before I really appreciated this film. Despite its flaws, this is probably the most serious, accurate, and restrained treatment on the subject you're ever going to get without watching a straight-out documentary. What you have is sort of a "docudrama" on the infamous St. Valentine's Massacre, and the events leading up to it.

Not that the film ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE takes itself too seriously. It doesn't, but all of the over-the-top acting merely enhances the product. There are still some inaccuracies but the story adheres so closely to the actual facts that these discrepancies are easily forgiven. The violence shown might have been considered sensational in 1967, and this was most probably the intent, but it's pretty tame by today's standards. And if it falls short of being a great film, it's a near miss rather than one by a mile.

In this dramatization of the final showdown between the South Side and North Side gangs for control of Chicago's underworld in 1929, Jason Robards takes center stage as Al Capone. He might have been much older and looked nothing like the real Capone but then so what. As they say, you want an interpretation and not an impersonation. His histrionic performance, with all of its eye-rolling and exaggeration, strikes just the right note and does its part to help keep things moving throughout. This was an actor who knew what he was doing, and exactly how he should play it in this instance.

But it takes a while for Capone to show up, finally seen casually arriving in a limousine on his way to a board meeting with his underlings. The first hood to show up on screen is played (some could say overplayed) by George Segal as Pete Gusenberg, a member of the rival gang, who proceeds to intimidate a bar-owner. Actually, Segal gives a rather convincing performance as a very smug, arrogant thug who enjoys pushing people around, and acting like he's one bad dude, with guns and a gang to back him up.

A very effective technique employed throughout the film, provided by narrator Paul Frees, is the frequent voiceover commentary on various characters. Information is given, such as that the individual was born on this or that date, at whatever place, something about his background, and his place in the particular gang, etc. (often including his time of death as well). Not only does this provide an easily-understood guide for who's who, but it helps to get the viewer involved with these characters however unsympathetic or unsavory they might be.

In brief but well-played roles, on the Capone side, there's Paul Richards as Charlie Fischetti, Joseph Turkel as Jake Guzik, and Harold Stone as Frank Nitti, with a more conspicuous role played by Clint Richie as Jack McGurn, who gets put in charge of organizing the title massacre. That particularly bloody episode was designed to rid Capone of his archenemy and chief rival, George "Bugs" Moran, capably played by tough-talking Ralph Meeker. Moran was the head of the North Side gang, and in flashback scenes we're shown what befell Moran's two predecessors, Dion O'Bannion (played by John Agar) and Hymie Weiss (played by Reed Hadley).

The rest of the cast is made up of many fine actors, some familiar and others less so. Among the unlucky seven who have an appointment up against a certain garage wall, besides Segal's Pete Gusenberg, included are David Canary as Pete's brother Frank, Kurt Krueger as Moran's top lieutenant, Milton Frome as the gang's accountant, Joseph Campanella as a low-level employee, Bruce Dern as a mechanic, and Mickey Deems as a hanger-on. Not to be overlooked is the always excellent Frank Silvera as Nick Sorello, a not completely innocent pawn used in trying to set up Moran.

Almost every actor with a speaking role gets at least one good scene and a chance to shine, from the major actors right on down to several of the minor supporting players. An attempt is made to show some of the camaraderie and interaction among the members of each gang. The careful planning of the "hit" is laid out, including an amusing scene where two gunmen, posing as musicians, are renting a room from a wary landlady.

Such details add to the plot and the characterizations, with keen attention being paid to recreating a 1920s atmosphere, and don't forget all of the various gunplay and assorted mayhem along the way, leading up to the fateful massacre. They even throw in a completely superfluous fight between Gusenberg (Segal) and his girlfriend over a fur coat. Since it's only a brief rest from the action, and we get to rest our eyes on Jean Hale, then what's the harm. Enjoy this trip back in time to gangland Chicago.

Jason Robards is a surprisingly effective Al Capone

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 8 September 2017]

This is a very entertaining account of the famous rub-out in 1929 Chicago. Jason Robards is a decent Al Capone, and thankfully, doesn't try for an Italian accent. He also wields a mean baseball bat, thus having Capone's malice down but not his mass. Ralph Meeker plays Bugs Moran, leader of the rival Chicago gang. The cast is loaded with familiar faces and future stars, and it seems like somebody gets bumped off every ten minutes. Harold J. Stone plays Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti and almost, but not quite, convinces me he could be Italian. George Segal has a riotous brawling scene with Jean Hale after he finds out she spent three grand on a fur coat. Joan Shawlee has a bit as a "streetwalking entrepreneur," as we call it now. Jack Nicholson has one line, which he grunts out in a hoarse voice pre-Don Corleone. And you may even feel sorry for Bruce Dern in this film.

The movie was directed by Roger Corman, and features some of his stock players, including Dick Miller as one of the hit men. Paul Frees supplies the narration, giving this a semi-documentary feel. But he is no Walter Winchell. Definitely worth a look.

surprisingly good!

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 29 December 2021]

Well aged for an older movie! Directed like a documentary, with great narration. The dialogue was real, and the acting follow a script based on real life. Not a bad movie. Entertaining, but in a curiosity way. The viewer watches the for grounding, planning, and the execution of the Massacre. I like the narration of what happen after the Massacre. Kept me watching. I was entertained. I got educated. People acted like how they were back in that time frame. 7 stars.

Bears interesting comparison with THE GODFATHER.

[alice liddell · 7/10 · 15 June 2000]

It's incredible to think that this film, Roger Corman's major studio debut, and THE GODFATHER (made by Corman alumnus Coppola) were made within five years of each other. They could be decades apart, in look, in sensibility, in impact. Whereas GODFATHER gropes for a rich, mythic timelessness, MASSACRE seems brittle, thin, a mere pastiche of, variously, 30s Warners gangster films, 40s B-movies, or Corman's own early work. Whereas Coppola's characters have passed into popular culture, Corman's gangsters are thinly characterised, theatrical, parodic; whereas GODFATHER's plot is slow-burning, tense, silent, punctuated with shocking shards of tangible violence, MASSACRE is almost cartoon-like in its relentless gunfire, which, because it's not rooted in character, does not have as traumatic an effect.

Some of us, however, might recoil a little from the major film's more questionable posturing, and MASSACRE has many excellencies. Most immediately pleasurable is the plot, mathematically simple, as Corman narrates the titular bloodbath like a theorem, showing A (Capone) meeting B (Moran) to create C (the massacre). QED. Nothing is allowed interfere with this beautiful simplicity - every scene, every character, every action refers to this theorem alone. Even scenes which seem to illustrate character (eg Peter Gusenberg and Myrtle) only do so to 'explain' why one side got the better of another.

This quality extends to the film as a whole, which is a series of repetitions and mirroring scenes. Another pleasure is the voiceover, which again transforms a conventional narrative about real people into abstract formalism. Like a voice of God, it intrudes without warning, frequently, mixing bald factual details about all the players (eg Such and such, born 1893 in such a place, suspected gun-runner, killer etc., will die on 3 May 1957 of heart failure) with speculation. Before any character has even begun their parts in the film, their life stories are known to us. This robs them of everything that makes us human - motivation, hope, action. Sartre said we are what we do. Not here. Robbed of human characteristics, they become mere ciphers, playing out their inevitable fates, and denying the viewer the kind of emotional empathy that Coppola will dubiously over-indulge in.

Despite the (relatively) high budget, production values do nothing to make the film more realistic. Indeed, the uniformity of colour (predominantly grey), the repetition of scenes and places, the reduction of sequences to sheer functionality, makes the film increasingly artificial. The theatricality of the acting adds to this, with Robards especially hamming away to amusingly grand effect, but theatricality is embedded too, as narratively crucial scenes become sites for rhetoric, oratory, dramatic performance, an actor declaiming to an enrapt public, hanging (for dear life) to his every word.

Add to all this Corman's stunning, playful direction, confident and fluid, making interiors and objects live, fixing characters in their place. The violent scenes are expertly choreographed, if they aren't disturbing, their formal excellence is undiminished. All this formalism is not an empty, academic exercise. By revealing the phoniness of his subject matter, Corman reveals the processes of myth-making that, especially through the cinema, curiously glamourised an era, when America was in thrall to a number of violent fascists.

Corman is not seriously moralistic, he is cheerfully aware of human nature's strange pulls - he shows how the need for violence and sensation in cinema is close to the fascistic, but also undeniable. It is a trap Coppola doesn't always avoid. The score, which makes ragtime eerily modernist, is astounding, while Corman reveals, as in TALES OF TERROR, that he has a canny sense of the domestic's comic violence - the Pete/Myrtle scene is a hilarious-troubling classic.

Historic gangland bloodbath played as black comedy

[mlraymond · 7/10 · 19 December 2006]

There is much both to criticize and commend in this movie. A lot of the gangsters aren't as convincing as they could be, because so many of them are played by familiar character actors. You end up being distracted by recognizing familiar faces, instead of fully believing in the historical personages.

The re-creation of the Roaring Twenties atmosphere is reasonably good, with small touches like the dance contest playing on the radio, while a hood and his girlfriend have a fight. At a party scene, elegantly dressed mobsters and their ladies dance the tango, until the band breaks into a rowdy Charleston tune. A gangster pours a tea kettle of hot water into his car radiator on a cold morning to warm it up enough to start. The scene of Frank Silvera ,as an infiltrator of the North Side mob, driving a truck full of illegal whiskey into the Moran gang's warehouse, and being slapped around and cheated by George Segal,has a strange aura of reality about it.

Jason Robards Jr doesn't portray a believable Al Capone, but he does convincingly enact a very frighteningly unpredictable gang leader, whose own men are afraid of him. Robards could play this sort of almost lunatic anger better than anyone.

Overall, not a bad movie, though more of a cult item for Roger Corman fans than gangster history buffs. Many of the Corman stock company turn up in small roles throughout the film, lending a sort of in joke quality to a lot of the proceedings.

Corman's masterpiece.......ludicrously underrated.

[Poison-River · 10/10 · 17 April 2005]

Despite an lengthy and variously successful career in sci-fi and horror movies, it is this movie that I personally feel is the crowning glory of Roger Corman's career. It is also, I feel, one of the greatest and most underrated gangster movies of all time. It should definitely be held in the same high regard as movies like 'Goodfellas', 'Once Upon A Time In America' and, dare one even suggest, 'The Godfather'.

Everything about this movie is superb. The lush, opulent, colour-saturated widescreen cinematography; the fantastic acting; the meticulous attention to period detail that rivals that of 'Once Upon....America'. Also, the authoritative voice-over that runs the entire length of the movie pre-dates 'Goodfellas' by some 20-odd years.

At first one might think that Jason Robards is woefully miscast as Al Capone, but this is not so. He gives Capone an edgy, lean and utterly menacing persona. The rest of the cast reads like a Who's-who of exploitation cinema; Ralph Meeker(excellent as Bugs Morant), Dick Bakalyan, Bruce Dern, Alex Rocco and John Agar. Throw in a couple of cameos from Corman regulars Dick Miller and Jack Nicholson, and this really is a cast to die for...quite literally.

If there is a problem with the movie, it's that with the subject being so viciously evil, and knowing that EVERY character and event is real, the movie has a bit of a sour tone, and can be a bit of a downbeat experience to some people. That said, I suppose the purpose of the movie is to show EXACTLY what happened, and to humanise the victims, rather than treat them as some statistics in the annals of crime. Like all the great gangster movies, this doesn't glamourise the gangster life, but makes us glad that we are not a part of that dangerous world.

And When Al Capone Steps Up To Bat It's Always A Double-Header (Wham!)

[strong-122-478885 · 6/10 · 29 July 2014]

Favorite movie quote - "They don't call that guy 'Bugs' for nothing!" (snicker-snicker)

Yep. I was really surprised to find out that 1967's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (or, TSVDM, for short) was, in fact, directed by Roger Corman, the undisputed "king" of super low-budget horror and teen exploitation films of the 1950s and 60s.

(And, I must say that I was quite impressed)

Up to this point in his film-making career Corman had been directing "quickies" with budgets in the $250,000 range (or less). But, then, with this picture he was handed a cool million to throw around. And, by what I saw, I don't think that he recklessly squandered that dough on this production.

Set in the year 1929 (in the crime-drenched metropolis of Chicago), TSVDM's story is, indeed, based on actual events that led up to a very special sort of Valentine's Day surprise that made the most sensational headlines that you could possibly imagine.

Featuring plenty of swell-looking cars, cheap-looking whores, and deadly, drive-by shootings, TSVDM is an exciting gangster picture of treachery and double-crosses that, convincingly enough, captures the nostalgic feel of a "Depression Era" America.

Other than a few "damns", and a couple of "hells", thrown in for good measure, this rough, tough macho-man picture contained no profanity, whatsoever.

My one big beef about this picture has to do with the gross miscasting of actor Jason Robards as the ruthlessly violent Al Capone character.

I mean, let's face it, Capone was, without question, one of the meanest and lousiest bastards imaginable. And, nope, I'm sorry to say, Robards just didn't cut the mustard with his portrayal. No way, Jose.

Warmed Over Untouchables

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 16 July 2007]

What the OK Corral story is to the western genre, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is to the gangster film, a story told and retold where the characters have assumed some mythic proportions. Funny thing is I think both Al Capone and Bugs Moran would have scoffed at the idea they would become modern mythic characters.

Though it boasts color and better production values, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is really just a warmed over version of what the public had seen only a few years ago on The Untouchables. For that matter The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was also released too soon after the film Al Capone that starred Rod Steiger in the title role.

Jason Robards, Jr. as Al Capone and Ralph Meeker as Bugs Moran fit the roles well. Robards seems to be having a great old time in the part. He overacts like crazy, but then again so did Robert DeNiro in the big screen version of The Untouchables and so did Steiger in his film. The role just seems to call for that.

Speaking of overacting, George Segal is also having a great old diet of scenery as one of Moran's trigger men. This was his first film after getting his Oscar nomination for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and it certainly is a lot different than the young college professor in that film.

In fact with Robards leading the pack everyone seems to be throwing away all restraint. The film stops just this side of being played for laughs.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a good factual retelling of the tale that kind of brought the gangster era in Chicago to a close.

Great gangster movie from Roger Corman

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 19 November 2010]

Although reviewers were mixed in their feelings for this semi-famous gangster picture from 1967, I think most of them missed the point. Roger Corman's "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" was filmed on a budget of exactly $1,000,000. Even for 1967 standards, that's about as low as you can go. And look what he got for his cool million; Jason Robards, Ralph Meeker, George Segal, Joseph Campanella, Bruce Dern (a Corman stock player back then) and a host of other famous names including soon-to-be movie star Jack Nicholson. Some reviewers were obviously thrown for a loop because of Corman's use of a narrator to the events (Paul Frees) and the fact that he tackled a worthy subject compared to his earlier sci-fi and biker film efforts. Their preconceptions of Corman's talent got the better of them and this film proved that he was a first-class director worthy of respect from his peers.

The plot involves the famous massacre of Chicago gang-lord Bugs Moran's men during the height of prohibition. Al Capone (a raging Jason Robards) was the architect of these murders and was aided and abetted by "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn (Clint Ritchie) who was the true mastermind. Moran himself (Ralph Meeker) was able to avoid the "hit" and lived to tell about it. George Segal is the real star of the show as Peter Gusenberg, one of Moran's henchmen. His fight with his girlfriend (Jean Hale) over an expensive fur is one of the highlights of the film. Jack Nicholson (another Corman regular) makes a brief appearance as one of Capone's hit men and is allowed to utter one memorable line about the effects of "garlic-flavored" bullets. The film stays relatively close to true events and except for the fact that Jason Robards doesn't look anything like the real Al Capone and is too old for the part, the movie is mostly historically accurate. All in all, "The St. Valentine's Massacre" is an entertaining and informative movie, and all done on a shoestring budget. As they say, they don't make them like this anymore.

Violent times breed corruption, greed and gangland wars.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 19 March 2001]

Produced and directed by king of the B movies, Roger Corman. A factual telling of the events leading to and following the bloody St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago. Considered real violent when released in '67, but pretty tame by today's standards. Still a very good movie to watch. Of course this is minor league stuff compared to the likes of THE GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS.

This film is crammed full of stars and character actors. My only complaint is having Jason Robards playing Al Capone. To me he was not ruthless enough to play "Scarface". Other well known stars appearing are Ralph Meeker, Joseph Campanella, Harold Stone, Alex Rocco, George Segal and David Canary. Watch for small parts for Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson.

Robards Doesn't Cut It As Al Capone

[ccthemovieman-1 · 4/10 · 16 August 2006]

I love those old-time crime movies, especially of Al Capone and the wild days in Chicago in the 1920s....but this was not a good movie. It was too hard-edged, even for the national critics who usually love nasty stuff. Jason Robards also was miscast as Capone. It wasn't that he was too thin, which he was, for the role but he overacted so badly that it was embarrassing to watch. I wonder if Robards ever had a performance this bad? He ruined the movie, as did George Segal who did likewise with his character.

All the characters in here are famous criminals and the film has a deep cast. We even see a young Jack Nicholson popping up for a line or two. The color is good and the 1920s feel to it - the ambiance, if you will - is also solid.

This is a man's movie all the way with tough characters and a ton of action. It was surprising to hear a lot of ethnic slurs, most of which came in the first third of the movie. That probably contributed to the animosity of the politically-correct national film critics.

Very entertaining, fast paced, and a marvelous cast

[oversplayer · 16 June 2003]

Just one more movie that highlights how much better movies were 30+ years ago than they are now. If this story were told today, the gore would overwhelm most of the plot and all of the entertainment.

As is, even the shlock Roger Corman produces a highly enjoyable, rapid paced vehicle. The scene with George Segal and Jean Hale is reminiscent of the one between Glenn Ford and Hope Lange in "Pocketful of Miracles." And, after watching it, one wonders why Jean Hale's filmography is so short.

Only Jason Robards, Jr. really overdoes it, but who's to say that Capone himself didn't overact a bit? Certainly no one who's alive to write a review here.

More entertaining than many other 60's gangster flicks, including "Bonnie and Clyde," "Dillinger," and the depressing "Murder, Inc."

While "The Godfather" series and "Goodfellas" were much higher budget and quality productions, both had parts which were overextended or just downright dull (for example, the long drawn out day of Henry Hill's arrest in "Goodfellas").

This one doesn't. It rocks from beginning to end. And most of the cast (such as the ubiquitous Charlie Dierkop) look more like hoodlums than real hoodlums do. (I think.)

Very high marks for sheer entertainment value.

Interesting, Entertaining and Cartoonish

[romarub · 7/10 · 9 January 2020]

I can't understand how anyone can compare this to The Godfather, which was a fictional crime drama saga masterpiece. While entertaining, THE SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, is a pseudo-documentary style expose of the people and circumstances related to the actual titled event. While basic facts may be accurately depicted, much of the film is a stereotypical, cartoonish depiction of the thugs and gangsters of the '20's. Jason Robards, a fine actor, is totally unconvincing as Al Capone. No only does he not resemble Capone in the least, but his speech pattern doesn't support the character he's playing, and he overacts throughout the film. He has the absolutely worst Italian accent imaginable - really laughable. In his very small uncredited role, Jack Nicholson says his one line in a ridiculous, gangster-like accent. For al its faults, though, I found this film to be both entertaining and laughable at times, though I don't think the latter was its intent.

Exciting and violent film depicting without flinching one of the most shocking events of the 20s

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 10 April 2021]

This one deals with the shocking truth about the events leading up to one of the most violent days in American history. Concerning the body-strewn look at the fend between two popular gansters set in the most lawless era , they are Bugs Moran who operated in north zone of Chicago and Al Capone in the south zone. They led two relentless gangs with heinous hoodlums , as they don't negotiate, but they eliminate. It is paced in semi-documentary and coldly clinical style, adding a voice in-off and with scenes containing dramatic impact enough. The flick is acceptable and with nice interpretations, though the massacre itself has been depicted in more thrilling style in other movies. It results a be a decent story long on violence and short on character studio. Jason Robards, Ralph Meeker and George Segal ham up the scenary providing sporadic fun, adding a fine supporting cast. Mobster genre fans can have fun picking out such familiar faces as Bruce Dern, Jack Nicholson, Harold J Stone, John Agar, Joseph Campanella, Frank Silvera, Joe Turkel, Dick Miller, Richard Bakalyam, Charles Dierkop, David Canary , Leo Gordon, Jan Merlin, Alex Rocco, Dick Miller, among others . Furthermore, appearing known gangsters as George Clarence Bugs Moran, Machine Gun Jack McGurn, Frank Nitti, Dion O'Bannion, Diamond, among others. This gaudy gangster motion picture was professionally directed by prolific filmmaker and producer Roger Corman.

There are several films about this famous gangster, these are the following ones : Al Capone 1959 by Richard Wilson with Rod Steiger, Fay Spain, James Gregory, Martin Balsam. Capone 1975 by Steve Carver with Ben Gazzara, Susan Blakely, John Cassavetes, Sylvester Stallone. Capone behind bars 1989 by Michael Pressman with Ray Sharkey, Keith Carradine, Charles Haid, Jayne Atkinson. The lost Capone 1990 by John Gray with Adrian Pasdar, Eric Roberts, Ally Sheedy. Capone 2020 by Josh Trank with Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Mat Dillon. And TV series : The Untouchables 1956 with Robert Stack, Neville Brand, Harold J Stone, Abel Fernandez. The Untouchables series 1993 with Tom Amandes, William Forsythe, David James Elliot, Nancy Everhard, John Rhys Davies. These series were adapted as a film by Brian de Palma in Untouchables 1986 with Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Billy Drago, Andy Garcia .

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS THAT ARE BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

[MachineGunKath · 6/10 · 22 July 2001]

This movie has more ham in it than a canaballistic pot-bellied pig. That's why I love it. Wonderful over-acting by almost everyone in the cast (Clint Richie and Ralph Meeker are the exceptions that prove the rule). The others are to busy working over a bit of chud (George Segal) or yelling at each other (Jason Robards) to care too much about the acting. I love that sliding bookcase! It's about the only actor in the film who doesn't seem to be transported from a 1930s movie. Great movie, would give it 11/10 if I could.

Decent retelling of the famous massacre

[The_Void · 7/10 · 7 May 2008]

For me, the great Roger Corman will always be best remembered for his film versions of classic Edgar Allen Poe stories; but he also made a lot of films outside of the horror genre and clearly stories of true American crime interested him as aside from this film he also directed Bloody Mama based on Ma Barker. The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre has a fairly strong cult following and I went into this film with some fairly high hopes because of that; although unfortunately I have to say that I'm not as big a fan as many as while this is undoubtedly an interesting and well made crime film; it also has several flaws. The plot focuses on the Prohibition era and in particular the rivalry between two prominent gangs, one of which lead by the infamous Al Capone. As the title suggests; the main focus of the film is on the famous 'Saint Valentines Day Massacre' which saw a group of men gunned down in cold blood. The film focuses on the main players in both the gangs and focuses on the events up to and including the incident.

As anyone who knows anything about Roger Corman would expect; the film does not benefit from a big budget and in some ways feels like a cheaper version of several big budget crime flicks. However, in spite of this, Corman still manages to give his film a good style and the film really does feel like its taking place in the late 1920's. The plot does not play out like a regular crime film and instead we get a fragmented report on the key events and it almost feels like it could be a documentary with reconstructions. Corman was obviously keen to focus on the history too as there's a voice-over that fills the audience in on key happenings. In my opinion, the film would have been better as a straight drama as the way it has been done means that it's interesting in parts and then not interesting in others and there's not a great deal of fluency which is a shame. The film has a sense of inevitability to it all the way through as it's always clear how it will end and while it contains no surprises; The St Valentines Day Massacre is at least a successful retelling of the famous event of it's title.

Bang bang!!! Yer dead!!!

[qrt7 · 8/10 · 19 June 2001]

Taking a step back from the intellectual surmising involving Godfather, Goodfellas et al., I thought this was an enjoyable film, 'a live action cartoon' as it was put.

Yep, sure it was a tad formulaic with characters going about their predetermined business and the armchair historians knew the conclusion of the film before it happened. I accept this as valid criticism, but I would stress more that it is supposed to be a quasi-documentary, with the solemn narrator venting sparse mechanical facts about each character and their relevance to the bigger picture as they were introduced. The film itself wasn't trying (I felt) to make a big artistic or intellectual statement, just an enjoyable and disposable piece of cinema. I think that it would be worse if it had been trying top make a 'big point' but fell on its arse, which a number of mobster-related films are guilty of.

As an enjoyable 'get on and enjoy the ride' movie I think it succeeded very well. Having only a basic knowledge of prohibition gangsterland, I found it quite gripping and that the documentary style enhance my enjoyment of an otherwise complex background. The set was also very well done, though Capone was miscast.

I would recommend this to most, unless they are Godfather fans!

8/10

George Segal was Fantastic!

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 13 August 2004]

Over the years there have been many films which try to depict the horrible event of 'St. Valentines Day' which occured in Chicago, Illinois. However, Roger Corman was able to direct a very colorful picture of what actually happened with the gunning down of HOODS by so called policemen. Jason Robards,(Al Capone),"Max Dugan Returns",'83, was a great actor but his portrayal of Al Capone was not very convincing at ALL! George Segal,(Peter Gusenburg),"Direct Hit",'94 gave an outstanding performance as a mean, bad gangster who beat up Jean Hale,(Myrtle),"Psychomania",'64 when she purchased a very very expensive fur coat which Peter did not approve of at all. Myrtle and Peter beat each other up while Myrtle ran around in her 1930's underware, and she wound up in the hallway of their apartment. Bruce Dern,(May)"Wild Bill",'95 gave a great supporting role, looking slim and trim. If you are a George Segal fan, this is the film for you.

Seven Unhappy Men.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 18 July 2008]

I'd like to think that Roger Corman and the cast had a jolly good time making this outrageous movie. Certainly everyone in the cast seems to be enjoying himself. It's as if Corman's directorial advice had been boiled down to one sentence: Swing away.

A nice cast, full of familiar faces. Most enjoyable: Jason Robards Jr. trying to imitate an Italian mobster using every operatic device in the book. See him learn of the death of an underling and break into sobs. Watch him explode in rage and spout Italian in an American accent. Shiver at the relish with which he proceeds with the castration of an "assassino". Laugh out loud as he gesticulates, he shrieks, he chokes with contumely, his exopthalmic eyeballs threatening to pop at any moment and launch themselves at his target.

Most entertaining scene: George Segal, as one of the seven, who has a fight with his paramour over an expensive fur coat. He smashes a half-eaten sandwich in her face, she kicks him in the jewels after his violence turns him amorous, he throws her out into the hall in her scanties, then dashes after her and grabs the coat out of her hands, while half a dozen onlookers stand by and complain about the noise.

I've seen this twice. Can't recall if the first viewing left me confused or not, but this one did. All I could make of it was that Capone and O'Banion were enemies, blaming each other for breaking the agreement. And the seven men blown to pieces in the garage were mostly unlucky schlubs. The story, addled by violent flashbacks to previous murders, is complicated enough to resemble the Borgia court.

Most memorable element of the film: Paul Frees' fruity intonations as he narrates the plot. "On the last morning of his life, Peter Gusenberg ate a ham sandwich on rye with pickles and mustard...."

I Liked It!!

[dataconflossmoor-1 · 10/10 · 30 January 2010]

This movie is a film which every Chicagoan should love. The historical account of the St Valentine's Day Massacre was on which mesmerized millions of people, and how it restructured the syndicate's power back in the 1930's.! The 1929 catastrophe underlined the ruthless struggle with which the Irish and the Italians were engaged in. Presently, Boston is the only city in the United States where the Irish rule organized crime. The Italians run the most prominent criminal mobs in virtually every other city! Bugs Moran and Al Capone were two criminal leaders who operated very differently. Their personal agreements with one another established ground-rules about demographics. Capone had the south and west sections of the city, and Moran had the north. The whole predicament manifested itself when these organizations perceived that one was invading on another one's turf!! This heinous violence had the entire city of Chicago by the throat. The movie "The St Valentine's Day Massacre" depicted the precarious scenario very astutely! Jason Robards played Al Capone brilliantly, this is remarkable, especially considering that he is not even Italian! The directing and the authentication of Chicago in 1929 was excellent! I have an affinity for gangster movies, and this one is one of my favorites!! See this film if you possibly can!!

That Was Ralph Monroe

[aimless-46 · 7/10 · 22 June 2005]

Any movie with Mary Grace Canfield (made while she was still playing Ralph Monroe in "Green Acres") and David Canary (Candy on "Bonanza") must have been trying to entice television viewers to abandon their couches for the padded seats of their local theaters. Then again Roger Corman spent most of his budget on a cast of thousands so maybe they were the only Screen Actors Guild members available for this semi-epic.

Imagine "The Untouchables" television show (but in color) with Ralph Meeker reprising his Raymond Chandler stuff (but as gangster "Bugs Moran") and Jason Robards in the advance stages of rabies infection. Corman adopted a semi-documentary style for his only 20th Century-Fox production about Chicago's most famous massacre. This time he was a little more focused than when his semi-documentary motorcycle picture "The Wild Angels" mysteriously morphed into a great sex-and-sadism drive-in classic.

Corman's preproduction team did a lot of research and crafted a script that is about as factual as you are likely to find about this event. Using frequent voice-over (but not Robert Stack) Corman gives us a film with a surprising amount of both documentary truth and dramatic excitement. Because it was a pretty complicated event, the solemn voice-over was the only reasonable way to communicate the name, rank, serial number, nationality, and mob affiliation of all the participants. Much of the action is in the form of flashbacks, which help to liven things up.

The film can be faulted mainly for on-the-cheap production design (it has that Hollywood back-lot look and the snow is obviously fake) and for the physical miscasting of Robards as Al Capone. Normally you could overlook (even enjoy) his one-dimensional performance since he seems to be having a lot of over-the-top fun with it, but given the film's documentary goals it was very bad choice for the role. Meeker is brilliant and the technical production is all first class stuff. On the whole a very entertaining film.

Not up to snuff

[hammer4 · 4/10 · 16 May 2015]

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.