LeonLouisRicci The years have not been kind to this flat 50's style recreation of 20's style gangsterism. The film is overwhelmed by Rod Steiger's performance and underwhelmed by the stiff conventionalism of the era's film making. The roaring 20's presented in the repressed 50's where decadence is bad table manners and spouting, yelling, and mumbling display an uneducated ignorance. Everything in this movie is tame where it should be wild and soft where it should be coarse.Historically Hollywood never did quite get it right, to be kind, and not even until very recently has the true ugliness and understanding of the unfairly glamorized criminal been portrayed for the destructive force that it is. Even so, even today, entertainment usually supersedes responsibility, but not because of community standards and motion picture code restraint.

DuDrop I first saw this film during its initial release in 1959. I found it fascinating and it led to my interest in gangsters. It was many years later that I began to not just see movie gangsters but to read about them. Al Capone was my first read and that is where the problems began for me with this movie. Most of this film is based on fact, though over-the-top, and acted very well, especially Steiger's performance. My beef is with the portrayal of Al Capone's wife, played by Faye Spain. Capone's real wife, Mary Coughlin, called Mae by everyone, was a loving wife and mother. Almost everything in this film's portrayal of Capone's "wife" is false. Mae loved her husband, his philandering notwithstanding. She remained a faithful and loving wife until his death. The makers of this film, in their zeal to show Capone as an evil person, go too far.

bkoganbing Although Rod Steiger gives an electrifying performance as Al Capone in the film of the same name, it could have been done a whole lot better.Influenced by the success of The Untouchables on television the classical gangster film underwent a short revival for about five years in the late Fifties and early Sixties. It was inevitable that a film about the most notorious gangster name of all would get a biographical film.The film concentrated on Capone's public life and the stories of gangland lore that have circulated about him. Very little is shown of his personal life, he had a wife and child and many a mistress not just the character Fay Spain portrays. Rod Steiger has been accused of overacting in his characterization, but in fairness I don't think the writers and director gave him much to work with.With one exception no characters had name changes. The one being Martin Balsam's character who was based on reporter Jake Lingle whose connections with the underworld got him many a good story, but also compromised his integrity. Capone is shown being responsible for Balsam's death, but in real life there are many theories about Lingle's demise.One character is grafted in from New York. There was no such a character as James Gregory's honest inspector, mainly because there were damn few honest cops in Chicago in the Twenties. His character is based on Lewis J. Valentine who did run a confidential squad in New York City and faced a lot of political pressure from Tammany Hall. Under Fiorello LaGuardia, Valentine became the city's police commissioner, probably the best one we ever had.Still if you were a big fan of The Untouchables, you should definitely like this Al Capone movie.

Coxer99 Rod Steiger electrifies the screen in this dramatization of the famed gangster's life, which traces his rise from small time hood to larger than life crime boss. Better than any other film made about the legendary mob boss. Martin Balsam also co-stars.