Charles Bronson had plenty of presence on the screen and was very effective in the likes of THE DIRTY DOZEN, DEATH WISH and a few others, but whenever he actually TRIED to act, his efforts were laughable. He simply could not act. THE VALACHI PAPERS may be his worst film. The director, Terence Young, shows absolutely no style or even a remote trace of caring (a large part of the film takes place in the 1930s but anachronisms abound --- there's a clear shot of the new in 1972 World Trade Towers, a 1970s era car speeds by the 1930s autos). Were the proper permits not secured to film this movie in NYC? Bronson gets little help in the film from the other performers. Walter Chiari is terrific, but he's certainly the exception. The supporting cast is populated with fine actors like Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O'Laughlin, Jill Ireland and Lino Ventura, but the dialog is so inane, they look foolish (Wiseman is particularly dreadful as Salvatore Maranzano, a crime lord who could not have been this dull). Aldo Tonti's cinematography is muddy and, as with most of director Young's work, the editing appears to have been done with a rusty razor blade.
Review of The Valachi Papers
