Charles Bronson goes the heavy drama route in this 1972 crime saga. Bronson is an enforcer in the mob who's been imprisoned. In jail, he becomes the target for assassination since his mob compatriots believe he sold someone out for the time he got. Frustrated he goes to the head capo in stir but gets the kiss of death which forces his hand to comply w/the government to name names & recount his rise & fall in the mafia (starting in the 1930's) as he maintains he only killed those who had it coming to them but due to the mercurial nature of crime leadership, underlings are wiped out & power is constantly in flux. Bronson, reuniting w/his Red Sun director Terence Young, tries to make a meal of this film but consummate hack producer Dino De Laurentiis (in a shot where a 30's era car can be seen, 70's era cars are in the background) cuts corners w/the script feeling extremely episodic instead of the saga it needs to be especially since it's based on real characters & events (adapted by Peter Maas' book who also wrote a book on Serpico). Also starring Joseph Wiseman (who played Dr. No for Young in the first Bond flick) & Jill Ireland, Bronson's wife in real life, not surprisingly plays his wife here.
Review of The Valachi Papers
