The Valachi Papers
The Valachi Papers is a 1972 biographical crime film directed by Terence Young, which tells the story of Joseph Valachi, an American Mafia informant in the early 1960s who was the first ever mafioso to acknowledge the organization's existence. The film stars Charles Bronson as Valachi and Lino Ventura as Vito Genovese, along with Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, and Gerald S. O'Loughlin. It is an adaptation of the 1968 non-fiction book by Peter Maas, with a screenplay by Stephen Geller.
Plot
Joseph Valachi is an aging prisoner in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, who was imprisoned for smuggling heroin. The boss of his crime family, Vito Genovese, is imprisoned there as well. Genovese is certain that Valachi is an informant, and gives him the "kiss of death," whereupon Valachi kisses him back. Valachi is also the recipient of an attempted attack in the shower days before, which might have been caused by Genovese.
More details
| author | Arduino Maiuri Stephen Geller |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | New York City |
| director | Terence Young |
| editor | Johnny Dwyre Monica Finzi |
| events | organized crime |
| genre | crime |
| keywords | american mafia anna anna genovese anthony strollo bos business partner capo caporegime castellammarese war castration crime family end federal agent flashback gaetano reina heroin hide out joe masseria joseph valachi kill kiss of death life story lucky luciano murder salvatore maranzano senate shoot smuggle suicide superimpose tony bender united states senate vito genovese young criminal |
| musicBy | http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q678840 Riz Ortolani |
| producer | Dino De Laurentiis Roger Duchet |
| productionCompany | Dino De Laurentis |
| publisher | Cinema International Corporation Cineriz |
| theme | mafia |