Murder and mayhem are the star of this biography of a real life 30's gangster. Tomy Curtis, who ran from similar mobsters in "Some Like It Hot", is the man with the machine gun in "Lepke". Typical Hollywood fictionalization can't hide what is a fairly entertaining film that tries various creative ways for the mob's enemies to die, whether it be exploding spaghetti or a stack of newspapers rigged with a bomb that results in a man on fire whom the bystanders run away from rather than stamp out the flames. There's even an execution involving a merry-go-round.
Vic Tayback (Mel on TV's "Alice" and the original film, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore") is Lucky Luciano, another example of a movie heavy (including Telly Savalas and Ed Asner) who ended up in lighter roles when they went onto the small screen. The supporting cast is pretty unmemorable, although a few familiar faces whose names you don't know pop up. Milton Berle is properly Jewish as Lepke's father-in-law, and proves his skill as a dramatic actor. (They say that if you can be good in comedy, you can definitely do drama.) Louis Guss as Max Rubin, and Vaughn Meader as Walter Winchell are the standouts among the faces you'll recognize but not be able to identify. Anjanette Comer, as Lepke's wife, is stuck in one of those thankless stand-by-your-man role that rarely involve any dramatic meat. Compared to the creative murders, this part of the film is really boring. Still, when you compare these films to other gangster films made after the re-emergence of the genre with Rod Steiger's "Al Capone", it's pretty good and utilizes good 30's atmosphere. The ending is chilling.
Vic Tayback (Mel on TV's "Alice" and the original film, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore") is Lucky Luciano, another example of a movie heavy (including Telly Savalas and Ed Asner) who ended up in lighter roles when they went onto the small screen. The supporting cast is pretty unmemorable, although a few familiar faces whose names you don't know pop up. Milton Berle is properly Jewish as Lepke's father-in-law, and proves his skill as a dramatic actor. (They say that if you can be good in comedy, you can definitely do drama.) Louis Guss as Max Rubin, and Vaughn Meader as Walter Winchell are the standouts among the faces you'll recognize but not be able to identify. Anjanette Comer, as Lepke's wife, is stuck in one of those thankless stand-by-your-man role that rarely involve any dramatic meat. Compared to the creative murders, this part of the film is really boring. Still, when you compare these films to other gangster films made after the re-emergence of the genre with Rod Steiger's "Al Capone", it's pretty good and utilizes good 30's atmosphere. The ending is chilling.