The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (film)

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoger Corman
Screenplay byHoward Browne
Produced byRoger Corman
Starring
Narrated byPaul Frees
CinematographyMilton R. Krasner
Edited byWilliam B. Murphy
Music byLionel Newman
Production
company
Los Altos Productions
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • June 30, 1967 (1967-06-30)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[1]
Box office$1.7 million (US/CA)[2]

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a 1967 American gangster film based on the 1929 mass murder of seven members of the Northside Gang (led by George "Bugs" Moran) on orders from Al Capone. The picture was directed by Roger Corman, written by Howard Browne, and starring Jason Robards as Capone, Ralph Meeker as Moran, George Segal as Peter Gusenberg, and David Canary as Frank Gusenberg.

Corman, better known as a director and producer of low-budget B movies, was given his largest budget to date (estimated at $2.5 million) and the backing of 20th Century Fox to realize what he described as "the most accurate, authentic gangster film ever".[3] With a voiceover narration by Paul Frees, the film depicts in detail the events leading up to the massacre in a docudrama-style, with many authentic historical details.

A young Bruce Dern plays one of the victims of the massacre, and Jack Nicholson has a bit part as a gangster. Also featured are Jan Merlin as one of Moran's lieutenants and veteran Corman actors Dick Miller and Leo Gordon as one of the phony policemen involved in the massacre and Heitler, respectively.

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
  2. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1967", Variety, 3 January 1968 p 25. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.
  3. ^ Corman p 126