Big Al's Place: BOARDWALK triumph

In A Nutshell

Years after his release from Alcatraz, bedeviled by hallucinations fueled by untreated, late-stage syphilis, Al Capone wanders the overgrown grounds of his Miami Beach estate, ruminating with ghosts. Tomorrow will bring his forty-eighth birthday and one week later he will be dead. Between then and now sprawls an epic life, from the wild streets of turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, to a bloody Saint Valentine’s Day that shocked the world; here is the glamorous ascent and shocking decline of America's true king of crime.

Some History

Jim VanBebber's 2004 feature, The Manson Family, was hailed as, "Crucial," by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone's four-star review. It inspired Roger Ebert to proclaim, "...it has an undeniable power and effect...it exists in a category of one film - this film." The film's successful theatrical release brought further critical acclaim and Manson then went on to thrive on home video, including as the centerpiece of Visions of Hell: The Films of Jim VanBebber, a mid-career retrospective DVD box set released in 2008.

Capone first met VanBebber at Wright State University when both men were enrolled in the Motion Pictures Production program headed up by Academy Award nominated documentary filmmakers Jim Klein and Julia Reichert. When, in junior year, the class was divided into small groups with the purpose of producing a short film, VanBebber, with partners Marcello Games and cinematographer Mike King, decided to shoot a full length feature. That film, 1988's Deadbeat at Dawn went on to earn true cult status, playing to crowds on 42nd Street and on many waning drive-in screens before landing on cable's The Movie Channel where it debuted on Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater, hosted by Joe Bob Briggs, who had singled out Deadbeat in his nationally syndicated four-star review.

With funds derived from the sale of Deadbeat, King, Games and VanBebber began their follow up production, The Manson Family, which brings us full circle

9/20/10

BOARDWALK triumph

HBO's new series Boardwalk Empire made it's debut last night and we were mighty impressed. Sleek, intricately designed, wonderfully cast, exceptionally well written and acted, Boardwalk more than lived up to high expectations. That said, the show is not above employing a heavy dose of dramatic license and plays it fast and loose with historical events. What stuck in our craw the most was their portrayal of the Big Guy, played by British actor Stephen Graham.

Midway through the pilot episode, we are presented with a scene that has Johnny Torrio, Big Jim Collisimo, Al Rothstein and Lucky Luciano traveling to Atlantic City for a sit down with Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) to strategize, a meeting which seemingly took place mere days after Prohibition became the law. As any student of the subject matter knows, this event is highly unlikely. Meanwhile, Al waits outside with Nucky's sidekick, Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) and it is his character which is later shown inspiring Al to greater, criminal ambitions, even enlisting him in a highjacking scheme. Now, at five feet five, Graham is a good five inches shorter than the historical Al, and that choice had him come across as a bit of a flunky to young Jimmy, and Al was nobody's flunky. We suspect Executive Producer Martin Scorsese was hoping to evoke a bit of the fireplug nature of the great Edgar G. Robinson.

Still, it's one hell of a show and our man, actor Vic Noto, is set to appear in no less than two episodes in the coming weeks, so keep watching.