Monday, January 28, 2013

Hail Mafia (1965)


Very very good mob movie with Eddie Constantine the target of his former mob brothers. They want the retired gangster silenced so that there is no chance that he will come back from France to talk to the Senate committee on organized crime. To that end the mob sends two hit men (Henry Silva and Jack Klugman) to Europe to hunt down Constantine.

More a drama then a "crime" film (with the action that implies) the movie really is about the relationship between the two hit men as they interact on the hunt for their target. The performances of both Silva and Klugmen are excellent and its clear that Silva was a much better actor then his later supporting roles suggested. Equally good, and a revelation to people who only know him from the Odd Couple or Quincy, is Jack Klugman. Its a shame that Klugman kind of got lost in the TV series rut since he is clearly capable of a performances that are more complex than what a TV series require. The pairing of the two vastly under rated actors make for a superior drama that has been unfairly lost over the years.

Hopefully a somewhere down the road someone will rescue this film and give it some sort of revival.

This is one to search out.

1 comment:

  1. Agree, looks like it would be a great film if you could see a decent copy of it. What is on Youtube is atrocious.

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