Dino De Laurentiis had been developing The Valachi Papers (1972) for several years before The Godfather scooped him. After that film's success, Valachi proved a hit despite bad reviews. Charles Bronson makes a fine gangster-turned-informant, but The Valachi Papers is a well-heeled exploitation movie, wrapping bloody gangster mayhem in "true story" respectability.In 1962, Joe Valachi (Charles Bronson) murders a man in prison. Fearing the wrath of Mafia chief Vito Genovese (), Valachi's offered a deal by the FBI. He recounts the history of the American Mafia from its origins in 1920s New York to the present. Working as driver (and enforcer) for Salvatore Maranzano (Joseph Wiseman), Valachi witnesses the Mob's formative events: the Castellammarese War, formation of a national commission, expansion into narcotics, the notorious 1957 Apalachin conference. Caught between prosecution for murder and Genovese's vengeance, Valachi faces an agonizing decision.
Though released after The Godfather, The Valachi Papers belongs to the pre-Coppola era of Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards impersonating Italian Mafioso. Director Terence Young proves cavalier about period details, from contemporary cars to the Twin Towers appearing in 1920s New York. This gives the film a seedy exploitation feel belying its historical pretensions.
Valachi loosely follows Peter Maas' book, giving a Cliff Notes history of organized crime. Young and his screenwriters (including Stephen Geller) mix Mafia ritual with violence, nudity and backstabbing. Historical events fuse with invented incidents like a lesbian affair and gruesome castration. It's a competent collection of violent episodes, but the pulp dialog ("I cannot bring back the dead, only kill the living!") and broad characterizations amount to goombah stereotypes. It's less about gangland history than Hollywood clichés.
Charles Bronson is well-cast in a role playing to his strengths. Valachi amounts to being tough and loyal, than tough and indignant, but Bronson gives Valachi enough rock-hewn humanity to sell the character. His supporting cast doesn't measure up: Lino Ventura tries giving Genovese some depth, but Joseph Wiseman, Walter Chiari and Guido Leontini are content playing cartoon gangsters. Jill Ireland is inevitably on-hand as the flavorless love interest.
The Valachi Papers was an anachronism, even when judged against contemporaries. Bonnie and Clyde is historical nonsense but scores in its charismatic cast and impeccable period recreations. The Godfather needs no defense. Something as cheapjack as The Valachi Papers doesn't cut it.
