Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageHonor Thy Father (1973)
Director: Paul Wendkos
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Based on Gay Talese's account of the '60s Mafia war between the Organisation and recalcitrant member Joe 'Bananas' Bonanno, Wendkos' film (actually made for TV) compares favourably with the more ambitious but superficial The Godfather. Against the familiar settings of anonymous rooms, city backlots, and streets at night, a feeling of futility erodes the Mafia assumptions of honour. An archetypal slob of a gunman giggles his way through old gangster movies, yet reads Sartre's Being and Nothingness. For all the shootings, the two most graphic deaths are natural: heart attack and cancer. Above all, there's the bewilderment of Bonanno's daughter-in-law (Vaccaro). Already a nervous wreck, her patience snaps when two more gangsters turn up expecting to eat. Apart from a weak ending and a plot that both needs and uses a narrator, an altogether intelligent film.Author: CPe
Cast & crew
Director: Paul Wendkos
Producer: Harold D Cohen
Cast: Joseph Bologna, Raf Vallone, Brenda Vaccaro, Richard S Castellano, Joe De Santis, Marc Lawrence full cast
Genre(s): Gangsters
Duration: 92 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
A Bond a day: No. 11 'Moonraker'
Time Out revisits the 21 Bond movies day by day to celebrate the release of 'Quantum of Solace'
The essential guide to the London Film Festival
Get the inside track on the all the films and events you'll want to catch at the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival
Terence Davies: interview
Wally Hammond talks to visionary British director Terence Davies about his deeply personal and long-awaited new documentary ‘Of Time and the City’
W.
Read our early review of Oliver Stone's George W Bush biopic, 'W.', playing at this year's London Film Festival
Ten friendly ghost movies
To celebrate the release of 'Ghost Town' in which Ricky Gervais plays a New York dentist who can see dead people, Time Out counts down ten great friendly ghost movies.
What do you think?
Post your review now