Lepke (film)

Lepke is a 1975 film starring Tony Curtis as the Jewish-American gangster Louis "Lepke" Buchalter.[4] It is often regarded by film critics as one of Tony Curtis's most underrated movies and one of his finest performances.

Lepke
Directed byMenahem Golan
Produced byMenahem Golan
Screenplay by
Story byWesley Lau
Starring
Music byKenneth Wannberg
CinematographyAndrew Davis
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • June 11, 1975 (1975-06-11)[1]
Running time
123 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$900,000[2][3]

Cast

Production

Menahem Golan had been a successful filmmaker in Israel and had ambitions to break into Hollywood. Lepke was to be the first of four movies he intended to make there. Golan said he chose Lepke as a subject because he grew up on American gangster films of Bogart and Cagney. "I was afraid to touch a contemporary American subject and be disgraced like Milos Forman and Antonioni," he said in a 1974 interview. "If you go back to the old then at least you and the young people are starting on the same foot. And besides, Lepke was a Jewish gangster rather than an Italian."[3]

It was Curtis' first feature in a number of years - he had been working in TV and on the stage. Filming took place at Culver City studios.[5]

In his 2008 autobiography American Prince Curtis admitted becoming heavily addicted to cocaine during filming; this addiction would last for a decade and significantly derailed his already troubled film career.[6] His mother died during filming.[7]

Release

The film was sold to Warner Bros for $1.75 million.[2]

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References
  1. "Lepke". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
  2. Andrew Yule, Hollywood a Go-Go: The True Story of the Cannon Film Empire, Sphere Books, 1987, p. 10. ISBN 978-0722193891.
  3. Israeli Film-Makers in New Land Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 2 Mar 1974: a8.
  4. "Lepke (1975)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
  5. MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Pedestrian' Rights Acquired Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 08 Feb 1974: e18.
  6. Curtis p 303-304
  7. Curtis p 298

Notes
  • Curtis, Tony; Golenbock, Peter (2008). An American Prince: A Memoir. Crown.


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