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6.6/10
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The rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.The rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.The rise and fall of a 1930's Brooklyn crime syndicate, known as Murder Incorporated, led by mobster Lepke Buchalter.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 nominations total
Howard Smith
- Albert Anastasia
- (as Howard I. Smith)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaActor, later producer/executive, Robert Evans turned down the part of Reles, because it was "not the lead role" and Peter Falk was cast instead, becoming Falk's first Oscar nominated performance.
- Goofs(at around 48 mins) During the "take" speech, Reles throws a liquor glass at the door behind him. The glass leaves a nick and the door opens a few inches. In the next shot, the door is nearly closed and there is no nick. In the next shot, it's open wider again and the nick is visible.
- Quotes
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles: I'm gonna tell you something about women. I never met one that didn't need a rap in the head, and often.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Peter Falk versus Columbo (2019)
Featured review
Falk Steals The Show And Gains A Career
Murder, Inc. was a B picture and I remember seeing it as a lad as the second part of a double bill back in the days when they had such things. As I was from Brooklyn the whole story of the gang was interesting to a 12 year old. Needless to say the neighborhood of Brownsville had changed quite a bit even in 1960 from 20 years earlier.
The film is based on a book by the real Burton Turkus who must have consented to the dramatic license taken to bring the story of the taking down of Louis Lepke Burkhalter the only top crime boss to this day ever to get the death penalty. But the atmosphere of the Jewish neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn is certainly captured as is the gang that made the place famous.
The film's a good one, not great by any means, but decent enough entertainment performed by a cast that are well known as competent players, but no box office draws in this cast. But one of them really made his own career with this film.
Peter Falk got the part of Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles who is one amoral example of humanity. Like Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano of more recent times in a career where he participated in a couple of dozen contract killings, when he's caught he offers to turn state's evidence. The end he met is part of gangland lore.
What Falk did was turn in a performance that so impressed the critics that he got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Remember Murder, Inc. was a B film, released with no fanfare so to speak so Falk's performance got the acclaim it did strictly by word of mouth.
The competition that year in this category was pretty good. The others who Falk was competing against were Jack Kruschen in The Apartment, Sal Mineo for Exodus, Chill Wills for The Alamo, and the eventual winner, Peter Ustinov for Spartacus. All of those others were high budget feature films with studios behind them with accompanying publicity machinery. Falk may have been there to round out the field, but just the fact he got there is an incredible tribute to his talent and that particular performance.
Murder, Inc. was not Peter Falk's debut big screen performance, but it is the one that made his career. The rest of the cast which consists of such familiar faces as Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Eli Mintz, Morey Amsterdam, Simon Oakland and Henry Morgan as Burton Turkus perform well enough, but Peter Falk as Reles will never leave you.
Talk about making one's own breaks.
The film is based on a book by the real Burton Turkus who must have consented to the dramatic license taken to bring the story of the taking down of Louis Lepke Burkhalter the only top crime boss to this day ever to get the death penalty. But the atmosphere of the Jewish neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn is certainly captured as is the gang that made the place famous.
The film's a good one, not great by any means, but decent enough entertainment performed by a cast that are well known as competent players, but no box office draws in this cast. But one of them really made his own career with this film.
Peter Falk got the part of Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles who is one amoral example of humanity. Like Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano of more recent times in a career where he participated in a couple of dozen contract killings, when he's caught he offers to turn state's evidence. The end he met is part of gangland lore.
What Falk did was turn in a performance that so impressed the critics that he got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Remember Murder, Inc. was a B film, released with no fanfare so to speak so Falk's performance got the acclaim it did strictly by word of mouth.
The competition that year in this category was pretty good. The others who Falk was competing against were Jack Kruschen in The Apartment, Sal Mineo for Exodus, Chill Wills for The Alamo, and the eventual winner, Peter Ustinov for Spartacus. All of those others were high budget feature films with studios behind them with accompanying publicity machinery. Falk may have been there to round out the field, but just the fact he got there is an incredible tribute to his talent and that particular performance.
Murder, Inc. was not Peter Falk's debut big screen performance, but it is the one that made his career. The rest of the cast which consists of such familiar faces as Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Eli Mintz, Morey Amsterdam, Simon Oakland and Henry Morgan as Burton Turkus perform well enough, but Peter Falk as Reles will never leave you.
Talk about making one's own breaks.
helpful•181
- bkoganbing
- Jul 23, 2008
- How long is Murder, Inc.?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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