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Lepke (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Lepke' is a 1975 film starring Tony Curtis as the Jewish-American gangster Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. It is often regarded by film critics as one of Tony Curtis's most underrated movies and one of his finest performances
Cast
* Tony Curtis as Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
* Anjanette Comer as Bernice Meyer
* Michael Callan as Robert Kane
* Warren Berlinger as Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro
* Gianni Russo as Albert "Lord High Executioner" Anastasia
* Milton Berle as Mr. Meyer
* Vic Tayback as Charlie "Lucky" Luciano
* Mary Charlotte Wilcox as Marion
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 films 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 Milo 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."
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.MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Pedestrian' Rights Acquired
Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 08 Feb 1974: e18.
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.Curtis p 303-304 His mother died during filming.Curtis p 298
Release
The film was sold to Warner Bros for $1.75 million.
References
Notes
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