Murder, Inc. (1960 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Murder, Inc. is a 1960 American gangster film starring Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan, Peter Falk, and Simon Oakland. The Cinemascope movie was directed by Burt Balaban and Stuart Rosenberg. The screenplay was based on the true story of Murder, Inc., a Brooklyn gang that operated in the 1930s.
Falk plays Abe Reles, a vicious thug who led the Murder, Inc. gang and was believed to have committed thirty murders, for which he was never prosecuted. The film was the first major feature role for Falk, who was nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award for his performance. In his 2006 autobiography, Just One More Thing, Falk said that Murder, Inc. launched his career.
The movie was the first film directed by Rosenberg, who later won acclaim for films that included Cool Hand Luke (1967), and also launched Stuart Whitman's career as a leading man.
A more highly fictionalized film on the same basic events, The Enforcer (1951), starring Humphrey Bogart, was released in the United Kingdom with the title Murder, Inc.
Plot summary
Abe Reles (Peter Falk) and Bug Workman (Warren Finnerty), two killers from Brooklyn's Brownsville district, meet in the Garment District to meet with Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, kingpin of an organized crime mob, who hires them as the syndicate's hit men.
Their first job is to kill Walter Sage (Morey Amsterdam), a Catskill resort owner who has been holding back slot machine profits from Lepke. To get close to Sage, Reles forces singer Joey Collins (Stuart Whitman), an old crony of Sage who owes Reles money, to help him. Reles and his henchman kill Sage. Reles visits Joey and threatens to kill him and his dancer wife Eadie (May Britt) if they tell anyone about the murder. Eadie throws Reles out. Reles later returns to the apartment when Joey is gone and brutally rapes her. Despite her urging Joey refuses to run away, and this causes him and Eadie to split up.
Reles continues to carry out assassinations at Lepke's direction. Reles reconciles with the couple by giving them a luxurious apartment filled with stolen goods. Under police pressure, Lepke hides out from the police at Joey and Eadie's new apartment. He treats Eadie like a maid.
District Attorney Burton Turkus (Henry Morgan) takes over the law enforcement campaign against Murder, Inc., enlisting local Brownsville police detective Tobin (Simon Oakland). Lepke orders the death of the entire Brownsville gang as well as Joey and Eadie. Eadie visits Turkus and becomes an informant, as does Joey. He then confronts Reles, who has been arrested, in his cell, and threatens to testify against him. In fear of that, Reles agrees to testify against Lepke in exchange for reduced charges. He provides a detailed account of the activities of Murder, Inc.
Turkus puts Joey and Reles in protective custody and hides them at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island. Eadie comes to visit Joey, imploring him to testify against Lepke. Joey is reluctant, fearing the mob will kill Eadie in revenge. Despondent, Eadie slips her police escort and wanders alone on the beachfront, where she is murdered. Later that night, Reles is thrown out the window by an assassin. Joey avenges his wife's death by testifying against Lepke, who is executed.
Cast
- Stuart Whitman – Joey Collins
- May Britt – Eadie Collins
- Henry Morgan – Burton Turkus
- Peter Falk – Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles
- David J. Stewart – Louis Lepke Buchalter
- Simon Oakland – Lt. Detective William Flaherty Tobin
- Sarah Vaughan – Nightclub Singer
- Morey Amsterdam – Walter Sage
- Eli Mintz – Joe Rosen
- Joseph Bernard – Mendy Weiss
- Warren Finnerty – Bug Workman
- Vincent Gardenia – Lazlo
- Helen Waters – Mrs. Rose Corsi
- Leon B. Stevens – Loughran
- Howard Smith – Albert Anastasia (as Howard I. Smith)
The film was the screen debut of Sylvia Miles, Seymour Cassel and Sarah Vaughan. Vincent Gardenia, who later became an acclaimed actor for his performance in Moonstruck, plays a small role.
