The Valachi Papers (film)
| The Valachi Papers | |
|---|---|
French film poster | |
| Directed by | Terence Young |
| Screenplay by | Stephen Geller |
| Based on | The Valachi Papers by Peter Maas |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis Roger Duchet |
| Starring | Charles Bronson Lino Ventura Joseph Wiseman Jill Ireland Walter Chiari Gerald S. O'Loughlin Amedeo Nazzari |
| Cinematography | Aldo Tonti |
| Edited by | Johnny Dwyre Monica Finzi |
| Music by | Riz Ortolani Armando Trovajoli |
Production companies | Dino De Laurentiis Company Euro-France Films |
| Distributed by | Cineriz (Italy) S.N. Prodis (France) Cinema International Corporation (international) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 125 minutes |
| Countries | Italy France |
| Languages | English Italian |
| Budget | $4.2 million |
| Box office | $17,106,087 |
The Valachi Papers is a 1972 biographical crime film directed by Terence Young, which tells the story of Joseph Valachi, an American Mafia informant in the early 1960s who was the first ever mafioso to acknowledge the organization's existence. The film stars Charles Bronson as Valachi and Lino Ventura as Vito Genovese, along with Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, and Gerald S. O'Loughlin. It is an adaptation of the 1968 non-fiction book by Peter Maas, with a screenplay by Stephen Geller.
The film was an international co-production between Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis and French company Euro-France Films. It premiered on July 21, 1972 in Ireland. The Valachi Papers was a commercial success, but received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, many of whom negatively compared it to The Godfather.