|
Serpico
''Serpico'' is a 1973 American neo-noir biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino in the title role. The screenplay was adapted by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler from the book of the same name written by Peter Maas with the assistance of its subject, Frank Serpico. The story details Serpico's struggle with corruption within the New York City Police Department during his eleven years of service, and his work as a whistleblower that led to the investigation by the Knapp Commission. Producer Dino De Laurentiis purchased the rights from Maas. Agent Martin Bregman joined the film as co-producer. Bregman suggested Pacino for the main part, and John G. Avildsen was hired to direct the film. Pacino met with Serpico to prepare for the role early in the summer of 1973. After Avildsen was dismissed, Lumet was hired as his replacement. On a short notice, he selected the shooting locations and organized the scenes; the production was filmed in July and Augus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Serpico
Francesco Vincent Serpico (born April 14, 1936) is an American retired New York Police Department detective, best known for whistleblowing on police corruption. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a plainclothes police officer working in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan to expose vice racketeering. In 1967, he reported credible evidence of widespread police corruption, to no effect. In 1970, he contributed to a front-page story in ''The New York Times'' on widespread corruption in the NYPD, which drew national attention to the problem. Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed a five-member panel to investigate accusations of police corruption, which became the Knapp Commission. Serpico was shot in the face during an arrest attempt on February 3, 1971, at 778 Driggs Avenue, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The bullet severed an auditory nerve, and left bullet fragments lodged in his brain. The circumstances surrounding Serpico's shooting were quickly called into question, raising the poss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him one of the few performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting. He has also been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts. A method actor and former student of the HB Studio and the Actors Studio, where he was taught by Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg, Pacino's film debut came at the age of 29 with a minor role in ''Me, Natalie'' (1969). He gained favorable notice for his first lead role as a heroin addict in '' The Panic in Needle Park'' (1971). Wide acclaim and recognition came with his breakthrough role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), and ''The Verdict'' (1982) and one for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Prince of the City'' (1981). He did not win an individual Academy Award, but did receive an Academy Honorary Award, and 14 of his films were nominated for Oscars. According to ''The Encyclopedia of Hollywood'', Lumet was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the modern era, directing more than one movie a year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. Turner Classic Movies notes his "strong direction of actors", "vigorous storytelling" and the "social realism" in his best work. Film critic Roger Ebert described him as "one of the finest craftsmen and warmest humanitarians among all film directors".Ebert, Roger"Sidney Lumet: In memory"''Chicago Sun Times,'' Apr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knapp Commission
The Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption (known informally as the Knapp Commission, after its chairman Whitman Knapp) was a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate corruption within the New York City Police Department. The creation of the commission was largely a result of the publicity generated by the public revelations of police corruption made by Patrolman Frank Serpico and Sergeant David Durk. The commission concluded that the NYPD had systematic corruption problems, confirming the existence of widespread corruption and made a number of recommendations. Members In 1970, Mayor Lindsay appointed five members to serve on the Knapp Commission: * Whitman Knapp, chair * Arnold Bauman (later replaced by John E. Sprizzo) * Joseph Monserrat * Franklin A. Thomas * Cyrus Vance Investigation and public hearings While the Knapp Commission began its investigation of corruption in the police department in June 1970, publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Bregman
Martin Leon Bregman (May 18, 1926 – June 16, 2018) was an American film producer and personal manager. He produced many films, including '' Scarface'', ''Sea of Love'', ''Venom'', ''Serpico'', ''Dog Day Afternoon'', '' The Four Seasons'', ''Betsy's Wedding'', ''Carlito's Way'', '' Carlito's Way: Rise to Power'', ''The Bone Collector'', and ''The Adventures of Pluto Nash''. Early life Bregman was born in New York City to Leon and Ida (Granowski) Bregman. He was Jewish and grew up in the Bronx. As a child, he suffered from polio. He began his career selling insurance and first got into the entertainment business as a night club agent. Career Building relationships with investors such as New York real estate magnate Lewis Rudin, Bregman moved successfully into personal management, eventually representing such stars as Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda and Bette Midler. Bregman discovered Pacino in an Off Broadway play, and helped to support the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Grover
Edward D. Grover (October 23, 1932 – November 22, 2016) was an American film, stage and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing Tony Baretta's supervisor Lieutenant Hal Brubaker in the American detective television series ''Baretta''. Grover also played as Inspector Lombardo in the 1973 film ''Serpico''. Grover was born in Huntington Park, California, the son of Edna and A. Dee Grover. After living in Colorado and Illinois, Grover attended DeVilbiss High School in Toledo where he graduated in 1950. After serving in the Korean War from 1954 to 1956 Grover was awarded a bachelor's degree by the University of Toledo in 1957, and received a scholarship for postgraduate study at the University of Texas at Austin in 1958. He graduated from the American Shakespeare Festival Academy before studying theatre at Juilliard School. Grover began his acting career in 1959. He performed with the repertory theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and also with the McCarter Compan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waldo Salt
Waldo Miller Salt (October 18, 1914 – March 7, 1987) was an American screenwriter who won Academy Awards for both ''Midnight Cowboy'' and '' Coming Home''. Early life and career Salt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winifred (née Porter) and William Haslem Salt, an artist and business executive. He graduated from Stanford University in 1934. The first of the nineteen films he wrote or co-wrote was released in 1937 with the title ''The Bride Wore Red''. Salt's career in Hollywood was interrupted when he was blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951. Like many other blacklisted writers, while he was unable to work in Hollywood, Salt wrote under a pseudonym for the British television series ''The Adventures of Robin Hood''. After the collapse of the blacklist, Salt won Academy Awards for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for his work on ''Midnight Cowboy'' and '' Coming Home' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Wexler
Norman Wexler (August 16, 1926 – August 23, 1999) was an American screenwriter whose work included films such as ''Saturday Night Fever'', ''Serpico'' and ''Joe''. A New Bedford, Massachusetts native and 1944 Central High School graduate in Detroit, Wexler attended Harvard University before moving to New York in 1951. Career Wexler wrote the screenplays for several hit films, most notably ''Joe'', ''Serpico'', '' Mandingo'' and ''Saturday Night Fever''. He received Oscar nominations for ''Joe'' and ''Serpico''. According to Bob Zmuda, ''Saturday Night Fever'' made Wexler a wealthy man. He was a much sought-after script doctor, reworking the scripts for ''Lipstick'' and '' The Fan''. Wexler also was a serious and accomplished playwright. Several of his plays were produced off-Broadway and in regional theaters. His play ''The Rope'' was produced at Cafe La MaMa on New York, ''Red's My Color, What's Yours?'' won the Cleveland Playhouse Award, and his most recent work ''Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Kehoe
Jack Kehoe (November 21, 1934 – January 14, 2020) was an American film actor appearing in a wide variety of films, including the crime dramas ''Serpico'' (1973), ''The Pope of Greenwich Village'' (1984) and Brian De Palma's ''The Untouchables'' (1987), as well as the cult favorites ''Car Wash'' (1976) and ''Midnight Run'' (1988), the popular western ''Young Guns II'' (1990), and ''On the Nickel'' (1980). Kehoe was born in Astoria, New York. After serving in the Air Force, he studied acting under Stella Adler. On Broadway, Kehoe appeared in ''The Ballad of the Sad Cafe'' (1963) and ''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'' (1977). Kehoe appeared in several Academy Award-winning films, including Jonathan Demme's ''Melvin and Howard'' (1980) and Best Picture winner ''The Sting'' (1973), in which Kehoe (as grifter Joe Erie, ''alias'' The Erie Kid). His various TV credits included roles in ''The Twilight Zone'', '' Murder, She Wrote'' and ''Miami Vice''. After appearing alongside Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can use a variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations. Over 83% of whistleblowers report internally to a supervisor, human resources, compliance, or a neutral third party within the company, hoping that the company will address and correct the issues. A whistleblower can also bring allegations to light by communicating with external entities, such as the media, government, or law enforcement. Whistleblowing can occur in either the private sector or the public sector. Retaliation is a real risk for whistleblowers, who often pay a heavy price for blowing the whistle. The most common form of retaliation is abrupt termination of employment. However, several other actions may also be conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikis Theodorakis
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film), Zorba the Greek'' (1964), ''Z (1969 film), Z'' (1969), and ''Serpico'' (1973). He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the The Holocaust, Holocaust" and possibly his best work. Up until his death, he was viewed as Greece's best-known living composer. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. Politically, he was associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Despite this however, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party in 1989, in order for the country to emerge from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Randolph (actor)
Emanuel Hirsch Cohen (June 1, 1915 – February 24, 2004), better known by the stage name John Randolph, was an American film, television and stage actor. Early life Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City on June 1, 1915, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania. His mother, Dorothy (married and maiden names, née Shorr), was an insurance agent, and his father, Louis Cohen, was a hat manufacturer. In the 1930s, he spent his summers at the Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols, Connecticut which was the summer home of the Group Theatre (New York), Group Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in 1938 in ''Coriolanus (play), Coriolanus''. Randolph joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. He had a small role in the 1948 film ''The Naked City''. He and wife Sarah Cunningham (actress), Sarah Cunningham were blacklisted from working in Hollywood films and in New York film and television and radio after 1948. In 1955 they were both called before the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
