''Billy Bathgate'' is a 1991 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. Th ...

directed by

Robert Benton Robert Douglas Benton (born September 29, 1932) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the writer and director of the film '' Kramer vs. Kramer'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Adapted ...

, starring

Loren Dean Loren Dean (born July 31, 1969) is an American actor. He has appeared on stage and in feature films. Early life Loren Dean Jovicic was born July 31, 1969, in Las Vegas, Nevada. His parents divorced when he was a small child. His mother won custo ...

as the title character and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American ...

as real-life gangster

Dutch Schultz Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer; August 6, 1901October 24, 1935) was an American mobster. Based in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s, he made his fortune in organized crime-related activities, including bootlegging and the n ...

. The film co-stars

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

, Steven Hill,

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

, and

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series '' Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero ...

. Although Billy is a fictional character, at least four of the other characters in the film were real people. The screenplay was adapted by British writer

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

from

E.L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...

's 1989 novel of the same name. Doctorow distanced himself from the film for the extensive deviations from the book. It received negative reviews and was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing a mere $15.5 million against its $48 million budget.

Plot

Billy Behan (

) is a poor Irish American teenager from

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Yo ...

in the 1920s. One day, he catches the attention of wealthy Jewish mobster

(

). Changing his last name to Bathgate after a local street, Billy goes to work for Schultz's organization, serving mostly as a

gofer A gofer, go-fer or gopher is an employee who specializes in the delivery of special items to their superior(s). Examples of these special items include a cup of coffee, a tool, a tailored suit, or a car. Outside of the business world, the term ...

for Schultz himself. Billy is present when Schultz personally commits two brutal murders: his trusted lieutenant, Bo Weinberg (

), who Schultz believes betrayed him after learning that Weinberg has been secretly meeting with rival bosses, is dumped in the water wearing cement shoes, and his top enforcer, "Big" Julie Martin ( Mike Starr), is personally shot dead by Dutch for stealing $50,000 from the organization's accounts and defiantly stating that he's "entitled" to it. Despite this, Billy comes to see Schultz as a father figure and the mob as his chance to make it big. Facing criminal charges of tax evasion in a court in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

, Schultz brings his entourage, including Billy and his mistress Drew Preston (

) (who was previously Bo's mistress), along as he temporarily moves into the local community. He successfully charms the residents, presenting himself as good natured and easygoing while doing many charitable acts, even faking conversion to Catholicism. While Dutch is attending his trial, Billy is assigned to watch Drew. His loyalties to Schultz are tested as he begins falling in love with the flirtatious Drew. Realizing that Dutch intends to have Drew murdered for cheating on him, Billy is able to get in contact with her real husband, wealthy Harvey (

Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His film roles include '' Terminator 2: Judgment Da ...

), who manages to take Drew home, whisking her out of harm's way on a private plane before Schultz's men can make their move. Despite being acquitted by a sympathetic jury, Dutch is soon indicted again. After running into difficulties paying for his legal defense, he decides to have state prosecutor

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: althou ...

assassinated; this request is denied by the mob's governing authority, the Commission, out of fear that killing Dewey will bring too much heat onto the Mafia. Schultz sends Billy to bribe a member of the Commission, but the bribe is rejected. When Billy returns with the bad news, Schultz angrily blames him for not doing enough and Billy is fired by Schultz's right-hand man, Otto Berman ( Steven Hill), who, seemingly foreseeing doom ahead for the out of control Schultz, lets him keep the bribe money as a gift. As Billy leaves, he is ambushed and beaten by gangsters working for Commission head

Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumenta ...

(

Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's ''Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in film ...

) and is then forced to watch as Luciano's men storm Dutch’s safe haven restaurant where he is dining; Dutch, Berman, and his two henchmen are swiftly gunned down. Billy is taken to meet Luciano, who tells him that he knows where Billy's family lives if he ever speaks of what happened to Dutch, before letting him go along with his envelope of cash.

Cast

as Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer *

as Drew Preston *

as Billy "Bathgate" Behan *

as Bo Weinberg * Steven Hill as Otto Berman *

as Charlie "Lucky" Luciano * Mike Starr as Jules "Big Julie" Martin *

as Irving Nitzberg * John Costelloe as Bernard "Lulu" Rosenkrantz * Billy Jaye as Mickey Marks * Timothy Jerome as

Dixie Davis J. Richard Davis (1905 – December 30, 1969), also known as Dixie Davis, was the lawyer for mobster Dutch Schultz. Biography Davis was born in New York City in 1905 and grew up in Tannersville, New York after his father, a tailor named Dav ...

* Stephen Joyce as James Joseph Hines * Robert F. Colesberry as Jack Kelly *

Frances Conroy Frances Hardman Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher on the television series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received four Prime ...

as Mary Behan, Billy's Mother *

Moira Kelly Moira Kelly (born on March 6, 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Kate Moseley in the 1992 film ''The Cutting Edge'' as well as single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama '' One Tree Hill''. She is also k ...

as Becky *

Kevin Corrigan Kevin Corrigan (born ) is an American character actor. He has appeared mostly in independent films and television since the 1990s, including as Uncle Eddie on the sitcom '' Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005). His film appearances include suppo ...

as Arnold *

as Harvey Preston *

Barry McGovern Barry McGovern (born 1948) is an Irish stage, film and television actor. He was educated at Castleknock College, Dublin. Background McGovern is a former member of the RTÉ Players and the Abbey Theatre Company. He has worked in theatre, film, ...

as Father McInerny * Terry Loughlin as Mr. Chambers *

Paul Herman Paul Herman (March 29, 1946 – March 29, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Randy in David O. Russell's dramedy ''Silver Linings Playbook'' (2012) and Whispers DiTullio in Martin Scorsese's crime epic ''The Irishman ...

as Dutch's Thug * Jack Mulcahy as Fire Inspector (uncredited) * Katharine Haughton as Charlotte

Production

The film was shot in

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Den ...

, North Carolina and

Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...

, New York.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an approval rating of 36% based on 25 reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "This refined, intelligent drama about thugs appeals considerably to the head but has little impact in the gut, which is not exactly how it should be with gangster films."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicag ...

gave it 2 out of 4 and wrote: "Billy Bathgate cost a lot of money to make, they say, but it's not there on the screen."

Box office

The movie debuted at No. 4 and underperformed against its $48 million budget.

Accolades

was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

References

External links

* * {{E. L. Doctorow 1990s crime drama films 1990s English-language films 1991 crime films 1991 drama films 1991 films American crime drama films Cultural depictions of Dutch Schultz Cultural depictions of Lucky Luciano Films about Jewish-American organized crime Films based on American novels Films directed by Robert Benton Films scored by Mark Isham Films set in the 1930s Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York (state) Films shot in North Carolina Films shot in South Carolina Films with screenplays by Tom Stoppard Touchstone Pictures films 1990s American films