''The Black Hand (The Birth of the Mafia)'' ( it, La mano nera) is a 1973 Italian

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

written and directed by

Antonio Racioppi Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

and starring Lionel Stander,

Rosanna Fratello Rosanna Fratello (born 26 March 1951) is an Italian singer and actress. Biography and career Born in San Severo, Foggia, Fratello emerged as singer in 1969, when she took part at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Il treno" and obtained h ...

and

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco ...

Plot

Italian-American cop

Joe Petrosino Joseph Petrosino (born Giuseppe Petrosino, ; August 30, 1860 – March 12, 1909) was an Italian-born New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who was a pioneer in the fight against organized crime. Crime fighting techniques that Petrosino ...

infiltrates the Mafia in turn of the 20th century New York.

Cast

Production

Luigi Cozzi, one of the nine credited screenwriters on the film that producer Carlo Infascelli wanted to change the script depending on the actors demands. For example, Cozzi claims that Infascelli had to change the film per Phillipe Leroy's request. Cozzi noted that he was phoned by Infascelli and was told to change the scenes per Leroy's demands within 24 hours. Cozzi noted he was often phoned and told to find reasons and ways things changed.

Release

''The Black Hand'' was released in Italy on March 16, 1973 where it was distributed theatrically by Roma Film. The film grossed 230.363 million

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

on its theatrical run.

Reception

John Raisback of the '' Monthly Film Bulletin'' reviewed an 85-minute dubbed version of the film, finding it having a "rambling plot line" and that large portions of the dubbed dialogue were lifted straight from ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

''.

Remake

In 2017, Paramount announced that it has acquired the movie rights for an English language adaptation. The new film, due for release in 2018, will star Leonardo DiCaprio as Joe, and will be partly based on

Stephan Talty Stephan Talty (born 1960) is an Irish American journalist and author born in New York to parents from County Clare. He is famous for creating the character of Abbie Kearney, a fictional female detective who pursues serial killers in Buffalo, New ...

's upcoming novelization of Petrosino's assassination.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Hand, The Italian crime films 1973 crime films 1973 films Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli 1970s Italian-language films 1970s Italian films