''The Pope of Greenwich Village'' is a 1984 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...

directed by

Stuart Rosenberg Stuart Rosenberg (August 11, 1927 – March 15, 2007) was an American film and television director whose motion pictures include ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), '' The Amityville Horror'' (1979), and ''The Pope of Gree ...

and starring

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

Daryl Hannah Daryl Christine Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her screen debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film '' The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various movies across the years, i ...

Geraldine Page Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Acad ...

, Kenneth McMillan and

Burt Young Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (born April 30, 1940), known professionally as Burt Young, is an American actor, author and painter. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the ''Rocky'' film series. He was nominated for ...

. Page was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her two-scene role. The film was adapted by

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Vincent Patrick Vincent Patrick is the author of the cult crime novels ''The Pope of Greenwich Village'' and ''Family Business''. He adapted both novels for the screen. ''The Pope of Greenwich Village'', directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Eric Roberts, ...

from his novel of the same name.

Plot

In an Italian neighborhood of

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, cousins Charlie, a

maître d'hôtel The ''maître d'hôtel'' (; ), head waiter, host, waiter captain, or ''maître d ( , ) manages the public part, or "front of the house", of a formal restaurant. The responsibilities of a ''maître d'hôtel'' generally include supervising the wa ...

with aspirations of someday owning his own restaurant, and Paulie, a schemer who works as a waiter, have expensive tastes but not much money. Paulie gets caught skimming checks, and he and Charlie are both fired. Now out of work and in debt, Charlie must find another way to pay his alimony, support his pregnant girlfriend Diane, and try to buy a restaurant. Paulie comes to Charlie with a seemingly foolproof robbery idea involving a large amount of cash in the safe of a local business. Charlie reluctantly agrees to participate, and they manage to crack the safe with help from an accomplice, Barney, a clock repairman and locksmith. But things go sour, resulting in the accidental death of police officer Walter "Bunky" Ritter, who had been secretly taping "Bed Bug" Eddie Grant. Charlie soon learns that the money they stole belongs to Eddie. The mob figures out that Paulie is involved, and not even his Uncle Pete, part of Eddie's crew, can help him. Eddie's henchmen cut off Paulie's left thumb as punishment. Diane leaves Charlie and takes his money to support their unborn child, while Paulie is forced to work as a waiter for Eddie. He gives the mob Barney's name but initially refuses to identify Charlie as the third man involved. However, under pressure, he is forced to rat on his cousin. Barney leaves town and Charlie mails him his cut of the loot. When Charlie makes $20,000 on a horse, things begin to look up. Charlie prepares for a showdown with Eddie, armed with a copy of the tape the police officer had made. But at the last moment, Paulie puts lye in Eddie's coffee; then he and Charlie casually walk away from Greenwich Village.

Cast

as Paulie *

as Charlie Moran *

as Diane *

as Mrs. Ritter * Kenneth McMillan as Barney * Tony Musante as Pete *

M. Emmet Walsh Michael Emmet Walsh (born March 22, 1935) is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 films and television series, including small but important supporting roles in dozens of major studio features of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in '' B ...

as Detective Burns *

as Eddie "Bed Bug Eddie" Grant *

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' ...

as Detective Walter "Bunky" Ritter *

Philip Bosco Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of '' Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 f ...

as Paulie's Father *

Val Avery Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

as Nunzi *

Joe Grifasi Joseph G. Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia (née Gaglione) and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bi ...

as Jimmy "The Cheese Man" * Tony DiBenedetto as Ronnie * Ronald Maccone as Nicky * Betty Miller as Nora * Gerard Murphy as Detective Garber * Tony Lip as Frankie *

Frank Vincent Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. During a five-decade career, Vincent often portrayed mobsters. He was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in ''Raging B ...

as 1st Crew Chief *

Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in ''Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in ''Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rosta ...

as Bartender At Sal's * Jacques Sandulescu as Chef *

Leonard Termo Leonard Termo (March 6, 1935 – October 30, 2012) was an American character actor whose numerous film and television roles included ''Fight Club'', ''Johnny Dangerously'', and ''Seinfeld''. Termo was born in Brooklyn, New York. He worked as a ...

as Waldo "Fat Waldo"

Production

This film was originally planned as the first on-screen pairing of actors

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

and

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 ...

, with De Niro playing Charlie and Pacino playing Paulie.

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Cimino achieved fame with ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Bes ...

was initially slated to direct the film. After Rourke and Roberts signed on as the leads, Cimino wanted to finesse the screenplay with some rewriting and restructuring. However, the rewriting would have taken Cimino beyond the mandated start date for shooting, so Cimino and MGM parted ways. The film was released under the title ''Village Dreams'' in continental Europe.

Reception

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 '' Chicago ...

'' gave the film three stars, saying, "It's worth seeing for the acting, and it's got some good laughs in it, and New York is colorfully observed, but don't tell me this movie is about human nature, because it's not; it's about acting." The film holds a 77% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Undisciplined direction and a clichéd story prevent ''The Pope of Greenwich Village'' from achieving greatness, but it's an entertaining showcase for its stars."

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

gave the film three stars, describing it as a "Richly textured, sharply observant film... Page stands out in great supporting cast." Maltin, Leonard (August 2008). ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'' (2009 ed.). New York, NY: Penguin Group. p. 1086. .

Legacy

The film is a favorite of the character

Vincent Chase Vincent Chase is a fictional character on the comedy-drama television series '' Entourage''. He is played by Adrian Grenier. Character biography Vincent Chase grew up in Queens, New York, along with neighbourhood friends Eric, Turtle, Dom, an ...

on the television show ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

''.

References

Citations

General references

*Heard, Christopher (2006). "Chapter Six: Iconic Measures". ''Mickey Rourke: High and Low''. London, England: Plexus Publishing Ltd. .

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope of Greenwich Village, The 1980s black comedy films 1980s crime comedy-drama films 1980s heist films 1984 films American black comedy films American crime comedy-drama films American heist films Films based on American novels Films directed by Stuart Rosenberg Films scored by Dave Grusin Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films United Artists films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films