The Valachi Papers (1972) on Netflix
Aging prisoner Joe Valachi learns that crime boss Vito Genovese has put a price on his head. An attempt on his life pushes him toward breaking the Mafia's code of silence.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.4/105,152 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
The Atlanta Federal Penitentiary holds Joe Valachi, an aging inmate serving time for smuggling heroin. Vito Genovese, the boss of his crime family, is locked up in the same prison and is convinced that Valachi has been informing on the organization. Genovese gives him the kiss of death, and Valachi kisses him back. Days earlier Valachi had survived an attack in the shower, which may have been ordered by Genovese. He has spent years in the Mafia, having entered it as a young criminal. With a price on his head and no safety inside the walls, Valachi is under pressure to break the code of silence.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Valachi Papers (1972)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Dino De Laurentiis had to convince Charles Bronson to play Joseph Valachi; Bronson turned the role down at least twice, accepting when he learned the character ages from his late teens to his early 60s.
- The real Dominick "Gap" Petrilli was killed over business matters, not over an affair with Vito Genovese's wife Anna; the film's subplot is based on the murder of Steven Franse, whom Valachi killed on Genovese's orders.
- The film's prison scenes set at Sing Sing were shot at the actual Sing Sing prison, with real convicts appearing as extras.
- Before Lino Ventura was cast in the film, the role of Vito Genovese had been offered to Marcello Mastroianni.
