BOXCAR BERTHA (1972)

 This seems to be one of those Martin Scorsese-directed films that doesn't get brought up much when people talk about his career. That's kind of a shame because, even though it's not my favorite of his filmography(TAXI DRIVER? MEAN STREETS?), it's still a pretty amazing film for being so early in his career. Made for producer Roger Corman's AIP studios to obviously cash-in on the success of  BONNIE AND CLYDE from a  couple of years earlier, this definitely has the Corman-feel to it throughout most of it's run time up until it pulls out all stops and gives us a super bloody ending scene which includes multiple gory shotgun wounds and even a crucifixion! This ending wallop foreshadows the one in TAXI DRIVER though things seem even bleaker here under the depression-era circumstances. Worth checking out instead of any of that more current junk Mr. Martin has put out. Also as a bonus you get to see Barbara Hershey very nude if that's your thing and in what I'm thinking is a rare occurrence David and his dad John Carradine get to act opposite each other in at least one scene.




                                        Known in Italy as AMERICA 1929:

and in Germany as THE FIST OF THE REBELS?: 

MEAN STREETS (1973)

 I guess you could call this Martin Scorcese's dry run for GOODFELLAS. They both deal with gangsters but this one feels like a much more personal film dealing with religion, morality and the code of the streets. Also the gangsters here seem pretty amateurish compared to the big-time grand-theft criminals in his later films. This movie also is less violent and really works mainly due to two things; an amazing soundtrack and great dialogue. Seeing this recently in a theater from an actual film print the soundtrack was the major highlight. I also couldn't help but be reminded of Abel Ferrara's BAD LIEUTENANT which also stars Harvey Keitel, borrows at least one song and has a similar ending to this. Both films work equally well though and this one has to get extra credit for creating the modern-day mobster film.

   

GOODFELLAS (1990)

 Most people would probably go with THE GODFATHER as the greatest mobster film of all time but this is the one I would choose and I've re-watched it way more times than Francis Ford Coppola's epic.
  What can you say about this movie?  Everyone and their Uncle Nickie knows this movie inside and out and probably quotes it on a semi-regular basis.  Martin Scorsese re-invents and perfects the gangster movie and it's all based on actual events.  He also proves that he is one of the most important American filmmakers ever.  Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci would both go on to become walking parodies of their on-screen personas partially due to the popularity of this film.  Ray Liotta would go on to have his brains eaten in that Hannibal Lecter movie and Mr. Scorsese would go on to pretty much remake this a few years later as CASINO and that movie was also just about equally amazing.  In this one you get an iconic kitchen knife stabbing, a foot shot off and plenty of beatings and shootings to go around.  Also interesting and unique is the way the voice-over narration jumps from one character to the next giving you differing points of view to create a believable world of criminal hi-jinks.  Martin Scorsese's mom shows up playing Pesci's mom which is one of my favorite scenes just because it seems so silly in the middle of such a deadly serious course of actions.  Easily one of the best films to come out of the awful decade known as the 90's.  If you haven't seen this yet what the fuck are you waiting for?

AMERICAN BOY: A PROFILE OF: STEVEN PRINCE (1978)

 Besides all the well known, super successful, mainstream movies director Martin Scorcese has made over the years he's also made a bunch of interesting oddball short films and little documentaries on various subjects.  This one is about the guy who played the speeded-up gun/drug-dealer in TAXI DRIVER.  If you're as obsessed with that film as I am this is an interesting look at the actor behind that role.  This guy has led some life from being a road manager for Neil Diamond to being a junkie to just getting into all kinds of general strange hi-jinks.  He seems like the kind of guy you would want to hang out with and have a few beers.  In the movie's most insane bit he tells a story about blowing a guy away with a 44 Magnum that's really unforgettable.  It's also interesting to note that Quentin Tarantino stole the scene of Uma Thurman being shot up with adrenaline to the heart from this guy's real life.  Has that guy ever had an original thought?
     In 2009 there was a sequel to this by another filmmaker with something titled AMERICAN PRINCE but I've never seen that one.

This movie was considered lost for many years but apparently a bootleg was floating around because it's out there now: