Gangster Wars
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| Gangster Wars | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard C. Sarafian |
| Produced by | Stuart Cohen |
| Written by | Richard DeKoker |
| Starring | Michael Nouri Joe Penny Brian Benben Kathleen Lloyd Madeleine Stowe Markie Post Allan Arbus Louis Giambalvo James Andronica Robert Davi Joseph Mascolo Kenneth Tigar Richard S. Castellano Jon Polito Jonathan Banks George DiCenzo Robert F. Lyons Richard Foronjy |
| Music by | John Cacavas |
| Distributed by | CIC |
| Release date(s) | April 9, 1981 |
| Running time | 121 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Gangster Wars is a 1981 crime drama directed by Richard Sarafian
[edit] Synopsis
The film tells the story of three teenagers, based on real life gangsters Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Michael Nouri), Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (Joe Penny) and Michael Lansker (Brian Benben) (a fictional character possibly modeled after Meyer Lansky), growing up in New York's ghettos during the early 1900s to their rise though organized crime.
[edit] Adaptation
This movie is based on an original telecast from 1981 called "Gangster Chronicles". It was a three-hour opener for the subsequent miniseries. In addition to the characters above Brian Benben's character is a fictional composite of several mobsters (here named "Michael Lasker"). While the miniseries covered nearly four decades, the opener takes us from 1907 to the Prohibition era of the 1920s. After its initial run, the entire Gangster Chronicles saga was boiled down to 121 minutes and released to videocassette as Gangster Wars.
[edit] External links
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"Gangster Wars" was cut from the first eight hours of the series, written as a stand alone mini-series by "Richard deKoker" the pseudonym of the writer who took his name off the project when NBC decided to make "The Gangster Chronicles: An American Story" a television series.
Jack Laird was first assigned as executive producer for both the first eight hours and the next five ordered. He was replaced by Matthew Rapf. The series ran one season, with the final five hours written by Art Eisenson, Mark Rodgers, David Assael, and Steve McPherson. Universal had Matthew Rapf produce a second theatrical, called "Gangster Wars Part II," from the final five hours and some new material written by Art Eisenson, but it is not known whether that film was ever released.
