Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Valachi Papers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 28, 2020

Terence Young's "The Valachi Papers" (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film; new audio commentary by film historian Paul Talbot; new video interview with make-up artist Giannetto De Rossi; new video interview with screenwriter Stephen Geller; and more. Also included with the release is an illustrated booklet featuring writings on the film and technical credits. In English or Italian, with optional English SDH and English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Earlier this year, Sony Pictures Classics produced a beautiful release of Marco Bellocchio's latest film, The Traitor, which sadly did not receive the attention it deserves. I would like to mention a couple of things about Bellocchio’s film because it has plenty in common with Terence Young’s The Valachi Papers.

The Traitor chronicles the rise and fall of Italian crime boss Tommaso Buscetta, who after becoming a target for some of his competitors committed the unthinkable crime -- breaking omerta. In the 1970s, Buscetta was a key figure in Cosa Nostra and was heavily involved with the proliferation of the drug business in Italy. For a while, he relocated to Brazil, where he attempted to create a new image for himself as a legit businessman, but when his rivals started slaughtering his relatives back home, he reacted and got caught. The Brazilian government then struck a deal with the Italian government and Buscetta was promptly extradited to Rome, where special prosecutor Giovanni Falcone began working with him to build a case against Cosa Nostra. Though Falcone was eventually killed by the people he was investigating, the case he initiated exposed Cosa Nostra’s activities and thanks to Buscetta’s detailed testimonies changed it forever.

The events in The Valachi Papers reconstruct a very similar dramatic hit on Cosa Nostra that had a lasting impact on its activities and public image. The film is based on Peter Maas’ international bestseller which gathers a lot of information from the trial against Joe Valachi, a made man who was part of Lucky Luciano’s clan. Like Buscetta, Valachi found himself involved with the drug business and eventually in trouble with the law, and while in prison received the dreaded il bacio della morte (kiss of death) from one of his former employers, crime boss Vito Genovese. Valachi had not broken omerta when Genovese declared that he is a dead man walking, but soon after, while fearing for his life and family, started talking. His testimonies were broadcast live on American TV and covered by news networks around the world and used by the authorities to detain various prominent gangsters.

The key similarity between The Valachi Papers and The Traitor is the abundance of information they provide suggesting -- and depending on the point of view perhaps also proving -- that Valachi and Buscetta were transformed into ‘rats’ by the very people they worked with and served. In other words, their betrayal was not the culmination of a long transformation that separated them from the criminal environment in which they prospered. It was a reactionary move that they saw as the only play that can guarantee their safety. Before their deals with the authorities, neither Valachi nor Buscetta had planned the massive structural damage Cosa Nostra suffered.

How Young and Bellocchio reconstruct the lives and deeds of their stars, however, are quite different. In The Valachi Papers, Charles Bronson essentially plays a classic cinematic macho gangster who undergoes a conventional transformation that sends him to the top and then straight to prison. The film also takes full advantage of the colorful period atmosphere and routinely emphasizes the action as if it is meant to appear in an unusually long vintage commercial. Unsurprisingly, other big stars, like Lino Ventura and Joseph Wiseman, shine bright as well. So, The Valachi Papers is a complete gangster film that takes its glamour very, very seriously. The Traitor has a different personality. It uses Buscetta’s trial to produce a complete profile of Cosa Nostra as a humongous international organization, which is why it also operates with a massive number of names and historical references. In many ways, it looks and feels like an extremely well-researched document on the transition from the old order that Cosa Nostra established in Italy after WWII to the new order that arrived with the proliferation of the drug business.

The Valachi Papers has a good reputation which is entirely deserved, but it is neither a great gangster film nor a detailed authoritative account of Valachi’s historic betrayal. Its main intent was to unite a few very big American and European stars while retelling a hot story virtually everyone had become familiar with.

The Valachi Papers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Valachi Papers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from an older master. To be honest, it is a bit of a mixed bag. There are certain areas where delineation and depth are decent, even good, with close-ups usually revealing the best results. However, a lot of the wider and darker shots where it should be very easy to recognize a wide range of nuances can look quite flat. In these shots grain has a tendency to become noisy; shadow definition can become quite problematic as well (see screencaptures #3 and 14). Predictably, depth can fluctuate quite a bit, and the bigger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to notice that there are areas that could and should look much better. The entire film has a stylized period appearance that favors particular primaries and supporting nuances. Both can be better saturated and balanced, and I am quite certain that if in the future a new 4K master is delivered some of the biggest improvements will be in the film's color scheme. Image stability is very good. Finally, there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. To sum it all up, this is a mostly decent presentation of the film, but the current master is old and has pretty obvious limitations. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Valachi Papers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0 and Italian LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH and English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film needs to be seen with the English track which features the original voices of its stars speaking their lines in English. It is the track that I used while revising the film and thought that it was very good. It is a bit uneven at times, with noticeable 'thinness', but this isn't a digital flaw. It is how the original audio was mastered after the film was completed. (In fact, even the English track has some overdubbing). The upper register is very healthy, but there are a couple of areas where very light hiss tries to sneak in. All in all, it is a very solid audio track.

The Valachi Papers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• U.S. Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Valachi Papers. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• German Trailer - a vintage German trailer for The Valachi Papers. In German, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• TV Spots - a couple of vintage TV spots for The Valachi Papers. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Radio Spot - a vintage radio spot for The Valachi Papers. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of vintage production and promotional materials for The Valachi Papers.

• The Valachi Hearings - presented here is archival footage from the congressional hearings that were held at Capitol Hill where Joe Valachi described the inner structure of Cosa Nostra. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).
  
  1. Joe Valachi Arrives at Capitol Hill
  2. The Initiation Ceremony
  3. The Banquet
  4. Narcotics and Killing
  5. The Kiss of Death

• Commentary - Paul Talbot, the ultimate authority on anything that has something to do with Charles Bronson, delivers yet another spectacular commentary that covers everything from the production of the The Valachi Papers to the specific locations that were chosen for key segments to the actual historical events that are recreated in the film to its visual style and tone. (There is even information on the fake gray hair that Bronson had to have to look older). Talbot, who is also very interested in the history of the mafia in America, has some great comments about many of its key figures. Fantastic commentary. (For some reason, on my disc Talbot's voice sounds slightly elevated. I am unsure why).

• Giannetto De Rossi: In the Make-up Room - in this new video interview, make-up artist Giannetto De Rossi recalls what it was like to work with Charles Bronson during the shooting of The Valachi Papers and shares his impressions of Terrence Young and Lino Ventura. (The comments about Young are not kind, but very, very accurate). In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (17 min).

• Stephen Geller: Reviewing the Evidence - in this new video interview, screenwriter Stephen Geller discusses some of the interesting ups and downs in his career, his initial contact with producer Dino De Laurentiis, and work on the screenplay for The Valachi Papers. In English, not subtitled. (35 min).

• Valachi: The Violent Era - presented here is an archival featurette with clips from interviews with Terence Young and Charles Bronson. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• On-set Footage - raw footage from the shooting of a key sequence from The Valachi Papers. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Booklet - an illustrated exclusive booklet with a new essay by Pasquale Iannone, newspaper reports on Joe Valachi's criminal career, excerpts from the source book by Peter Maas, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and technical credits.

The Valachi Papers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you are interested in finding out who the real Joe Valachi was and how his revelations defined Cosa Nostra to the public, you should read Peter Maas' international bestseller and spend some time digging into archival TV content. (Some of this content is included on this release, so your work is already cut in half). Terence Young's film is very nicely researched and plenty of it was shot on real locations, but it is not a detailed and authoritative account of Valachi's historic betrayal. It is a fine period gangster film whose main objective was to bring together some pretty big American and European stars while retelling a hot story everyone had become familiar with. This release is sourced from an old and somewhat shaky master but has a great selection of special features. As far as I am concerned, the audio commentary Paul Talbot recorded makes it unmissable because he truly is the ultimate authority on everything that has anything to do with Charles Bronson. If you decide to add the release to your collection, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.