The Valachi Papers (1972)

Sentenced to 15 years in prison, Joe Valachi (Charles Bronson) turns informant when he learns Mafia head (Lino Ventura) has put a $100,000 bounty on his head. Based on the non fiction book by Peter Maas and directed by Terence Young (FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE). Charles Bronson had been working in movies since 1951, mostly in supporting roles. In the late 1960s, he became an international star with a series of films made in Europe, most notably ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and solidified himself as a box office star in the U.S. with DEATH WISH (1974). In the 1970s, he ground out films like sausages making 21 films as a leading man in the 1970s alone. Most of the movies aren't very good and the majority of his films in the 1980s are an embarrassment. THE VALACHI PAPERS is one of the good ones and indeed, I think it's Bronson's best performance. Covering the 1930s to the 1960s, the film is based on the true story of Joseph Valachi, a Mafia informant who testified before the U.S. Senate acknowledging the existence of the Cosa Nostra for the first time. The film received negative reviews coming on the heels of THE GODFATHER but to be fair, VALACHI PAPERS doesn't "glamorize" the Mafia which THE GODFATHER (a far better film I grant you) does to some extent. A particularly graphic castration scene is typical of the film's grittiness. With Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman and Gerald S. O'Loughlin.