MovieChat Forums > The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) Discussion > Love the film, but Robards was all wrong

Love the film, but Robards was all wrong

posted 7 years ago by ben-thayer
2 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, Robards is a very competent actor and he can play sinister characters with the best of them. But there are *so* many pics of Al Capone one has to wonder why they selected an actor with absolutely no physical resemblance whatsoever to the real Capone.

So who would've been a closer match? James Coco perhaps? It might have worked...given the opportunity he may have made a good Capone, and his age was about right. Plus he was Italian, as was Capone.

But right now he's the only one I can think of.

Any other suggestions? I'm sure someone has a better one...

[–] PlatinumScreen (221) 5 years ago

Well-said, and I fully agree. I laugh when I see Robards playing Capone. It's almost like it's meant to be a comedic performance. Whatever casting director made that call made the wrong one.

Ernest Borgnine would've been a good one to play Capone. He had that wide, round face like Capone did. He was about 50 when the movie came out which doesn't line up with Capone's age of 30 when the real St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred. That probably wouldn't have been an issue though because Robards was 45 when the movie came out. Regardless of age, he would've been a better match.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Indeed.