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Plot

This true crime story was hardly "ripped from today's headlines," since the events took place some 20 to 30 years before the movie was released. Still, Murder, Inc. is not afraid to name names, notably those of syndicate boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter (David J. Stewart) and killer Abe Reles (Peter Falk), who squeals on the Mob to earn immunity. The activities of Buchalter's murder-for-hire operation are played against a fictional story about a nightclub singer (Stuart Whitman) and a dancer (May Britt). Murder, Inc. has a queasy, unsettling quality, due in part to some offbeat casting: TV comedian Henry Morgan co-stars as a dead-serious federal agent, while "human joke machine" Morey Amsterdam shows up as a cabaret entertainer who is stabbed by the Mob. The film was a major boost for the career of Peter Falk, who very nearly managed to parlay his Murder, Inc. supporting role into an Academy Award.
MPAA Rating:
Genre(s):
Crime and Mystery,Thriller
Run Time:
103min.
DVD Release Date:
05/23/2006
Distributor(s):
20th Century Fox
Director(s):
Burt Balaban , Stuart Rosenberg
Starring:
Stuart Whitman , Mai Britt , Henry Morgan , Peter Falk , Sarah Vaughan
Themes:
Witness Protection,Hired Killers
Tone:
Atmospheric,Forceful,Gritty,Stylized,Tense
Keywords:
hitman,mob-boss,organized-crime,testimony
Language:
English