Directed by:
William KarelScreenplay:
William KarelComposer:
Carolin PetitCast:
Ben Gazzara, Mickey Rooney, Kirk Douglas, Cyd Charisse, Anne Jeffreys, Marsha Hunt, Richard Erdman, Sara Sumara, Lauren Bacall (a.f.), James Cagney (a.f.), Van Heflin (a.f.), Edward G. Robinson (a.f.) (more)Plots(1)
In December 2007, a letter turned up at a post office in New York City that a certain Penny Baxter had written to Jim Kowalski back in 1949. She claimed that her husband, Mafia boss Tony Carlucci, wanted to murder her. For the elderly Jim Kowalski, this letter brings back a lot of memories. He's one of the few people left who experienced from up close how the love between an ambitious girl and her Mafia boss-boyfriend was doomed to failure, and how lots of heads rolled in the wake of history. Empire State Building Murders is an ode to American film noir, a feature film dressed up like a documentary. Director William Karel edited countless film excerpts from old classics into a black-and-white drama in which the Empire State Building plays a key role. Using material from such classics as The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, Casablanca and Gun Crazy, Karel also got real actors from the 1930s and 1940s to play characters in his 2008 Mafia drama. Living legends like Kirk Douglas and Ben Gazzara talk about the past, in which Lauren Bacall is Penny, and even Humphrey Bogart comes along for the ride. Completely in the style of the time, we also hear dialogue like "They split up just before midnight," and "That girl was trouble. She had a pair of knockers that would stop your heart." (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)
(more)Cast
Ben Gazzara
USA
Best movies:
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Dogville (2003)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Mickey Rooney
USA
Best movies:
Captains Courageous (1937)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
Kirk Douglas
USA
Best movies:
Paths of Glory (1957)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Lust for Life (1956)
Cyd Charisse
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Deep in My Heart (1954)
The Harvey Girls (1946)
Anne Jeffreys
USA
Best movies:
Nevada (1944)
Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)
Zombies on Broadway (1945)
Marsha Hunt
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
The Valley of Decision (1945)
Richard Erdman
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Heidi's Song (1982)
Lauren Bacall (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Misery (1990)
Dogville (2003)
The Big Sleep (1946)
James Cagney (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
One, Two, Three (1961)
White Heat (1949)
Van Heflin (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Airport (1970)
Act of Violence (1948)
Once a Thief (1965)
Edward G. Robinson (a.f.)
Romania
Best movies:
Double Indemnity (1944)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Lizabeth Scott (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Loving You (1957)
Dead Reckoning (1947)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Simone Simon (a.f.)
France
Best movies:
La Ronde (1950)
The Human Beast (1938)
Le Plaisir (1952)
Lawrence Tierney (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
A Child Is Waiting (1963)
Richard Widmark (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Night and the City (1950)
Patrick Floersheim
France
Best movies:
Asterix in Britain (1986)
Asterix vs. Caesar (1985)
La Voie Jackson (1981) (TV movie)