Lepke

Lepke (1975)

He was the king of crime when crime was king.

Lepke is the feared leader of "Murder Incorporated" in this underworld drama based on the life of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. Lepke began his criminal career as a petty thief in his teens; a stretch in prison taught him the finer points of life on the wrong side of the law. After getting out of jail, Lepke and his pal Gurrah Shapiro join a gang who hire themselves out as strikebreakers, and the vicious but clever Lepke soon rises through the ranks.

Date of release
1975-05-23
TMDB
5.3 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 50m
Genres
Drama, Crime
Director
Menahem Golan

Casting

Interesting facts

Lepke is a 1975 film starring Tony Curtis as the Jewish-American gangster Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. It is often regarded by film critics as one of Tony Curtis's most underrated movies and one of his finest performances.

Production

Menahem Golan had been a successful filmmaker in Israel and had ambitions to break into Hollywood. Lepke was to be the first of four films he intended to make there. Golan said he chose Lepke as a subject because he grew up on American gangster films of Bogart and Cagney. "I was afraid to touch a contemporary American subject and be disgraced like Miloš Forman and Antonioni," he said in a 1974 interview.

It was Curtis' first feature in a number of years - he had been working in TV and on the stage. Curtis called it "the best role I've ever had. Helluva colorful character and I age from 26 to 45 and die in the electric chair. And, you know, the guy who gave me the part came from Israel. No Hollywood producer would cast me for it."

Filming took place at Culver City studios.

In his 2008 autobiography American Prince Curtis admitted becoming heavily addicted to cocaine during filming; this addiction would last for a decade and significantly derailed his already troubled film career. His mother died during filming.

Golan intended to make two more period gangster films in succession to use the same sets and costumes to save money but only The Four Deuces was made - the third, Kill the Dutchman about Dutch Schultz, was not made until 1992.

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