Crime Story (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crime Story | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Crime / Drama |
| Created by | Chuck Adamson Gustave Reininger |
| Starring | Dennis Farina Anthony John Denison John Santucci Stephen Lang Bill Smitrovich Ted Levine |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 18, 1986 – May 10, 1988 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Crime Story was an NBC TV drama created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson. It was executive produced by Michael Mann. The show premiered with a two hour pilot - a movie which had been exhibited theatrically - and was watched by over 30 million viewers. Crime Story then was scheduled to follow Miami Vice on Friday nights, and continued to attract a record number of viewers. NBC then moved the show to Tuesdays at 10 pm to counter program it opposite ABC's Moonlighting.
Set in the early - pre-Beatles -1960s, the series pitted two men against each other - Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and mobster Ray Luca, (Anthony Denison) - in an obsessive drive to destroy each other. As Luca moved from street crime in Chicago, was "made" in the Chicago Outfit and was sent to Las Vegas to monitor their casinos, Det. Mike Torello followed Luca, as part of a special Organized Crime Task Force.
The first season ended with Ray Luca and Pauli Taglia on the lam, hiding from Det. Mike Torello, in a Nevada desert shack, which is located in an Atomic Bomb test area. An A-Bomb explodes, presumably obliteraing Luca and Taglia, in one of the most memorable cliffhangers in television history, leaving viewers wondering whether they were dead or alive, just as the show's creator were wondering if the series itself was dead or alive with NBC.[1]
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[edit] Production
After the success of the first season of Miami Vice, Mann had complete freedom with NBC for another show.[2] According to Mann, the genesis of the project was to follow a group of police officers in a major crimes unit in 1963 and how they change over 20 hours of television, "in 1980, with very different occupations, in a different city and in a different time."[3] He asked Reininger and Adamson to write the a series pilot and a "Bible."
Reininger was a former Wall Street international investment banker who had come to Mann's attention based on a screenplay he had written about arson investigators, and a French film that he had written and produced. Reininger researched Crime Story by winning the confidence of Detective William Hanhardt who put him in touch with undercover officers in Chicago. They sent him on meetings with organized crime figures. Reininger risked wearing a body microphone and recorder. After visiting the crime scene of a gruesome gangland slaying of bookmaker Al Brown, Reininger backed off his Mob interviews.[2]
In a June 1986 press conference, Mann said that the first season of the show would go from Chicago in 1963 to Las Vegas in 1980.[3] He said, "It's a serial in the sense that we have continuing stories, and in that sense the show is one big novel."[3] Mann and Reininger's inspiration for the 1963-1980 arc came from their mutual admiration of the epic 15+ hour film, Berlin Alexanderplatz, by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder'.[4] Mann said, "The pace of our story is like the speed of light compared to that, but that's the idea - if you put it all together at the end you've got one hell of a 22-hour movie."[4] Mann predicted a five-year network run for the show.[4] However, due to budgetary constraints (the need for four sets of cars proved to be too expensive)[2]. Tartikoff eventually allowed their series to move to Las Vegas for the last quarter of the 22 episodes.
NBC head Brandon Tartikoff (who had started his career in Chicago) gave an order for a two-hour movie, which had a theatrical release in a handful of U.S. theaters to invited guests only.[4] Tartikoff also ordered 22 episodes which allowed Reininger and Adamson to tell a story with developing character arcs, and continuing stories (instead of episodic, self standing shows.). The ratings which began very strong when it followed Miami Vice, dipped when it was counter-programmed against ABC's Moonlighting.[5] This prompted the network to move the show to Friday nights after Miami Vice on December 5, 1986[2] where its ratings improved but it still lost to Falcon Crest.[5] NBC temporarily pulled Crime Story off the schedule on March 13, 1987. In order to get more people to watch, Farina and other cast members promoted the show in five U.S. cities.[5] After the first season, the show was nominated for three Emmys, all in technical categories.[6] By the second season, an average episode cost between $1.3 and 1.4 million because it was shot on location, set during the 1960s and featured a large cast.[7]
Two famous rock and roll musicians of the past contributed to Crime Story: Del Shannon sang a revised version of his hit "Runaway" as the theme song, and Todd Rundgren started the musical direction of the series with Al Kooper taking over as the series musical director.
[edit] Influences
Crime Story and its imitator Wiseguy were the prototypes for today's arc-driven television series, such as 24 and The Sopranos that have continuing story lines over multiple episodes.
In addition, Martin Scorsese directed and produced his movie "Casino" loosely basing it on elements of "Crime Story," which was recognized at the "Casino" premiere as an inspiration. Joe Pesci played the Spilotro character. With Spilotro dead, "Casino" writer Nick Pileggi was able tell much more of the details surrounding the Chicago "Outfit" and its Casino operations in Las Vegas.
[edit] Cast
| Dennis Farina | Lt. Mike Torello |
| Anthony Denison | Ray Luca |
| John Santucci | Pauli Taglia |
| Stephen Lang | David Abrams |
| Bill Smitrovich | Sgt. Danny Krychek |
| Bill Campbell | Det. Joey Indelli |
| Paul Butler | Det. Walter Clemmons |
| Steve Ryan | Det. Nate Grossman |
| Ted Levine | Frank Holman |
| Andrew Dice Clay | Max Goldman |
| Jon Polito | Phil Bartoli |
| Joseph Wiseman | Manny Weisbord |
| Darlanne Fluegel | Julie Torello (1986-87) |
[edit] Notable Guest Appearances
The series featured many well-known actors and actresses before they were well known.
- David Caruso appeared as Johnny O'Donnell in the pilot (episodes 1 and 2). He appeared in flashback scenes in episode 12, and in episode 19 of the second season.
- Julia Roberts appeared as a juvenile rape victim in "The Survivor" episode in season 1. It was her first TV appearance.
- Kevin Spacey appeared in second season premiere as a crusading, Kennedy-esque Senator. This was his first major television appearance.
- Deborah Harry appeared in the second to last episode of season 1, "Top Of The World", as the girlfriend of mobster Ray Luca. She did not sing.
- Gary Sinise appeared in the season 1 episode "For Love Or Money", as Howie Dressler, a husband forced to steal to pay for his wife's iron lung. He also directed two episodes, credited as "Gary A. Sinise."
- Ving Rhames appeared in the season 1 episode "Abrams For The Defense," as Hector Lincoln, a husband and father accused of assaulting his landlord. This was Rhames's second television appearance.
- William Russ was featured during the opening credits, even though his character (an MCU detective) was murdered in the pilot.
- Christian Slater played a teenager who discovered a body in the episode "Old Friends, Dead Ends".
- Paul Guilfoyle appeared in "Hide and Go Thief" as a criminal who gets into a shootout with the MCU. His hostage was played by Lorraine Bracco. Bracco's sister Elizabeth played a hostage in the pilot episode.
- Michael Rooker played a uniformed police officer in the pilot episode.
- Lili Taylor played a waitress in Frank Holman's Diner in the episode "Hide and Go Thief".
- Pam Grier played Suzanne Terry, an investigative journalist and girlfriend of federal attorney David Abrams, in five episodes spread out over both seasons.
- Jazz musician Miles Davis made a cameo in the first season episode "The War," and shared the scene with Stephen Lang.
- Stanley Tucci played bomber Zack Lowman in "The Battle of Las Vegas".
- David Hyde Pierce appears in the second season episode "Mig 21," as NSA Agent Carruthers (billed as David Pierce). That episode also featured George Dzundza, who would have later success on Law & Order.
- Season Two episode "Protected Witness" featured both Laura San Giacomo as Theresa Farantino, and Billy Zane as Frankie 'The Duke' Farantino.
- Michael J. Pollard played pimp Leon Barski, and William Hickey played Judge Neville Harmon in "The Brothel Wars."
- Dennis Haysbert appeared in "Moulin Rogue" and "Seize the Time" as the bookkeeper of a jazz club.
- Among others, Eric Bogosian, Michael Madsen, Vincent Gallo, and Armin Shimerman.
[edit] DVD Releases
Anchor Bay Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.
A Region 4 release of Season 1 has been classified by the OFLC."[8]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | November 4, 2003 |
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| Season 2 | 22 | September 20, 2005 |
[edit] Basis in Chicago crime history
Before becoming an actor, Dennis Farina was a member of the Chicago police department, as was series co-creator Adamson. Adamason was a Sergeant and Farina was Detective in Chicago's Central Investigative Unit, the real-life counterpart to the "Major Crimes Unit" in the series, which was commanded by Det. William Hanhardt. John Santucci, who played mobster and safecracker Pauli Taglia, was, in his past, a notorious jewel thief. The museum score depicted in the pilot episode was based on a real heist in which Santucci participated. In his previous career Santucci had been arrested by both Adamson and Farina, and was a confidential informer for Det. William Handhardt.
Many of the early episodes were composited stories based on the Chicago mob, called "The Outfit", and the CIU, the special crimes and criminal unit of the Chicago Police Department that tracked the mobsters, and was run by Det. William Handardt. Torello was based on Det. William Hanhardt, the real life head of the anti-mob unit. Hanhardt's exploits were legendary in Chicago's press and police files. Reininger and Adamson based Luca, on Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro. Spilotro started as the head of a sophisticated burglary "crew." He attracted the attention of Chicago Outfit because he "fenced" his merchandise through their associates. Spilotro is considered by the FBI to have made his "bones" by assassinating the legendary head of the Chicago Outfit, Sam "Momo" Giancana, who had become a liability because of his involvement with the CIA in events surrounding the Bay of Pigs. Spilotro went from street thief to mafia chief in record time. Eventually, he was sent to Las Vegas to monitor the unreported cash that was "skimmed" from Chicago crime-syndicate-owned casinos back to their bosses in the Windy City, and then distributed to other Mob "investors" in Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, and Cleveland.
Spilatro was unsuccessfully prosecuted several times by Federal authorities. He never served jail time. In 1986, he was the target of a massive prosecutorial effort led by the Las Vegas and Chicago branches of the U. S. Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force. In early 1986, he was on trial in Federal Court in Las Vegas, being defended by attorney Oscar Goodman, who eventually was elected the Mayor of Las Vegas. Reininger was supoenaed as a material witness for Spilotro, who was alleging that the only way Reininger could have written scripts and the series "Bible" was by having access to Federal wiretaps of Spilotro. Reininger in turn discovered that his New York phones were being monitored. Reininger was served Spilotro's subpoena, and given a deadly warning, in a New York hotel bar by private detective Anthony Pellicano, who in 2006 was imprisoned for illegal wiretapping, blackmail and harassment while representing notable Los Angeles entertainment figures.
Ironically Spilotro, like Giancana before him, had become a liability to the "Outfit." On a weekend trial recess, Spilotro returned home to Chicago and was brutally murdered along with his brother Michael, and buried in an Indiana cornfield. The case was dismissed, and Reininger, who had sent all his "Crime Story" work materials to a former banking associate in Zurich, Switzerland, did not have to testify.
[edit] References
- ^ Schwed, Mark. "A Real Mann's World", United Press, September 20, 1986.
- ^ a b c d Baker, Kathryn. "Crime Story creator left Wall Street for mean streets", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 18, 1986.
- ^ a b c Bass, Kelley. "Michael Mann's Crime Story to cover a lot of ground", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 18, 1986.
- ^ a b c d Anderson, Bill. "Crime Story's Case Stretches All Season", Toronto Star, September 9, 1986.
- ^ a b c Buck, Jerry. "Dennis Farina's Toughest Case is Saving Crime Story", Associated Press, March 5, 1987.
- ^ Baker, Kathryn. "Crime Story Cast and Crew Happy to be Back", Associated Press, September 21, 1987.
- ^ Mahoney, William. "Michael Mann's High-Style Crimes", Electronic Media, November 28, 1988.
- ^ The Classification Board and Classification Review Board (October 16, 2007).
