Pay or Die
Pay or Die is a 1960 American biographical and crime film directed by Richard Wilson and starring Ernest Borgnine, Zohra Lampert, Howard Caine, Alan Austin, and Robert F. Simon.
| Pay or Die | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Wilson |
| Written by | Bertram Millhauser Richard J. Collins |
| Produced by | Richard Wilson |
| Starring | Ernest Borgnine |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Edited by | Walter Hannemann |
| Music by | David Raksin |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,500,000 (US/ Canada)[1] |
The film is a dramatization of the career of New York City police officer Joseph Petrosino, a pioneer in the fight against organized crime in America. The film deals primarily with Petrosino and his Italian Squad's opposition to the extortion rackets of the Black Hand in lower Manhattan's Little Italy.
Plot
The rookie Petrosino convinces the Police Commissioner of New York City to allow him to form a special squad to combat The Black Hand on its own grounds, as success depends on the ability to speak Italian and to convince the ordinary citizens of the tenements that gangsters are not heroes to worship. Petrosino's initial opponent is Lupo Miano, a leading extorntionist. But he soon suspects it runs deeper than Lupo's obvious rackets.
Rather shy socially, Petrosino is astonished when to find out the daughter of a family he assisted, Adelina Saulino, is in love with him, and they are eventually married.
Things come to a head when the Hand attempts to extort money from the famous opera singer Enrico Caruso. Petrosino appoints himself the singer's personal bodyguard. But only a forgotten hat saves the singer from a car bomb that kills his chauffeur.
Neighborhood people observed the bomber running from the scene, blood pouring down his face. Numerous citizen tips lead Petrosino to a hideout where he smuggles himself in wrapped up in a giant bale of cotton. He arrests the bomber after a violent and public fistfight.
Petrosino hits on a new tactic---travel to Italy and see if local gangsters are wanted in Italy and can be deported to face surer justice in their own country. The tactic is successful beyond his wildest dreams. But Petrosino also uncovers evidence of a nationwide crime Syndicate; and that a leading Little Italy citizen, Luigi Di Sarno, is a fugitive wanted in Sicily for double murder. He conveys this message back home by mail; trusting rookie cop Johnny Viscardi to carry on for him if the worst happens.
The day before Petrosino is to return to New York, he is lured to a meeting with a traitorous informant and shot down in the street. At the New York funeral home, Viscardi notices Di Sarno spit into Petrosino's coffin---all Viscardi needs to arrest the true head of the Blackhanders.
Cast
- Ernest Borgnine as Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino
- Zohra Lampert as Adelina Saulino
- Alan Austin as Johnny Viscardi
- Renata Vanni as Mama Saulino
- Bruno Della Santina as Papa Saulino
- Robert F. Simon as Police Commissioner
- Robert Ellenstein as Luigi Di Sarno
- Howard Caine as Enrico Caruso
- Barry Russo as Lupo Miano (as John Duke)
- Vito Scotti as Officer Simonetti
- John Marley as D. Caputo, Ragman
- Delia Nora Salvi as Miss Salvi, Di Sarno's Secretary
International titles
This film was also released under the following titles:
- La mafia – France
- Maksa tai kuole – Finland
- Pagar o morir – Venezuela
- Pagare o morire – Italy
- To telesigrafo tou thanatou – Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
- Zahl oder stirb – West Germany
References
- "Rental Potentials of 1960", Variety, 4 January 1961 p 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.
External links
- Pay or Die at IMDb
- Pay or Die at AllMovie
- Pay or Die at the TCM Movie Database
- Pay or Die at the American Film Institute Catalog