Kill the Irishman is a 2011 biographical crime thriller film directed by Jonathan Hensleigh^[3] and starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer. The film is based on the story of Irish-American mobster Danny Greene, and is adapted from the book To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia (1998)^[4] by Rick Porrello.^[5][6]

Kill the Irishman was in development for over a decade, before being green-lit in 2009.^[1] The movie chronicles the rise and fall of Irish-American gangster Danny Greene, who initially worked as a longshoreman at the Cleveland docks, until he was chosen to serve as interim president in 1961 after the previous president was removed from office. Greene quickly won the next election and served as union president until 1964, when he was convicted of embezzling $11,500 of the union's funds.^[1][7] After his conviction, Greene rose through the criminal underworld in Cleveland and waged war on the mafia for control of the city.

Plot

In 1960, Danny Greene is a union worker at the Cleveland docks.^[8] Despite union rules, the workers are exploited by their boss, Jerry. Danny is approached by chronic gambler Art for help. Art owes a substantial amount of money to local gangster John Nardi. Greene visits Nardi and offers him a business proposition to deal with Art's debt; he tips-off Nardi about a shipment container that contains a large quantity of valuable goods. Jerry warns Danny not to oppose him in the union's upcoming election, and demands half of Danny's earnings from his deal with John Nardi. Jerry double-crosses Danny and tries to kill him. Danny stands as a candidate for the union's presidency, wins the election,^[8] and begins improving the working conditions at the docks. During this time, he marries his girlfriend Joan.

After doing business with John Nardi and other Mafioso figures, Danny is arrested by Joe Manditski, on charges of grand larceny and labor racketeering.^[9] After paying off his lawyers, Danny is bankrupt and facing ten years in prison. Federal police offer Danny a plea bargain: in exchange for becoming an informant, the charges against him would be dropped. Danny agrees to the deal and gives the police monthly tip-offs.^[10] Nardi gets Danny a job as an enforcer for loan shark Alex "Shondor" Birns.^[8] Danny and Nardi set up a meeting with Jack Licavoli, who has been trying to get the garbage men of Cleveland to join the union. Danny and Nardi offer to help. Danny hires Keith Ritson for muscle. They visit Mike Frato’s house, and try to persuade him to join the union. Frato declines and Danny considers killing him.

Art starts gambling again; accruing a large debt, he decides to testify against the mafia. Danny kills Art by blowing up Mike Frato’s car. Mike assumes Danny tried to kill him, so he tries to kill Danny. Mike fails and Danny shoots him. He is arrested by Joe for killing Mike, but is released without charge because it was self-defense. Danny’s wife then decides to leaves him.

Four years later, Danny sees debt collectors at Mrs O’Keefe’s home. Danny decides to pay her debt; and she gives him her father’s gold crucifix in thanks. Danny then visits Shondor, who agrees to invest money in a restaurant with Danny. Shondor borrows money from the Gambino's, but the courier is arrested. Shondor tells Danny he owes the mafia $70,000, but because Shondor had hired the courier, Danny tells him he should pay back the money. Due to the breakdown in their relationship, Shondor hires a contract killer. After a failed attempt on Danny's life, Danny retaliates by blowing up Shondor with a car comb.^[11]

After the death of John Scalish, Licavoli is made the new Don of Cleveland.^[12] He decides to charge Danny 30% for doing business on his turf. Danny refuses and Licavoli places a contract on his life. Billy tries to warn Danny, but fails. Danny and his girlfriend escape unharmed when his house is blown up.^[8] Another attempt to kill then Danny occurs in the meantime. Nardi and Danny decide to become business partners and take over Cleveland together. They organize the killing of many of Licavoli’s associates. At a meeting in New York, Anthony Salerno offers to help kill Danny. Licavoli accepts his offer.

Danny considers buying a cattle ranch in Texas. He needs to raise $2 million, so he and Nardi travel to New York and ask Salerno for a loan. After Danny leaves, Salerno tells his associates to kill him and Nardi. They hire hit-man Ray Ferritto.^[13][14] Nardi is killed in a car explosion,^[15] and Billy is killed at the docks. Keith is killed after he mistakes Ferritto’s car for Danny’s. Ferritto then taps into Danny’s girlfriend’s telephone, and retrieves information about Danny’s upcoming appointments.

After a dentist's appointment on October 6, 1977,^[14] Danny sees Ferritto driving slowly by, and accepts he is about to die. Ferritto detonates a bomb on the car next to Danny's; killing him instantly.^[14] In a narration, it is said that Greene's death led to the indictment of multiple high-ranking members of organized crime, and as a result, put an end to mob activity in Cleveland.

Cast

Development

Kill the Irishman had been in development since 1997. Producer Tommy Reid heard that Rick Porrello, an Ohio policeman, was about to publish a book about Greene called To Kill the Irishman. Reid flew to Ohio and met with Porrello, who told Reid his grandfather was a high-ranking mafia figure in Cleveland during the prohibition era. Reid and Porrello bonded with each other during the meeting. On March 17, 1998, they signed a deal for the film rights to Porrello’s book.^[1] Getting Kill the Irishman produced was difficult. Reid frequently left deals unconcluded, and discovered that the script he’d commissioned was attached to a cover with another screenwriter and producer’s name listed. Reid said this was a common occurrence in Hollywood.^[1] Tommy Reid spent over $1,000,000 to ensure the movie was made.^[1]

Pre-production

Inspiration

Producer Tommy Reid, who grew up in New Jersey, was fan of mafia movies (such as The Godfather and Goodfellas) and aspired to become a film maker. Being of Irish and Italian ancestry, he wanted to make a film that would relate to both nationalities.^[19] Reid first heard about mobster Danny Greene from his roommates in Ohio, and believed that New York, Chicago and Boston were the "three meccas of mafia crime". There wasn't much documentation about Greene, but Reid remembered the story he had been told. After hearing that Rick Porrello was about to publish a book on Greene and the mafia in Cleveland, Reid was inspired to make a movie about Greene’s life.^[1]

Background research

Prior to making Kill the Irishman, Tommy Reid did research on Danny Greene's life and organized crime in Cleveland. He spoke with nun Sister Barbara Eppich, who helped to raise Danny Greene during his childhood. Reid said that Greene's life was "laid in front of him for the rest of his life". Sister Eppich told Reid of how Greene was abandoned during childhood and was raised by his grandfather. Because his grandfather worked nights, Danny was left to walk the streets at night. He would go to school dirty on a regular basis, so Sister Eppich would have to wash him. She also stated that Greene would sleep all the time, but was a "phenomenal athlete".^[20]

Reid spoke to number of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. The FBI wanted to make sure that Reid wasn't glorifying the mafia. Reid stated he had no intentions of glorifying crime, and that "the whole message at the end of the movie is that crime doesn’t pay". It was very important to Reid that audiences didn't misinterpret his intentions.^[19]

Screenplay

Although the film's screenplay was adapted from Rick Porrello's book, Porrello "minimum involvement" in its writing, most of which was done by Jonathan Hensleigh. Hensleigh regularly contacted Porrello and they agreed not to use the real names of anyone who was still alive, "out of respect and sensitivity towards these people". Porrello also considered that many of the relatives of the organized-crime figures portrayed in the film were still alive.^[21]

Casting

Due to the troubled development of Kill the Irishman, Reid decided to make a documentary about Greene's life; called "Danny Greene: the Rise and Fall of the Irishman". Due to the research he had done for the movie, Reid became specialized in the Northern Ohio crime scene and Greene’s life.^[20] Reid felt that by doing the documentary, at least he could go to his "grave 'saying I tried'".^[1] In 2009, with 17 hours of the documentary shot, Reid heard that his film had been green-lit. He joined forces with production company Code Entertainment and engaged with a "reliable" director, Jonathan Hensleigh. They then signed actors Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken to the project.^[1] This was followed by the signing of actors Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), and Irish actor Ray Stevenson, respectively.^[1] Stevenson was filming The Book of Eli when he got a telephone call from Hensleigh, and they arranged to meet in Los Angeles. Stevenson was drawn to the script and immediately made a deal. He said Hensleigh's script was "the biggest draw ever [to the movie]".^[22]

Production

Filming

Kill the Irishman entered production in 2009, with a budget of $12 million. The film was shot within seven weeks, mostly in and around Detroit. The location filming was done in Detroit, partly because the city gave tax credits that Cleveland would not match.^[1] Detroit also more closely resembled Cleveland during the 1970s. Ray Stevenson said Cleveland "has prettied itself up" and that they wanted to film there but the city had changed. Stevenson also said Detroit is still "on its knees", and that the city resembles the economic struggles that plagued Cleveland during the 1970s.^[20]

Two incidents occurred during the filming of the movie. On the first, seven bullet holes were shot into one of the trucks used during production. Ray Stevenson said, "Detroit is a dangerous place" and that you've "just got to roll with it".^[22] On the second, the cast and crew were driving from the set, and a pedestrian was shot in the neck outside a supermarket. The ambulance took 35–45 minutes to arrive, and the victim waited another 35–45 minutes for the police to arrive. The paramedics refused to take the victim to hospital without a police escort. Stevenson said this was a "known gang area" and that "if it's a gang member they're trying to resuscitate", there was a chance that a rival gang would shoot at the ambulance.^[22]

Post-production

Effects

Due to the films’ limited budget, some of the effects could not be replicated. Stevenson said everyone “had to be on point”, and that any mistakes could not be rectified by re-filming. Before filming the effects, the production crew and the actors checked everything on the set. Time was also lacking; Stevenson said everyone “had to be extremely focused” on the production. The movie was shot in seven weeks.^[22] The movie's final scene, in which Greene is killed, could not be re-filmed. Producer Tommy Reid said they could not afford to film the shot twice.^[1]

Editing

Writer Rick Porrello had second thoughts about one scene, in which a police car is blown up with two officers inside, being included in the film. Porrello felt uncomfortable approaching Hensleigh about the scene, but he did anyway. Porrello said, "if you are going to kill a cop", it is "going to change the tone of the story". The scene was nevertheless included in the finished film.^[21]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the movie includes 26 songs.^[23]

Release and reception

Distribution

Kill the Irishman premiered on March 11, 2011, at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York City. Most of the cast, including Ray Stevenson and Vincent D’Onofrio, attended the premiere.^[24][25] The film also premiered simultaneously in Los Angeles and Cleveland before expanding to Detroit, Chicago and Boston on March 18.^[25]

Box office

Although the film was generally well received, it was unsuccessful at the box office. It grossed $1,188,194 at the domestic box office against a budget of $12 million, and gathered $2,435,527 in domestic DVD sales.^[26]

Critical reception

Kill the Irishman received mixed-to-positive reviews from film critics. Mike LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "What makes this film special and memorable is the character of Danny Green, who is not the usual neighborhood hoodlum you see in movies, the kind who gets in deep and gradually loses his soul".^[27] Marshall Fine of Huffington Post gave the film a mixed review. He criticized it for jumping through different events in a "jerky fashion", but summed up the review by calling it a "movie with a lot of meat on the bone, even if some of it is tough or stringy. It's not fancy, but it's always tasty".^[28]

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 63% of critics gave the movie a positive review, giving it a rating of 5.6 out of 10.^[29]

Home video

After a limited theatrical release, Kill the Irishman was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on June 14, 2011.^[26] As of 2015, the movie has grossed $2,435,527 in domestic DVD sales.^[26]

Historical inaccuracies

Kill the Irishman contains four historical inaccuracies. This has been noted by critics, one of whom said the film's main problem is that it seemed "all too willing to sacrifice historical accuracy in the name of an easy-to-digest narrative".^[30] Shondor Birns was murdered on March 29, 1975, whereas in the film this occurs on March 8. The movie also misspells the name of a nearby parish known as 'St. Malachi's'; in the movie it is spelled 'St. Malichy's'.^[31]

The death of Alex "Shondor" Birns

In the movie, Danny Greene kills Shondor Birns by detonating a bomb on his car. In reality, even though Birns was killed by a car bomb, there was no evidence to link Greene to his murder.^[32] Even though it is commonly speculated that Greene killed Birns, his murder remains officially unsolved.^[33]

The death of Art Sneperger

In the movie, Greene discovers his friend Art Sneperger is about to become an informant and decides to kill him in a car bombing. Greene has have Sneperger place a bomb on Mike Frato’s car; Greene then detonates the bomb early, killing Sneperger. In reality, although many rumors surround Art Sneperger’s death, it remains unsolved. Some investigators speculated that radio interference caused the bomb to detonate early; others speculated that Greene killed him after learning he was going to become an informant.