Taglines: In the middle of a robbery – Pizza for everyone.
Dog Day Afternoon movie storyline. Based upon a real-life story that happened in the early seventies in which the Chase Manhattan Bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn, was held siege by a bank robber determined to steal enough money for his wife (a trans woman) to undergo a sex change operation. On a hot summer afternoon, the First Savings Bank of Brooklyn is held up by Sonny and Sal, two down-and-out characters.
Although the bank manager and female tellers agree not to interfere with the robbery, Sonny finds that there’s actually nothing much to steal, as most of the cash has been picked up for the day. Sonny then gets an unexpected phone call from Police Captain Moretti, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city’s entire police force. Having few options under the circumstances, Sonny nervously bargains with Moretti, demanding safe escort to the airport and a plane out of the country in return for the bank employees’ safety.
Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 American biographical neo-noir[2] crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. Starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning, it chronicles the events following a bank robbery committed by Sonny Wortzik (Pacino) and Salvatore Naturale (Cazale).[3]
Inspired by a Life magazine article “The Boys in the Bank” by P. F. Kluge, Dog Day Afternoon is largely a dramatization of the 1972 bank robbery masterminded by John Wojtowicz. Despite this, Wojtowicz claimed a number of the film’s events contained inaccuracies. Dog Day Afternoon is notable for its anti-establishment tone, and marks the third collaboration between Pacino and Cazale, after The Godfather. It is the final film released in Cazale’s lifetime (The Deer Hunter was released after his death), and its title refers to the sultry “dog days” of summer.
The film contains no musical score, bar the appearance of three diegetic songs. The majority of Dog Day Afternoon was shot on location in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn; near the site of the actual bank robbery. Although the film follows the basic text of the script as written by Pierson, Lumet encouraged the actors to improvise and workshop scenes to facilitate naturalistic dialogue.
Dog Day Afternoon was released in the United States on September 21, 1975, and received universal acclaim for the performances of its cast, its directing, and its screenplay. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards and seven Golden Globe awards, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2009, Dog Day Afternoon was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, Charles Durning, Beulah Garrick, Carol Kane, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Sandra Kazan, Amy Levitt, John Marriott, Estelle Omens, Penelope Allen
Screenplay by: Frank Pierson
Production Design by: Charles Bailey
Cinematography by: Victor J. Kemper
Film Editing by: Dede Allen
Costume Design by: Anna Hill Johnstone
Set Decoration by: Robert Drumheller
Art Direction by: Douglas Higgins
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: eptember 20, 1975 (San Sebastián), September 21, 1975 (United States)
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