The Gangster Chronicles

The Gangster Chronicles is a 1981 American crime drama television miniseries starring Michael Nouri, Joe Penny, Jon Polito, Louis Giambalvo, Kathleen Lloyd, Madeleine Stowe, Chad Redding, Markie Post, Allan Arbus, James Andronica, Robert Davi, Joseph Mascolo,[1][2][3] and narrated by E.G. Marshall.[4][5][6][3]

The Gangster Chronicles
Written byDavid Assael
Art Eisenson
Stephen McPherson
Mark Rodgers
Directed byRichard C. Sarafian
StarringMichael Nouri
Joe Penny
Jon Polito
Madeleine Stowe
Markie Post
Robert Davi
Brian Benben
Louis Giambalvo
E.G. Marshall
Karen Kondazian
Theme music composerBilly Goldenberg
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producerMatthew Rapf
Production locationsCapitola, California
Santa Cruz, California
Running time
  • 60 minutes per episode
  • 780 minutes total
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseFebruary 2 (1981-02-02) –
May 8, 1981 (1981-05-08)

Overview

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A historically-based crime drama about the lives of gangsters Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Covering seven decades, starting in 1907.

There were 13 60-minute episodes. The series was narrated by E. G. Marshall.

Cast

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Gangster Wars

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Gangster Wars
 
Directed byRichard C. Sarafian
Written byRichard DeKoker
Produced byStuart Cohen
StarringMichael Nouri
Joe Penny
Brian Benben
Kathleen Lloyd
Madeleine Stowe
Markie Post
Allan Arbus
Louis Giambalvo
James Andronica
Robert Davi
Joseph Mascolo
Kenneth Tigar
Richard S. Castellano
Jon Polito
Jonathan Banks
George DiCenzo
Robert F. Lyons
Richard Foronjy
Karen Kondazian
Music byJohn Cacavas
Distributed byCIC
Release date
  • October 9, 1981 (1981-10-09)
Running time
121 min.
LanguageEnglish

Gangster Wars is a 1981 American crime film directed by Richard C. Sarafian and based on the original Gangster Chronicles telecast. The film tells the story of three teenagers, based on real life gangsters Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Michael Nouri), Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (Joe Penny) and Michael Lasker (Brian Benben) (a fictional character who was most likely modeled after Meyer Lansky), growing up in New York's ghettos during the early 1900s to their rise through organized crime.

This movie was a three-hour opener for the subsequent miniseries. In addition to the characters above Brian Benben's character is a fictional composite of several mobsters (here named "Michael Lasker"). While the miniseries covered seven decades, the opener takes us from 1907 to the Prohibition era of the 1920s. After its initial run, the entire Gangster Chronicles saga was boiled down to 121 minutes and released to videocassette as Gangster Wars.

References

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  1. ^ Stone, Natalie (9 December 2016). "Joseph Mascolo, Days of Our LivesActor, Dies at 87". People. United States: Time Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  2. ^ Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 517.
  3. ^ a b Terrace 2013, p. 161.
  4. ^ New York Times
  5. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2010). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present. New York City. ISBN 9780307483157. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ "The Gangster Chronicles". TV.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2015.

Sources

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