Kill the Irishman is a 2011 American biographical crime film directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, and starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Christopher Walken, and Val Kilmer. Written by Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters, it is based on the life of the Irish-American gangster Danny Greene, and was adapted from the book To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia by Rick Porrello.
Before entering production, Kill the Irishman had a troubled development stage that lasted over a decade. Production commenced in 2009, and filming took place in and around Detroit.
The film chronicles the rise and fall of Danny Greene. He worked as a longshoreman on the Cleveland docks, until being chosen to serve as interim president of the International Longshoremen's Association in 1961. In 1964, he was convicted of embezzling $11,500 of the union's funds. After his conviction, Greene rose through the criminal underworld in Cleveland and waged war on the Mafia for control of the city. After many failed attempts on Greene's life, he was assassinated on October 6, 1977, by contract killer Ray Ferritto."Cleveland Dismantling Organized Crime". The Dispatch (Lexington). July 26, 1982 (paper format). Retrieved March 7, 2015. Greene's death ultimately led to the demise of the Cleveland Mafia.
Kill the Irishman was released in the United States on March 11, 2011 and premiered at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York City. Most of the cast, including Stevenson and D'Onofrio, were in attendance as was Shondor Birns' niece. The film received mixed reviews upon its release, with some reviewers criticizing the purported similarities to Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.Tobias, Scott. "Kill the Irishman" review, www.avclub.com, May 24, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2015.Abele, Robert (November 3, 2011). "Movie Review: 'Kill the Irishman', Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2015. Kill the Irishman grossed $1,188,194 at the domestic box office, against a production budget of $12 million.
Plot
In 1960, Danny Greene and his childhood friends Billy McComber and Art Sneperger are longshoremen on the Cleveland docks. Sneperger's gambling leaves him with a huge debt to Cleveland Mafia captain John Nardi. In return for Sneperger's debt being forgiven, Danny supplies Nardi with goods stolen from the docks. Corrupt labor union boss Jerry Merke finds out, demands a cut of Danny's profits, and sends his Polish American enforcer Joe Buka to kill him. Danny tells Polack jokes to provoke Buka into a fist fight and beats him unconscious. He kicks Merke out of his office, and is elected local union president. He improves the working conditions at the docks all while doing business with Nardi.
Danny's own corruption as union president is revealed in an exposé by the local newspaper. Cleveland police detective Joe Manditski, who grew up with Danny in Collinwood, arrests him. Broke and facing prison, Danny pleads to lesser charges in return for becoming an FBI informant. Danny moves his unhappy wife and daughters back to Collinwood and Nardi gets him work as an enforcer for Jewish loan shark Shondor Birns. Nardi then brokers a deal with Mafia captain Jack Licavoli for Danny to force the city's garbage haulers to join a union Licavoli controls. Danny's crew terrorizes trash haulers into joining the union, but Danny's friend Mike Frato refuses. Licavoli orders Danny to kill Frato, but Danny balks because Frato has ten children. Nardi counsels him privately that Frato's refusal can not go unpunished.
Danny learns from the FBI that Sneperger has returned to gambling and has become a police informant. Sneperger is assigned to set a remote controlled bomb under Frato's car, but Danny sets it off as he is doing it. An enraged Frato later starts shooting at Danny in a park. Danny returns a single shot to Frato's head, killing him. Danny is arrested, but released when Frato's driver tells Manditski that Danny acted in self-defense. Having had enough, Danny's long suffering wife leaves him and takes their children.
Danny wants to open an upscale restaurant and lounge and asks Birns for help. Birns arranges a $70,000 loan from Paul Castellano of the Gambino family, but Birns' courier buys cocaine and gets arrested with the remaining money. Birns and Danny have a falling out over who should pay the money back and Birns offers $25,000 to whoever kills Danny. Danny narrowly escapes, and kills Birns with a car bomb. After Mafia boss John T. Scalish dies, both Nardi and Licavoli are considered for succession. Licavoli is chosen by New York's Five Families and decides to charge Danny a 30% "street tax" for doing business in Cleveland. Danny refuses to pay, crudely mocks Licavoli's Italian heritage, and vows, "The Irishman's in business for himself now."
An outraged Licavoli has Danny's house blown up, but he and his girlfriend survive. Licavoli then attempts to demote Nardi and take away his business, only to have the latter join forces with Danny. Vowing to take over Cleveland together, Danny and Nardi start by organizing the murders of several of Licavoli's men. Danny escapes several bungled attempts on his life and the summer of 1976 sees 36 bombings in the Cleveland area between the warring gangs. The national attention it draws forces a humiliated Licavoli to ask Genovese boss Anthony Salerno in New York for help.
Wanting a new life away from Cleveland with his new fiancé, Danny makes Salerno an offer: in return for Danny surrendering the war to Licavoli, Salerno will invest in a Texas ranch that Danny will start. Salerno arranges for hitman Ray Ferritto to travel to Cleveland and work for Licavoli. Ferritto turns the tide for the Cleveland Mafia and all of Danny's closest allies, including Nardi, are killed. Detective Manditski offers Danny protection, but Danny refuses. Ferrito taps Danny's girlfriend's phone and learns that Danny has a dentist appointment. After the appointment, Danny checks his car for any explosive devices before realizing Ferritto planted a bomb in the parked car next to his. Ferrito detonates the bomb, killing Danny. A post-script narrated by Manditsky describes how Danny's murder crippled the American Mafia, first in Cleveland and then nationwide.
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. On March 17, 1998, they signed a deal for the film rights to the book. Getting Kill the Irishman produced was difficult. Reid frequently left deals unconcluded, and discovered that the script he had commissioned was attached to a cover with another screenwriter and producer's name listed. According to Reid, this was a common occurrence in Hollywood, and he claims to have spent over $1 million to ensure the film was made.
Pre-production
Inspiration Reid was a fan of Mafia movies (including The Godfather and Goodfellas) and aspired to become a filmmaker. Being of Irish and Italian ancestry, he wanted to make a film that would relate to both nationalities. Reid first heard about mobster Danny Greene from his roommates in Ohio, and believed that New York City, Chicago and Boston were the "three meccas of mafia crime". According to Reid, there was not much documentation on Greene's life, but after hearing that Porrello was about to publish a book on Greene and the Mafia in Cleveland, he was determined to make a movie about him.
Background research Prior to making Kill the Irishman, Reid and screenwriter Jeremy Walters conducted research on Greene's life and organized crime in Cleveland. Reid spoke with Sister Barbara Eppich, a nun who helped raise Greene during his childhood. Sister Barbara told Reid of how Greene was abandoned during childhood and was raised by his grandfather. Because his grandfather worked nights, Greene was left to walk the streets. He would go to school dirty on a regular basis, and Sister Barbara would have to wash him. She also stated that Greene would sleep all the time but was a "phenomenal athlete".
Reid spoke to a number of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. The FBI wanted to make sure that Reid was not 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". On a similar subject, Hensleigh also said the "film [doesn't suggest Greene] was a hero". However, he did note the film provides a balanced perspective.
While researching his role, Stevenson looked at TV footage of Greene and read Porrello's book, To Kill The Irishman. According to Stevenson, there was "quite a bit" of research material available. D'Onofrio, on the other hand, had the opposite experience. Information on Nardi was scarce, so Hensleigh allowed him to improvise on his character.
Screenplay Although the screenplay was adapted from his book, Porrello had "minimum involvement" in its writing. 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 them.
Casting Due to the troubled development of Kill the Irishman, Reid decided to make a documentary about Greene's life, to be entitled Danny Greene: the Rise and Fall of the Irishman. From his research for the movie, Reid became specialized in the Northern Ohio crime scene and Greene's life and felt that by making the documentary, he could go to his "grave saying I tried."
In 2009, with seventeen hours of the documentary shot, Reid was told his film had been greenlit. He joined forces with production company Code Entertainment and engaged with a "reliable" director, Jonathan Hensleigh. They signed actors Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken and later Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), and Ray Stevenson. Stevenson was filming The Book of Eli when he received a telephone call from Hensleigh, so they arranged to meet in Los Angeles; according to Stevenson, he was drawn to the script and immediately made a deal.
Production
Filming On May 19, 2009,Fernandez, Jay A. (May 7, 2009.) "Three guys mob 'Irishman'", The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 7, 2015. the film entered principal photography.Kilday, Gregg (May 18, 2009). "Slew of actors join 'The Irishman'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 7, 2015. It was shot within seven weeks, mostly in and around Detroit. This was partly because the city gave tax credits which Cleveland would not match. According to the 2009 report by the Michigan Film Office, Kill the Irishman received roughly $3 million in subsidies.Gantert, Tom (Aug 14, 2011). "Box Office Bombs: Made in Michigan". www.michigancapitolconfidential.com. Retrieved May 7, 2015. Michigan's film rebate paid up to forty-two percent of filmmakers' expenses for costs incurred while filming in the state, whereas Ohio offered only twenty-five to thirty-five percent in subsidies, meaning that if the producers spent the same amount filming in Cleveland, they would have received $500,000 to $1.25 million less in subsidies. On the other hand, Stevenson said that they had wanted to film in Cleveland, but the city had "prettied itself up" and changed, while Detroit remained, in his opinion, "on its knees".