Dog Day Afternoon
Encyclopedia
Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 drama film
directed by Sidney Lumet
, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman
. The film stars Al Pacino
, John Cazale
, Charles Durning
, Chris Sarandon
, Penny Allen, James Broderick
, and Carol Kane
. The title refers to the "dog days of summer
".
The film was inspired by P.F. Kluge's article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells a similar story of the robbery of a Brooklyn
bank by John Wojtowicz
and Salvatore Naturile
on August 22, 1972. This article was published in Life
in 1972. The film received critical acclaim upon its September 1975 release by Warner Bros.
Pictures, some of which referred to its anti-establishment
tone. Dog Day Afternoon was nominated for several Academy Awards
and Golden Globe
awards, and won one Academy Award.
(Al Pacino
), his friend Sal
(John Cazale
), and a second accomplice attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank. The plan immediately goes awry when the second accomplice loses his nerve shortly after Sal pulls out his gun, and Sonny is forced to let him flee the scene. In the vault, Sonny discovers that he and Sal have arrived after the daily cash pickup, and only $1,100 in cash remains in the bank. To compensate, Sonny takes a number of traveler's checks, but his attempt to prevent the checks from being traced by burning the bank's register in a trash can causes smoke to billow out the side of the building, alerting the business across the street to suspicious activities. Within minutes, the building is surrounded by the police. Unsure of what to do, the two robbers camp out in the bank, holding all the workers hostage.
Detective Eugene Moretti (Charles Durning
) calls the bank to tell Sonny that the police have arrived. Sonny warns that he and Sal have hostages and will kill them if anyone tries to come into the bank. Sal tells Sonny that he is ready to kill the hostages if necessary. Detective Moretti acts as hostage negotiator
, while FBI Agent Sheldon monitors his actions. Howard, the security guard has an asthma
attack, so Sonny releases him when Moretti asks for a hostage as a sign of good faith. Moretti convinces Sonny to step outside the bank to see how aggressive the police forces are. Shouting "Attica! Attica!", Sonny invokes the recent Attica Prison riot in which 39 people were killed, and the civilian crowd starts cheering for Sonny.
After realizing they cannot make a simple getaway, Sonny demands that a helicopter be landed on the roof to fly him and Sal out of the country. When they're informed that the roof of the bank is not sturdy enough to support a helicopter, Sonny demands that a vehicle drive him and Sal to an airport so that they can board a jet. He also demands pizzas for the hostages (which are delivered to the scene) and that his wife be brought to the bank. When Sonny's "wife", Leon Schermer (Chris Sarandon
), a pre-operative transsexual, arrives, he reveals to the crowd and officials one of Sonny's reasons for robbing the bank is to pay for Leon's sex reassignment surgery
, and that Sonny also has a legal wife, Angie (Susan Peretz
), and children.
As night sets in, the lights in the bank all shut off. Sonny goes outside again and discovers that Agent Sheldon has taken command of the scene. He refuses to give Sonny any more favors, but when the bank manager, Mulvaney (Sully Boyar
), goes into a diabetic shock, Agent Sheldon lets a doctor through. While the doctor is inside the bank, Sheldon convinces Leon to talk to Sonny on the phone. The two have a lengthy conversation that reveals Leon had attempted suicide
to "get away from" Sonny. He had been hospitalized at the psychiatric ward
of Bellevue Hospital
until the police brought him to the scene. Leon turns down Sonny's offer to join him and Sal to wherever they take the plane. Sonny tells police listening to the phone call that Leon had nothing to do with the robbery attempt.
After the phone call, the doctor asks Sonny to let Mulvaney leave and Sonny agrees. Mulvaney refuses, instead insisting he remain with his employees. The FBI calls Sonny out of the bank again. They have brought his mother to the scene. She unsuccessfully tries to persuade him to give himself up and Agent Sheldon signals that a limousine will arrive in ten minutes to take them to a waiting jet. Once back inside the bank, Sonny writes out his will
, leaving money from his life insurance to Leon for his sex change and to his wife Angie.
When the limousine arrives, Sonny checks it for any hidden weapons or booby trap
s. When he decides the car is satisfactory, he settles on Agent Murphy to drive Sal, the remaining hostages and him to Kennedy Airport
. Sonny sits in the front next to Murphy while Sal sits behind them. Murphy repeatedly asks Sal to point his gun at the roof so Sal won't accidentally shoot him. As they wait on the airport tarmac
for the plane to taxi
into position, he again reminds Sal to aim his gun up so he doesn't fire by accident. Sal does so, Agent Sheldon forces Sonny's weapon onto the dashboard, creating a distraction which allows Murphy to pull a revolver
hidden in his armrest and shoot Sal in the head. Sonny is immediately arrested and the hostages are all escorted to the terminal. The film ends with Sonny watching Sal's body being taken from the car on a stretcher
. Subtitles reveal that Sonny was sentenced to 20 years in prison; Angie and her children subsisted on welfare; and Leon had sex reassignment surgery.
". Hoffman would later be offered the role when Pacino briefly quit the production. An 18-year-old actor was originally to be cast in the role of Sal to match the age of the actual Salvatore. The table below summarizes the main cast of Dog Day Afternoon.
of the film was released. It included six minutes of never-before-seen footage, making the film 131 minutes long. In Finland, the director's cut was released theatrically rather than the original version.
The film was based on the story of John Wojtowicz
and adheres to the basic facts of what happened, according to the Life article "The Boys in the Bank". According to the article, Wojtowicz, along with Sal Naturile, held up a Chase Manhattan Bank
branch in Brooklyn, New York on August 22, 1972.
After being apprehended, Wojtowicz was convicted in court and sentenced to twenty years in prison, of which he served ten.
Wojtowicz wrote a letter to The New York Times
in 1975 out of concern that people would believe the version of the events portrayed in the film, which he said was "only 30% true". Some of Wojtowicz's objections included the portrayal of his wife Carmen Bifulco, the conversation with his mother that Wojtowicz claimed never happened, and the refusal of police to let him speak to his wife Carmen (unlike what was portrayed in the film). He did, however, praise Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon's portrayals of him and his boyfriend Ernest Aron as accurate. Also, Sal was 18 years old, yet is portrayed in the film by a 39-year-old.
The film shows Sonny making out a will to give Leon his life insurance so that even if Sonny should be killed, Leon might still be able to pay for the operation. The real-life Wojtowicz was paid plus 1% of the film's net profits for the rights to his story, of which he gave to Ernest Aron to pay for her sexual reassignment surgery. Aron became Elizabeth Debbie Eden
and lived out the rest of her days in New York. She died of complications from AIDS in Rochester
in 1987. Wojtowicz died of cancer in January 2006.
The bank where the robbery took place was a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank
, at Avenue P in Brooklyn, at the cross street of East 3rd Street, in Gravesend Brooklyn
.
and Thomas Moore for Life
in September 1972. The article included many of the details later used in the film and noted the relationship which Wojtowicz and Naturile developed with hostages and the police. Bank manager Robert Barrett said, "I'm supposed to hate you guys [Wojtowicz/Naturile], but I've had more laughs tonight than I've had in weeks. We had a kind of camaraderie." Teller Shirley Bell said,"[I]f they had been my houseguests on a Saturday night, it would have been hilarious." The novelization of the film was penned by organized crime writer, Leslie Waller
.
The film has no musical score other than the Elton John
song "Amoreena
" (which first appeared on John's 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection
) in the opening credits, as well as the Uriah Heep
song "Easy Living" which briefly plays on the radio during a scene inside the bank. Although many scenes within the bank establish that it was quite hot during the robbery, some outdoor sequences were shot in weather so cold that actors had to put ice in their mouths to stop their breath from showing on camera. Exterior shots were filmed on location on Prospect Park West between 17th and 18th Street in Windsor Terrace
of Brooklyn. The interior shots of the bank were filmed in a set created in a warehouse.
, "anti-establishment" Sonny repeatedly reminds people he is a Vietnam veteran
and repeats the counter-cultural war cry of "Attica!
" in reference to the 1971 Attica Prison riots
. Another point made clear in the film is that Sonny never quite adjusted to civilian life after Vietnam.
called it "Sidney Lumet's most accurate, most flamboyant New York movie" and praised the "brilliant characterizations" by the entire cast. Roger Ebert
called Sonny "one of the most interesting modern movie characters" and gave the movie three-and-a-half stars out of four. As time has passed, the film continues to generate a positive critical reception. For example, Christopher Null
has said that the film "captures perfectly the zeitgeist
of the early 1970s, a time when optimism was scraping rock bottom" and that "John Wojtowicz was as good a hero as we could come up with". P.F. Kluge, author of the article that inspired the film, believed that the filmmakers "stayed with the surface of a lively journalistic story" and that the film had a "strong, fast-paced story" without "reflection" or "a contemplative view of life". Dog Day Afternoon also ranks 443rd on Empire magazines 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Vrij Nederland
named the bank robbery scene the third best bank robbery in film history, behind bank robbery scenes from Raising Arizona
(1987) and Heat (1995).
for Writing – Original Screenplay (Frank Pierson) and was nominated for other Oscars:
The film was also nominated for the following seven Golden Globes
, winning none:
The film won other awards, including an NBR Award
for Best Supporting Actor (Charles Durning) and a Writers Guild Award
for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen (Frank Pierson) as well as the British Academy Award for Best Actor (Al Pacino). The film is also #70 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills
list. Also Al Pacino's quote, "Attica! Attica!" placed at #86 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. It was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies in 1998 and 2007. In 2006, Premiere magazine issued its "100 Greatest Performances of All Time", citing Pacino's performance as Sonny as the 4th greatest ever.
In 2009, it was named to the National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant and will be preserved for all time.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman
Martin Bregman
Martin Bregman is a film producer and former personal manager. Bregman produced many films including Scarface, Sea of Love, Venom, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, The Four Seasons, Betsy's Wedding, Carlito's Way, and The Bone Collector.-Life and career:Bregman was born in New York City, to Leon and Ida...
. The film stars Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, John Cazale
John Cazale
John Holland Cazale , was an American film and theater actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.From his...
, Charles Durning
Charles Durning
Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
, Chris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
, Penny Allen, James Broderick
James Broderick
James Joseph Broderick III was an American actor.-Life and career:Broderick was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, the son of Mary Elizabeth and James Joseph Broderick, Jr....
, and Carol Kane
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
. The title refers to the "dog days of summer
Dog Days
"Dog Days" are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. In the Northern Hemisphere, the dog days of summer are most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, they typically occur in January and...
".
The film was inspired by P.F. Kluge's article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells a similar story of the robbery of a Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
bank by John Wojtowicz
John Wojtowicz
John Stanley Wojtowicz was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.-Background:...
and Salvatore Naturile
Salvatore Naturile
Salvatore Antonio Naturile, also known as Donald Matterson and "Sal" was an American bank robber who, along with John Wojtowicz, inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon. In the film he is portrayed by actor John Cazale.-Early life:Little is known about Naturile's background except for...
on August 22, 1972. This article was published in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
in 1972. The film received critical acclaim upon its September 1975 release by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Pictures, some of which referred to its anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
tone. Dog Day Afternoon was nominated for several Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
and Golden Globe
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
awards, and won one Academy Award.
Plot
First-time crook SonnyJohn Wojtowicz
John Stanley Wojtowicz was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.-Background:...
(Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
), his friend Sal
Salvatore Naturile
Salvatore Antonio Naturile, also known as Donald Matterson and "Sal" was an American bank robber who, along with John Wojtowicz, inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon. In the film he is portrayed by actor John Cazale.-Early life:Little is known about Naturile's background except for...
(John Cazale
John Cazale
John Holland Cazale , was an American film and theater actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.From his...
), and a second accomplice attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank. The plan immediately goes awry when the second accomplice loses his nerve shortly after Sal pulls out his gun, and Sonny is forced to let him flee the scene. In the vault, Sonny discovers that he and Sal have arrived after the daily cash pickup, and only $1,100 in cash remains in the bank. To compensate, Sonny takes a number of traveler's checks, but his attempt to prevent the checks from being traced by burning the bank's register in a trash can causes smoke to billow out the side of the building, alerting the business across the street to suspicious activities. Within minutes, the building is surrounded by the police. Unsure of what to do, the two robbers camp out in the bank, holding all the workers hostage.
Detective Eugene Moretti (Charles Durning
Charles Durning
Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
) calls the bank to tell Sonny that the police have arrived. Sonny warns that he and Sal have hostages and will kill them if anyone tries to come into the bank. Sal tells Sonny that he is ready to kill the hostages if necessary. Detective Moretti acts as hostage negotiator
Hostage crisis
A hostage crisis develops when one or more terrorists or criminals hold people against their will and try to hold off the authorities by force, threatening to kill the hostages if provoked or attacked....
, while FBI Agent Sheldon monitors his actions. Howard, the security guard has an asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
attack, so Sonny releases him when Moretti asks for a hostage as a sign of good faith. Moretti convinces Sonny to step outside the bank to see how aggressive the police forces are. Shouting "Attica! Attica!", Sonny invokes the recent Attica Prison riot in which 39 people were killed, and the civilian crowd starts cheering for Sonny.
After realizing they cannot make a simple getaway, Sonny demands that a helicopter be landed on the roof to fly him and Sal out of the country. When they're informed that the roof of the bank is not sturdy enough to support a helicopter, Sonny demands that a vehicle drive him and Sal to an airport so that they can board a jet. He also demands pizzas for the hostages (which are delivered to the scene) and that his wife be brought to the bank. When Sonny's "wife", Leon Schermer (Chris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
), a pre-operative transsexual, arrives, he reveals to the crowd and officials one of Sonny's reasons for robbing the bank is to pay for Leon's sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
, and that Sonny also has a legal wife, Angie (Susan Peretz
Susan Peretz
Susan Peretz was an American actress, best known for her performances in film and on television. Among others, she appeared in Dog Day Afternoon, Melvin and Howard, Swing Shift, and Oh, God! You Devil....
), and children.
As night sets in, the lights in the bank all shut off. Sonny goes outside again and discovers that Agent Sheldon has taken command of the scene. He refuses to give Sonny any more favors, but when the bank manager, Mulvaney (Sully Boyar
Sully Boyar
Irving "Sully" Boyar was an American actor of Russian descent.Boyar was one of seven children, some of whom grew up to become lawyers and businessmen. He also worked as a lawyer before turning to acting...
), goes into a diabetic shock, Agent Sheldon lets a doctor through. While the doctor is inside the bank, Sheldon convinces Leon to talk to Sonny on the phone. The two have a lengthy conversation that reveals Leon had attempted suicide
Parasuicide
Parasuicide refers to suicide attempts or gestures and self-harm where there is no result in death. It is a non-fatal act in which a person deliberately causes injury to himself or ingests any prescribed or generally recognised therapeutic dose in excess...
to "get away from" Sonny. He had been hospitalized at the psychiatric ward
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
of Bellevue Hospital
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...
until the police brought him to the scene. Leon turns down Sonny's offer to join him and Sal to wherever they take the plane. Sonny tells police listening to the phone call that Leon had nothing to do with the robbery attempt.
After the phone call, the doctor asks Sonny to let Mulvaney leave and Sonny agrees. Mulvaney refuses, instead insisting he remain with his employees. The FBI calls Sonny out of the bank again. They have brought his mother to the scene. She unsuccessfully tries to persuade him to give himself up and Agent Sheldon signals that a limousine will arrive in ten minutes to take them to a waiting jet. Once back inside the bank, Sonny writes out his will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, leaving money from his life insurance to Leon for his sex change and to his wife Angie.
When the limousine arrives, Sonny checks it for any hidden weapons or booby trap
Booby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
s. When he decides the car is satisfactory, he settles on Agent Murphy to drive Sal, the remaining hostages and him to Kennedy Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
. Sonny sits in the front next to Murphy while Sal sits behind them. Murphy repeatedly asks Sal to point his gun at the roof so Sal won't accidentally shoot him. As they wait on the airport tarmac
Tarmac
Tarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
for the plane to taxi
Taxiing
Taxiing refers to the movement of an aircraft on the ground, under its own power, in contrast to towing or push-back where the aircraft is moved by a tug...
into position, he again reminds Sal to aim his gun up so he doesn't fire by accident. Sal does so, Agent Sheldon forces Sonny's weapon onto the dashboard, creating a distraction which allows Murphy to pull a revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
hidden in his armrest and shoot Sal in the head. Sonny is immediately arrested and the hostages are all escorted to the terminal. The film ends with Sonny watching Sal's body being taken from the car on a stretcher
Stretcher
A stretcher is a medical device used to carry casualties or an incapacitated person from one place to another. It is a simple type of litter, and still called by that name in some cases....
. Subtitles reveal that Sonny was sentenced to 20 years in prison; Angie and her children subsisted on welfare; and Leon had sex reassignment surgery.
Cast
The Life article described Wojtowicz as "a dark, thin fellow with the broken-faced good looks of an Al Pacino or Dustin HoffmanDustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
". Hoffman would later be offered the role when Pacino briefly quit the production. An 18-year-old actor was originally to be cast in the role of Sal to match the age of the actual Salvatore. The table below summarizes the main cast of Dog Day Afternoon.
| Character | Actor | Role | Similar person from Life article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny Wortzik | Al Pacino Al Pacino Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared... |
Bank robber | John Wojtowicz John Wojtowicz John Stanley Wojtowicz was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.-Background:... |
| Salvatore "Sal" Naturile | John Cazale John Cazale John Holland Cazale , was an American film and theater actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.From his... |
Sonny's partner in the robbery | Salvatore Naturile Salvatore Naturile Salvatore Antonio Naturile, also known as Donald Matterson and "Sal" was an American bank robber who, along with John Wojtowicz, inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon. In the film he is portrayed by actor John Cazale.-Early life:Little is known about Naturile's background except for... |
| Detective Detective A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"... Sgt. Sergeant Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent.... Eugene Moretti |
Charles Durning Charles Durning Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two... |
Police detective who originally negotiates with Sonny | Detective Detective A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"... Lieutenant Lieutenant A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank... James McGowan |
| Agent Sheldon | James Broderick James Broderick James Joseph Broderick III was an American actor.-Life and career:Broderick was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, the son of Mary Elizabeth and James Joseph Broderick, Jr.... |
FBI agent who replaces Moretti in negotiations | Agent Richard Baker |
| Agent Murphy | Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium.... |
FBI agent/driver | Agent Murphy |
| Leon Shermer | Chris Sarandon Chris Sarandon Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,... |
Sonny's pre-operative transsexual wife | Ernest Aron |
| Sylvia "The Mouth" | Penelope Allen | Head teller | Shirley Bell (Wojtowicz also called her "The Mouth") |
| Mulvaney | Sully Boyar Sully Boyar Irving "Sully" Boyar was an American actor of Russian descent.Boyar was one of seven children, some of whom grew up to become lawyers and businessmen. He also worked as a lawyer before turning to acting... |
Bank manager | Robert Barrett |
| Angie | Susan Peretz Susan Peretz Susan Peretz was an American actress, best known for her performances in film and on television. Among others, she appeared in Dog Day Afternoon, Melvin and Howard, Swing Shift, and Oh, God! You Devil.... |
Sonny's estranged divorced wife | Carmen Bifulco |
| Jenny "The Squirrel" | Carol Kane Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work... |
Bank teller | |
| Stevie | Gary Springer | Bank Robber | Robert left soon after John and Salvatore held up the bank |
| Howard Calvin | John Marriott John Marriott (actor) John Marriott was an American film and television actor.Marriott was born in Boley, Indian Territory which is now a part of Oklahoma. He died in Jamaica, Queens, New York City.-Selected filmography:... |
Unarmed bank guard | Calvin Jones |
| Doctor | Philip Charles MacKenzie Philip Charles MacKenzie Philip Charles MacKenzie is an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as Donald Maltby on Brothers, and as Ted Nichols on Open House, which he worked on with his current wife Alison LaPlaca.-Career:... |
MacKenzie's debut |
Director's cut
In 1975, a director's cutDirector's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
of the film was released. It included six minutes of never-before-seen footage, making the film 131 minutes long. In Finland, the director's cut was released theatrically rather than the original version.
Historical accuracy
John Wojtowicz
John Stanley Wojtowicz was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.-Background:...
and adheres to the basic facts of what happened, according to the Life article "The Boys in the Bank". According to the article, Wojtowicz, along with Sal Naturile, held up a Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
branch in Brooklyn, New York on August 22, 1972.
After being apprehended, Wojtowicz was convicted in court and sentenced to twenty years in prison, of which he served ten.
Wojtowicz wrote a letter to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1975 out of concern that people would believe the version of the events portrayed in the film, which he said was "only 30% true". Some of Wojtowicz's objections included the portrayal of his wife Carmen Bifulco, the conversation with his mother that Wojtowicz claimed never happened, and the refusal of police to let him speak to his wife Carmen (unlike what was portrayed in the film). He did, however, praise Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon's portrayals of him and his boyfriend Ernest Aron as accurate. Also, Sal was 18 years old, yet is portrayed in the film by a 39-year-old.
The film shows Sonny making out a will to give Leon his life insurance so that even if Sonny should be killed, Leon might still be able to pay for the operation. The real-life Wojtowicz was paid plus 1% of the film's net profits for the rights to his story, of which he gave to Ernest Aron to pay for her sexual reassignment surgery. Aron became Elizabeth Debbie Eden
Elizabeth Eden
Elizabeth Debbie "Liz" Eden was an American transsexual woman whose boyfriend John Wojtowicz attempted to rob a bank to pay for her sex reassignment surgery. The incident was made into the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon...
and lived out the rest of her days in New York. She died of complications from AIDS in Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
in 1987. Wojtowicz died of cancer in January 2006.
The bank where the robbery took place was a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
, at Avenue P in Brooklyn, at the cross street of East 3rd Street, in Gravesend Brooklyn
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...
.
Production
The original inspiration for the film was an article written by P. F. KlugeP. F. Kluge
Paul Frederick Kluge , commonly known as P. F. Kluge, is a novelist living in Gambier, Ohio.Kluge was raised in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier in 1964 and teaches creative writing there now...
and Thomas Moore for Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
in September 1972. The article included many of the details later used in the film and noted the relationship which Wojtowicz and Naturile developed with hostages and the police. Bank manager Robert Barrett said, "I'm supposed to hate you guys [Wojtowicz/Naturile], but I've had more laughs tonight than I've had in weeks. We had a kind of camaraderie." Teller Shirley Bell said,"[I]f they had been my houseguests on a Saturday night, it would have been hilarious." The novelization of the film was penned by organized crime writer, Leslie Waller
Leslie Waller
-Biography:He is a son of Ukrainian immigrants and was born in Chicago, Illinois. He suffered from amblyopia and poliomyelitis as a child, but graduated from Hyde Park High School by the age of 16...
.
The film has no musical score other than the Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
song "Amoreena
Amoreena
"Amoreena" is a song written by singer/songwriter Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and is the eighth track on John's 1970 Tumbleweed Connection album. A live version is also available on the 1995 reissue of the 11-17-70 album. The song accompanied the opening credits of the 1975 film Dog Day...
" (which first appeared on John's 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection
Tumbleweed Connection
Tumbleweed Connection is the third album by English international recording artist Elton John. It is a concept album based on the Country and Western/Americana themes. All songs are written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John with the exception of "Love Song" by Lesley Duncan. It was recorded at...
) in the opening credits, as well as the Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
song "Easy Living" which briefly plays on the radio during a scene inside the bank. Although many scenes within the bank establish that it was quite hot during the robbery, some outdoor sequences were shot in weather so cold that actors had to put ice in their mouths to stop their breath from showing on camera. Exterior shots were filmed on location on Prospect Park West between 17th and 18th Street in Windsor Terrace
Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
Windsor Terrace is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Prospect Park to the northeast and Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, to the southwest. Its southeastern boundary is Caton Avenue, while to the northwest it is bordered by Prospect Park West...
of Brooklyn. The interior shots of the bank were filmed in a set created in a warehouse.
Response
Although Dog Day Afternoon was released nationally in 1975, it is based on events that took place in Brooklyn three years earlier, in 1972. During this era of thick and extremely heavy opposition to the Vietnam warOpposition to the Vietnam War
The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...
, "anti-establishment" Sonny repeatedly reminds people he is a Vietnam veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
and repeats the counter-cultural war cry of "Attica!
Attica Correctional Facility
The Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum penitentiary in the town of Attica, New York, operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. After it was constructed in the 1930s, it held many of the most dangerous criminals of the time. A tear gas system is installed in the mess...
" in reference to the 1971 Attica Prison riots
Attica Prison riots
The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States in 1971. The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions...
. Another point made clear in the film is that Sonny never quite adjusted to civilian life after Vietnam.
Critical reaction
Upon its release, Dog Day Afternoon received overwhelmingly positive reviews. The film currently holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
called it "Sidney Lumet's most accurate, most flamboyant New York movie" and praised the "brilliant characterizations" by the entire cast. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called Sonny "one of the most interesting modern movie characters" and gave the movie three-and-a-half stars out of four. As time has passed, the film continues to generate a positive critical reception. For example, Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Christopher Null is a film critic, columnist and former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, editor of Drinkhacker.com, and is the founder and editor in chief of Filmcritic.com.-Publications:...
has said that the film "captures perfectly the zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.The...
of the early 1970s, a time when optimism was scraping rock bottom" and that "John Wojtowicz was as good a hero as we could come up with". P.F. Kluge, author of the article that inspired the film, believed that the filmmakers "stayed with the surface of a lively journalistic story" and that the film had a "strong, fast-paced story" without "reflection" or "a contemplative view of life". Dog Day Afternoon also ranks 443rd on Empire magazines 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Vrij Nederland
Vrij Nederland
Vrij Nederland is a Dutch magazine which was established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper but has since grown into a magazine. The weekly magazine is generally considered to be intellectually left-wing...
named the bank robbery scene the third best bank robbery in film history, behind bank robbery scenes from Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona is a 1987 comedy film directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has since achieved cult status...
(1987) and Heat (1995).
Accolades
Dog Day Afternoon won the Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Writing – Original Screenplay (Frank Pierson) and was nominated for other Oscars:
- Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(Martin BregmanMartin BregmanMartin Bregman is a film producer and former personal manager. Bregman produced many films including Scarface, Sea of Love, Venom, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, The Four Seasons, Betsy's Wedding, Carlito's Way, and The Bone Collector.-Life and career:Bregman was born in New York City, to Leon and Ida...
and Martin Elfand) - Best DirectorAcademy Award for DirectingThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
(Sidney LumetSidney LumetSidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
) - Best Actor in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Al PacinoAl PacinoAlfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
) - Best Actor in a Supporting RoleAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Chris SarandonChris SarandonChris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
) - Best Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
(Dede AllenDede AllenDorothea Carothers "Dede" Allen was an American film editor, well-known "film editing doctor" to the major American movie studios, and one of cinema's all-time celebrated 'auteur' film editors....
)
The film was also nominated for the following seven Golden Globes
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
, winning none:
- Best Motion Picture – DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - DramaThis page lists the winners and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, since its institution in 1951. The organizer, Hollywood Foreign Press Association , is an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications...
- Best Director – Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureThis page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
(Sidney LumetSidney LumetSidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
) - Best Motion Picture Actor – DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
(Al Pacino) - Best Screenplay – Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best ScreenplayThe Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...
(Frank Pierson) - Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureThe Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
(Charles DurningCharles DurningCharles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
) - Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (John CazaleJohn CazaleJohn Holland Cazale , was an American film and theater actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.From his...
) - Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture – Male (Chris SarandonChris SarandonChris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
)
The film won other awards, including an NBR Award
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
for Best Supporting Actor (Charles Durning) and a Writers Guild Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen (Frank Pierson) as well as the British Academy Award for Best Actor (Al Pacino). The film is also #70 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills is a list of the top 100 heart-pounding movies in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 12, 2001, during a CBS special hosted by Harrison Ford....
list. Also Al Pacino's quote, "Attica! Attica!" placed at #86 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. It was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies in 1998 and 2007. In 2006, Premiere magazine issued its "100 Greatest Performances of All Time", citing Pacino's performance as Sonny as the 4th greatest ever.
In 2009, it was named to the National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant and will be preserved for all time.
External links
- The original LIFE Magazine article at Google Books
- Al Pacino’s Loft