New Documentary--'Black Hand Strawman: The History of Organized Crime in Kansas City'
Thursday March 5, 2009
The Screenland Crossroads and the Screenland Armour will both be showing a new full-length documentary film by Kansas Citian Terence O'Malley.
According the the press release:
'Kansas City's long and mysterious history of organized crime is chronicled for the first time in a feature-length documentary film opening March 20, 2009, at Screenland Crossroads Theatre, 1656 Washington St. The local documentary's debut comes on the 37th anniversary of the release in Kansas City of the classic mob film, The Godfather.'
While organized crime is fascinating to so many, O'Malley dove deep to uncover newsreels, never-seen photographs, and surveillance recordings.
For more on the Screenland Theaters, check out their website.
Comments
“..without denigrating or besmirching the Italian-American community.” – Terence O’Malley
Contrary to what O’Malley claims, this film achieves all of the above. The filmaker chose henious photographs (autospy, crime scene photos, etc.) to portray the “characters” of this saga, with no regard to the families who still reside in the wonderful city of Kansas City. The Italian-Americans of Kansas City represent a rich, vibrant culture. These individuals, many children of organized crime, have gone on to achieve great things. Doctors, lawyers, and business owners make up the group that has been “besmirched” by O’Malley’s portrayls. There is an appropriate way to depict history, but there is also an undignified, disrespectful manner in which to portray these events. O’Malley is nothing more then a greedy opportunist who chose the later for his own personal gain. Please do not support him by going to see his film.
37 years ago when The Godfather was about to be released, the Italian American community was up in arms over how they would be potrayed in a Hollywood movie. The movie although fictional was a huge hit,(No pun intended). I’m sure today many of Kansas City’s Italian American community will have some of the same feelings before they veiw Black Hand Strawman. However, this movie is not fiction. It is straight to the point. I’m not certin what type of appeal this film will have outside Kansas City! But I’ll place odds that the same people who are upset with the way a family member and or family name has been documented, will be the first in line at the store when it is released on video.
This is one of the most informative and thorough documentary films I have ever seen. Amazingly accurate (although very graphic) and refreshingly honest, Blackhand Strawman was an eye-opening depiction of the history of organized crime in Kansas City. I loved this film!
Excellent production. The Star’s drama critic Robert Butler gigged it for lacking professional narration, but this kind of material is really best suited to O’Malley’s no-nonsense, fast-paced delivery, even if he doesn’t sound like Ken Burns, Bill Kurtiss or Walter Winchell. The murder scene photos, headlines, interviews, broadcast news footage and journalist-style script make for hard-hitting stuff that needs no hammy voice lending it cheap melodrama. Someone else complained that the film didn’t help us get to know the subjects as people. That comment reveals a failure to understand the nature of the subjects. NOBODY knew them very well as people! One of their key survival skills was relating superficially to others and showing only what they wanted to show. Finally, in a post-Sopranos world I’m surprised to hear protests about disrepectful depictions of Italian-Americans. Please get over it. The only thing my New York-born Italian-American wife finds embarrassing about the Mafia is her husband’s persistent interest in the subject. As a psychotherapist, she dismisses mobsters as just another cluster of character disorders that aren’t amenable to therapy. Can’t we find something more interesting to gape at?