Tough Guys @ Yerba Buena Center For The Arts October 3, 2010

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival & YBCA present
Tough Guys: Images of Jewish Gangsters in Film

Gangster films are an intriguing prism through which to view one of the darker aspects of American Jewish history: Jewish gangsters and Jewish crime. Scratch the bark on your family tree and you may find a Jewish gangster, or at least someone who paid one off. This series provides an exhilarating and endlessly entertaining window into this little-discussed part of film history. Curated by Nancy K. Fishman.

Sun, Oct 3, 2:00 pm
Eight Men Out
By John Sayles
Screenwriter and director John Sayles knocks it out of the park with this drama about the intersection between baseball and the shadowy world of organized crime. Sayles explores how Jewish gangster Arnold Rothstein paid off the Chicago White Sox to “throw” the 1919 World Series. The stellar cast includes John Cusack and David Straithairn on the field, and Michael Lerner as Rothstein—who views the ballplayers as marionettes at the end of his purse strings. (1988, 119 min, 35mm)

Sun, Oct 10, 2:00 pm
Murder, Inc.
By Burt Balaban & Stuart Rosenberg
Murder, Inc. is a stylized drama about the Brooklyn mobsters who terrorized New York City in the 1930s. Based on the classic book, “Murder Inc.: The Story of the Syndicate” by district attorney Burton Turkus, the film features David Stewart as Louis “Lepke” Buchalter,” Oscar-nominated Peter Falk as “Kid Twist” Reles, and a few minutes of jazz great Sarah Vaughn. (1960, 103 min, 35mm)

Sun, Oct 17, 2:00 pm
Little Caesar
By Mervyn LeRoy
Edward G. Robinson (born Emmanuel Goldenberg) is riveting as the ruthless Italian American mobster Caesar Enrico Bandello in this classic gangster film set in Prohibition-era Chicago. One of the great iconic Jewish actors of the last century, Robinson seethes as Caesar (known as Rico), a maniacal, ambitious crook whose archetypal journey inspired Martin Scorsese to call the film “a morality play.” Preceded by a surprise short film. (1931, 79 min, 35mm)

Sun, Oct 24, 2:00 pm
Straight is the Way
By Paul Sloane
Straight is the Way, a remake of the 1928 film Four Walls, features Franchot Tone as Benny Horowitz, a Lower East Side kid who tries to go straight after serving a prison term. His Jewish mother encourages him to walk a path towards right living and away from recidivism, but Benny faces temptations and pressures, especially Monk—the local racketeer who originally led him astray. (1934, 65 min, 35mm)

“Tough Guys: Images of Jewish Gangsters in Film” is supported by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.

Screening Room
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103

Public Info: 415-978-2787 or ybca.org

Tickets: $8 regular; $6 students, seniors, teachers & YBCA/SFJFF members @ http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production/view.aspx?id=12097

Remember: Enjoy same-day gallery admission for all YBCA presented films! Become a YBCA Member today to enjoy ticket discounts on YBCA presented films!

For images, visit www.ybca.org/about/press