Roger Corman's Bloody Valentine Gangster Film Premieres

# The St. Valentine's Day Massacre Premieres (February 14, 1967)

On February 14, 1967, 20th Century Fox released **"The St. Valentine's Day Massacre"** in theaters—perfectly timed for Valentine's Day, though this certainly wasn't your typical romantic date movie! Directed by Roger Corman, this violent gangster film chronicled one of the most infamous crimes in American history: the brutal 1929 Chicago mob hit that left seven men dead in a garage on North Clark Street.

What makes this release date so deliciously ironic and brilliant from a marketing standpoint is the juxtaposition of America's most romantic holiday with one of its bloodiest criminal events. The studio leaned into this dark humor, with the film opening on the exact anniversary of the massacre it depicted—37 years to the day after the actual event.

Roger Corman, known primarily for his low-budget horror films and his ability to shoot quickly and efficiently, was given a then-substantial budget of around $1 million for this production. This was a significant step up for the "King of the B-Movies," and he used it to create one of the most authentic-looking gangster films of the 1960s. The production featured meticulous attention to period detail, from the vintage automobiles to the Tommy guns, and the costumes that captured the essence of Prohibition-era Chicago.

The film boasted an impressive ensemble cast including Jason Robards as Al Capone, George Segal as Peter Gusenberg, Ralph Meeker as Bugs Moran, and Jean Hale as Myrtle. Even a young Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson (in an uncredited role) appeared in the film. Robards' portrayal of Capone was particularly notable for being less theatrical than many previous interpretations, presenting the notorious gangster as a cold, calculating businessman of violence.

What set "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" apart from other gangster films of its era was its quasi-documentary style. Corman employed newsreel-style narration and freeze-frames, creating a sense of historical authenticity. The film didn't glorify its gangster subjects but rather presented them as brutal, often petty criminals caught in a web of territorial disputes and ego-driven violence.

The massacre sequence itself, when it finally arrives, is shockingly violent for 1967 cinema, even though it's relatively tame by today's standards. Corman shot it with an almost clinical precision that made the brutality all the more disturbing—seven men lined up against a garage wall and gunned down in cold blood.

The film performed respectably at the box office and has since become something of a cult classic, representing both a high point in Corman's directorial career and an interesting bridge between the classical Hollywood gangster films of the 1930s-40s and the more violent, revisionist crime films that would dominate the 1970s.

So on this Valentine's Day in 1967, while some Americans were exchanging chocolates and love notes, moviegoers could instead witness a meticulously recreated bloodbath. Only in Hollywood could February 14th be transformed from a celebration of love into a commemoration of machine-gun fire and mob warfare!


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