Product Description

HONOR THEY FATHER (DVD MOVIE)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92847 in DVD
• Brand: WESTLAKE ENTERTAINMENT INC
• Released on: 1973-01-01
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Digital Sound, DVD, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Customer Reviews

Honor among criminals
WESTLAKE's edition of HONOR THY FATHER is stored in a glossy heavy paper gatefold cover. DVD extras include bios, filmographies and a photo gallery.


The 1973 TV adaptation of Gay Talese's "Honor Thy Father" came in the wake of Coppola's THE GODFATHER. Obviously, "Godfather" is fiction that draws from real events while "Honor" is a fairly accurate portrayal of a real crime family, the Bonannos of New York.

As it originally had commercial breaks, this movie is rather episodic. The restrictions of 70s network TV means it's also fairly bloodless and lacks the colorful language heard in most mob pictures. Although hampered by these and a small budget, the excellent cast does a fine job in recreating NY Mafia history.

The Bononnos were one of the Five Families created in the wake of the Castellammarese War. At age 26, Joe Bonanno was youngest of the five family heads. His income derived then and prior to the War from gambling, loansharking, and racketeering. When the absentee Joe later lost his capo regime status to Gaspar DiGregorio this caused the "Banana Split," aka the Bonanno War.

This movie refers at times to the above, but is primarily the story of Joe's son Salvatore.

Related item:
GOTTI (1996) is another TV film about a mob boss. Armand Assante stars as John Gotti-- the Teflon Don who after a lifetime of the worst sort of crime was finally convicted and sentented in 1992 to life imprisonment.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(5.1) Honor Thy Father (TV-1973) - Joseph Bologna/Brenda Vaccaro/Raf Vallone/Richard S. Castellano/Joe De Santis/Gilbert Green/Marc Lawrence/Joseph Campanella (narrator)