Duke Mitchell's THE EXECUTIONER -- better known as MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE -- carries a 1978 release date on the IMDb, but above is the ad for its world premiere as LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON at the Globe (a Times Square porno house) on December 19, 1974. By August of '75 it had been retitled MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE and was playing the Skyway Drive-In in Las Vegas (co-feature: WHITE LIGHTNING) as well as two theaters in Washington, D.C., where it was co-billed with VOODOO HEARTBEAT.
Our friends at the George Eastman House have landed one of the very first public showings of Duke Mitchell’s GONE WITH THE POPE (from Grindhouse Releasing), so if you live anywhere near Rochester, N.Y. you’ll want to be at the Dryden Theatre on May 6th for what promises to be a slam-bang great time. We really wish we could attend, especially since the Eastman House very kindly provided us with their archival print of THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL for our screening at the Cinefamily last month (and Grindhouse head honcho Bob Murawski was there to show his support), but it just isn't possible. We'll have to catch GONE WITH THE POPE at the Landmark Sunshine in N.Y.C in early June, but for those of you in the Rochester/Syracuse/Buffalo area, we urge you to attend the showing at the GEH, 'cause their Dryden Theatre is a really great venue. You'll find more info on the screening here.
Here's the full schedule of GONE WITH THE POPE playdates so far:
May 6 - George Eastman House, Rochester, NY May 10 - Doc Films, Chicago May 15 - Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, North Austin, TX May 21 & 22 - E Street Theatre, Washington, D.C. May 28 & 29 - Bridge Theatre, San Francisco June 4 & 5 - Sunshine Cinemas, NYC June 11 & 12 - Uptown Theatre, Minneapolis June 18 & 19 - Main Art Theatre, Detroit June 25 & 26 - River Oaks, Houston July 2 & 3 - Inwood Theatre, Dallas July 7 - Alamo Drafthouse, Austin, TX July 23 & 24 - Esquire Theatre, Denver August 6 & 7 - MADCAP Theaters, Tempe, AZ August 14 - Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City
World Premiere March 12 at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre
LOS ANGELES - Grindhouse Releasing and the American Cinematheque will present the late, great Duke Mitchell's never-before-seen exploitation masterpiece GONE WITH THE POPE on Friday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
Duke Mitchell was an Italian Rudy Ray Moore, a popular nightclub performer, singer, actor, and self-proclaimed “Mr. Palm Springs” whose long-running Martin & Lewis-style comedy act with partner Sammy Petrillo was featured in BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA. Mitchell went on to use his talents and show business connections to produce two of the most entertaining films of the Seventies, which he wrote, directed, produced, scored and starred in.
GONE WITH THE POPE stars Duke Mitchell as Paul, a gangster with an unholy scheme: to kidnap the pope and charge "a dollar from every Catholic in the world" as the ransom. Shot in 1975 as KISS THE RING, GONE WITH THE POPE was unfinished at the time of Duke Mitchell's death in 1981.
Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski of Grindhouse Releasing rediscovered GONE WITH THE POPE in 1995 and vowed to save it from obscurity. Academy Award-nominated film editor Murawski (THE HURT LOCKER, SPIDER-MAN 1,2 & 3) spent 15 years completing GONE WITH THE POPE from the surviving film elements.
“Of all the films I have been involved with, the one that I am most proud of is GONE WITH THE POPE,” Murawski said. “Duke Mitchell didn't live to see this masterpiece finished. I am honored to be the person to finish it for him. Completing this movie was a 15-year labor of love. No expense or effort was spared in rescuing this classic from cinematic oblivion and finishing it with the utmost quality. Our beautiful new 35mm print stands as a testament to Duke Mitchell's unique and explosively entertaining vision.”
Duke Mitchell's 1974 ultra-violent crime saga MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE will screen on the same program. Also known as LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON and THE EXECUTIONER, MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE is a homemade answer to THE GODFATHER promising “more guts, more action, more dynamite!”. Starting with Duke and his sidekick slaughtering an entire building full of enemies, the movie is nonstop, mind-blowing entertainment that has become a favorite among cult movie fans.
Grindhouse Releasing is known for its lavish restorations and roadshow-style theatrical exhibition of such notorious exploitation-horror films as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, CANNIBAL FEROX (a.k.a. MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY), Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND and CAT IN THE BRAIN, PIECES, and I DRINK YOUR BLOOD. Grindhouse partnered with Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder to release THE BEYOND in theaters and in 2010 launched a nationwide re-release of Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD.
The Egyptian Theatre is located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, between Las Palmas and McCadden, just east of Highland Avenue in Hollywood.
This exclusive screening will include an in-person Q&A with the cast and crew of GONE WITH THE POPE.
