Bad Charleston Charlie
Encyclopedia
Bad Charleston Charlie is a 1973 comedy film
written by and starring cult actor Ross Hagen
and directed by Ivan Nagy
. The film, rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America
, was distributed by International Cinema Corporation. The film is loosely based on the life and death of 1920s gangster Charles Birger
. Poorly received by both critics and audiences, the film has yet to be released on DVD
or Blu-ray Disc
.
, the movie revolves around two coal miners, Charlie Jacobs (Ross Hagen
) and Thad (Kelly Thordsen), who decide to follow a life a crime like their role model, Al Capone
. Jacobs adopts the gangster persona "Bad Charleston Charlie", an anachronistic reference to the 1962 song "Charleston Charlie". The duo has to deal with forming a gang, learn to handle "wild women", bribe corrupt officials, and battle rival gangs plus the Ku Klux Klan
. They find that they are no better at being gangsters than they were at mining coal. The film features a cameo from legendary actor John Carradine
as a drunken reporter.
Also appearing in the film were Jon Dalk, Claire Hagen, Paul Gregory White, Robert Lockhart, Karen Anders, Randy Proctor, Lenny Geer, Ivan Nagy, Suzanne Kent, Rose Barton, Richard Lockmiller, Noel De Souza, Leo Rousseau, and Warhol "superstar
" Ultra Violet
.
and produced by Ross Hagen
. The independent film was produced through a joint venture between Triforum Inc., a company wholly owned by Hagen and Nagy, and Studio 9 Productions. The production encountered financing problems when, in May 1972, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Studio 9 Productions, Bad Charleston Charlie Associates, and others for "violations of the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Federal securities laws in connection with the offer and sale of Studio 9 Productions common stock and Bad Charleston limited partnership interests." On June 5, 1972, Bad Charleston Charlie Associates and Studio 9 Productions "consented to a finding" (without admitting guilt) that they had violated Federal law and they accepted a final judgment of permanent injunction against future such sales.
The screenplay was written by Ross Hagen, Ivan Nagy, and actor Stan Kamber from a story by Hagen and Nagy. The director of photography was Michael Neyman. The film was edited by Walter A. Thompson
and Richard Garritt. The film's music was composed by Luchi DeJesus with sound by William Oliver. Raymond Markham served as art director and Eric Lidberg was the assistant director
. The movie was filmed in Eastmancolor and released with a PG (parental guidance suggested) rating from the Motion Picture Association of America
.
Shachna Itzik "Charlie" Birger
. Born in 1881, Birger served in the United States Army
from 1901 to 1904. After his honorable discharge he became a cowboy, a coal miner, then later a saloon keeper. In 1920, after the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
began the era of Prohibition
when the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" was made illegal, Birger became a bootlegger
. He was at war with the Shelton Brothers Gang
for control of (illegal) alcohol sales across Southern Illinois until the Ku Klux Klan
began to take over Williamson County
. The rival gangs worked together to violently purge the KKK from the area, gunning down its local leaders in 1925 and 1926. With the Klan gone by late 1926, Birger returned to his fight with the Shelton Brothers. When he discovered that Joe Adams, the mayor of West City, Illinois
, was assisting the Sheltons, Birger threatened Adams and ultimately ordered his murder. Birger was arrested in June 1927, convicted, and hanged in April 1928. He was to be the last man executed by public hanging in the state of Illinois. (Another Illinois convict, Charles Shader, was executed by hanging in October 1928 but that execution was not open to the public.)
. This premiere took place at the Avco Center Theater (now the "AMC Avco Center 4") in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles
. The event raised money for the Oakhill School for Emotionally Handicapped Children and the Reiss-Davis Clinic. The film began playing in the greater Los Angeles area soon after with a national rollout in June 1973.
wrote, "Bad Charleston Charlie is not merely bad but terrible." The filmmakers quoted another part of Thomas' review in their advertising, attempting to spin the negative into a positive: "Spoofery in nonsensical shenanigans are meant to be the order of the day." Modern critics have been no kinder. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever gave the film its lowest-possible "Woof!" rating and asked in its review of the film, "Dud of a gangster comedy with terrible acting. A comedy?" The Motion Picture Guide gives the film a zero-star rating, calling it a "rancid period-piece" with a "cast of no-names". TV Guide rates the film at zero-stars citing "incompetent" direction and noting that Bad Charleston Charlie "is said to have been [John Carradine's] 401st movie" but that he "should have quit at 400"."
Largely forgotten today, even by most cult movie fans, the film remains unrated at Rotten Tomatoes
where they have failed to tally a single review for it. However, several consumer products associated with the film are currently commercially available, including reproductions of the original movie poster,, a life-sized standee
of the title character, and a women's party costume sold by major retailers including Meijer
and Sears. The costume includes a "20's inspired evening dress
with beaded hip drape and circle sleeves", a cloche hat
"with contrasting pleated band and accented with feathers, sequins, and a flower", plus a "single-strand beaded necklace".
and Betamax
videocassette formats.
In July 2001, LSI Communications Inc., a company then best known for releasing the Karl Malone
's Body Shop series of workout videos, acquired the rights to Bad Charleston Charlie (along with Gregorio and His Angel starring Broderick Crawford
and The Caged Man) from Cinevision Inc. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. LSI Communications merged with Peregrine Inc. using a reverse stock swap in February 2002 and shed a number of assets in the ensuing reorganization. In late 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that this "lousy 1970s movie" was available on videotape but not on DVD.
Current rights holder Troma Entertainment
notes that Bad Charleston Charlie is "Currently unavailable on video". , the film has yet to be released on DVD or Blu-Ray disc. Selected clips from the film can be seen as part of the Ross Hagen-directed 1985 compilation horror movie Reel Horror
, available on DVD from Peacock Films.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written by and starring cult actor Ross Hagen
Ross Hagen
Ross Hagen was an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer whose television acting credits included Daktari. His film credits included The Sidehackers in 1969 and The Hellcats in 1967....
and directed by Ivan Nagy
Ivan Nagy (director)
Ivan Nagy is a Hungarian film and television director best known for directing films such as Bad Charleston Charlie, Skinner, and Deadly Hero...
. The film, rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
, was distributed by International Cinema Corporation. The film is loosely based on the life and death of 1920s gangster Charles Birger
Charles Birger
Charles Birger was an American bootlegger during the Prohibition period in southern Illinois. His real name was Shachna Itzik Birger, and he emigrated to the United States as a child with his parents from the Russian Empire....
. Poorly received by both critics and audiences, the film has yet to be released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
or Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
.
Plot
Set during the 1920s in the Midwestern United StatesMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, the movie revolves around two coal miners, Charlie Jacobs (Ross Hagen
Ross Hagen
Ross Hagen was an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer whose television acting credits included Daktari. His film credits included The Sidehackers in 1969 and The Hellcats in 1967....
) and Thad (Kelly Thordsen), who decide to follow a life a crime like their role model, Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
. Jacobs adopts the gangster persona "Bad Charleston Charlie", an anachronistic reference to the 1962 song "Charleston Charlie". The duo has to deal with forming a gang, learn to handle "wild women", bribe corrupt officials, and battle rival gangs plus the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. They find that they are no better at being gangsters than they were at mining coal. The film features a cameo from legendary actor John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as a drunken reporter.
Cast
- Ross HagenRoss HagenRoss Hagen was an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer whose television acting credits included Daktari. His film credits included The Sidehackers in 1969 and The Hellcats in 1967....
... Charlie Jacobs - Kelly Thordsen ... Thad
- Hoke Howell ... Claude
- Dal Jenkins ... Ku Klux Klan Leader
- Carmen ZapataCarmen ZapataCarmen Margarita Zapata is an American actress. Zapata was born in New York City to a Mexican father and an Argentine mother. She has been in over one hundred movies and shows, including Batman: The Animated Series, Married... with Children, Sister Act, and she was Carmen Castillo in Santa Barbara...
... Lottie - Mel Berger ... Fat Police Chief
- John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
... Alcoholic reporter - Ken Lynch ... Sheriff Koontz
- Tony Lorea ... Criminal
- Christopher GeorgeChristopher GeorgeChristopher John George was an American television and film actor who was perhaps best known for his starring role in the 1966-1968 TV series The Rat Patrol. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1967 as Best TV Star for his performance in the series...
... special appearance
Also appearing in the film were Jon Dalk, Claire Hagen, Paul Gregory White, Robert Lockhart, Karen Anders, Randy Proctor, Lenny Geer, Ivan Nagy, Suzanne Kent, Rose Barton, Richard Lockmiller, Noel De Souza, Leo Rousseau, and Warhol "superstar
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life...
" Ultra Violet
Ultra Violet (Isabelle Collin Dufresne)
Isabelle Collin Dufresne is a French artist, author and former colleague and superstar of Andy Warhol.-Early life:...
.
Production info
Bad Charleston Charlie was directed by Hungarian still photographer Ivan NagyIvan Nagy (director)
Ivan Nagy is a Hungarian film and television director best known for directing films such as Bad Charleston Charlie, Skinner, and Deadly Hero...
and produced by Ross Hagen
Ross Hagen
Ross Hagen was an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer whose television acting credits included Daktari. His film credits included The Sidehackers in 1969 and The Hellcats in 1967....
. The independent film was produced through a joint venture between Triforum Inc., a company wholly owned by Hagen and Nagy, and Studio 9 Productions. The production encountered financing problems when, in May 1972, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Studio 9 Productions, Bad Charleston Charlie Associates, and others for "violations of the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Federal securities laws in connection with the offer and sale of Studio 9 Productions common stock and Bad Charleston limited partnership interests." On June 5, 1972, Bad Charleston Charlie Associates and Studio 9 Productions "consented to a finding" (without admitting guilt) that they had violated Federal law and they accepted a final judgment of permanent injunction against future such sales.
The screenplay was written by Ross Hagen, Ivan Nagy, and actor Stan Kamber from a story by Hagen and Nagy. The director of photography was Michael Neyman. The film was edited by Walter A. Thompson
Walter A. Thompson
Walter Thompson was an American film editor with 69 film credits from 1930 to 1975. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Film Editing for This Above All and for The Nun's Story...
and Richard Garritt. The film's music was composed by Luchi DeJesus with sound by William Oliver. Raymond Markham served as art director and Eric Lidberg was the assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
. The movie was filmed in Eastmancolor and released with a PG (parental guidance suggested) rating from the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
.
The Real Charlie
The film is a highly stylized and fictionalized version of the life and exploits of real-life coal miner turned gangsterGangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
Shachna Itzik "Charlie" Birger
Charles Birger
Charles Birger was an American bootlegger during the Prohibition period in southern Illinois. His real name was Shachna Itzik Birger, and he emigrated to the United States as a child with his parents from the Russian Empire....
. Born in 1881, Birger served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from 1901 to 1904. After his honorable discharge he became a cowboy, a coal miner, then later a saloon keeper. In 1920, after the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
began the era of Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
when the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" was made illegal, Birger became a bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
. He was at war with the Shelton Brothers Gang
Shelton Brothers Gang
The Shelton Brothers Gang was an early Prohibition era bootlegging gang based in southern Illinois. They were the main rivals of the famous bootlegger Charles Birger. In 1950 the Saturday Evening Post described the Sheltons as "America's Bloodiest Gang"....
for control of (illegal) alcohol sales across Southern Illinois until the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
began to take over Williamson County
Williamson County, Illinois
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*92.7% White*3.8% Black*0.4% Native American*0.8% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.7% Two or more races*0.4% Other races*2.0% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
. The rival gangs worked together to violently purge the KKK from the area, gunning down its local leaders in 1925 and 1926. With the Klan gone by late 1926, Birger returned to his fight with the Shelton Brothers. When he discovered that Joe Adams, the mayor of West City, Illinois
West City, Illinois
West City is a village in Franklin County, Illinois, adjacent to the county seat of Benton, Illinois. The population was 661 at the 2010 census.- History :In the late 19th century, West City was a small settlement adjoining Benton on the west...
, was assisting the Sheltons, Birger threatened Adams and ultimately ordered his murder. Birger was arrested in June 1927, convicted, and hanged in April 1928. He was to be the last man executed by public hanging in the state of Illinois. (Another Illinois convict, Charles Shader, was executed by hanging in October 1928 but that execution was not open to the public.)
Release
The film was scheduled to make its world premiere with a benefit screening on April 13, 1973. This debut was delayed until Tuesday, May 8, 1973, when the film finally debuted at a charity event hosted by actress Angie DickinsonAngie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
. This premiere took place at the Avco Center Theater (now the "AMC Avco Center 4") in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The event raised money for the Oakhill School for Emotionally Handicapped Children and the Reiss-Davis Clinic. The film began playing in the greater Los Angeles area soon after with a national rollout in June 1973.
Critical reception
Reviewing the film in May 1973 on its initial release, Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote, "Bad Charleston Charlie is not merely bad but terrible." The filmmakers quoted another part of Thomas' review in their advertising, attempting to spin the negative into a positive: "Spoofery in nonsensical shenanigans are meant to be the order of the day." Modern critics have been no kinder. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever gave the film its lowest-possible "Woof!" rating and asked in its review of the film, "Dud of a gangster comedy with terrible acting. A comedy?" The Motion Picture Guide gives the film a zero-star rating, calling it a "rancid period-piece" with a "cast of no-names". TV Guide rates the film at zero-stars citing "incompetent" direction and noting that Bad Charleston Charlie "is said to have been [John Carradine's] 401st movie" but that he "should have quit at 400"."
Largely forgotten today, even by most cult movie fans, the film remains unrated at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
where they have failed to tally a single review for it. However, several consumer products associated with the film are currently commercially available, including reproductions of the original movie poster,, a life-sized standee
Standee
A theatrical standee is a large self-standing display promoting a movie, product or event. They are typically made of cardboard, and may range from large self-standing posters to three-dimensional devices with moving parts and lights....
of the title character, and a women's party costume sold by major retailers including Meijer
Meijer
Meijer, Inc. is a regional American hypermarket chain based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of the company's 196 stores are located in Michigan, with additional locations in...
and Sears. The costume includes a "20's inspired evening dress
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
with beaded hip drape and circle sleeves", a cloche hat
Cloche hat
The cloche hat is a fitted, bell-shaped hat for women that was invented by milliner Caroline Reboux in 1908, became especially popular during the 1920s, and continued to be commonly seen until about 1933. Cloche is the French word for "bell"....
"with contrasting pleated band and accented with feathers, sequins, and a flower", plus a "single-strand beaded necklace".
Home video
Bad Charleston Charlie was first released on home video on September 16, 1987, by Home Cinema Corporation. The movie was made available in both the VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
videocassette formats.
In July 2001, LSI Communications Inc., a company then best known for releasing the Karl Malone
Karl Malone
Karl Anthony Malone , nicknamed "The Mailman", is a retired American professional basketball power forward who spent the majority of his career with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association . Malone spent his first 18 seasons with the Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate...
's Body Shop series of workout videos, acquired the rights to Bad Charleston Charlie (along with Gregorio and His Angel starring Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
and The Caged Man) from Cinevision Inc. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. LSI Communications merged with Peregrine Inc. using a reverse stock swap in February 2002 and shed a number of assets in the ensuing reorganization. In late 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that this "lousy 1970s movie" was available on videotape but not on DVD.
Current rights holder Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...
notes that Bad Charleston Charlie is "Currently unavailable on video". , the film has yet to be released on DVD or Blu-Ray disc. Selected clips from the film can be seen as part of the Ross Hagen-directed 1985 compilation horror movie Reel Horror
Reel Horror
Reel Horror is a 1985 horror/comedy film directed by Ross Hagen from a screenplay by Jeanne Lucas, composed primarily of footage from other films, in two of which Hagen acted...
, available on DVD from Peacock Films.