Dog Day Afternoon: Information from Answers.com Mobile

Dog Day Afternoon

Plot

Based on a true 1972 story, Sidney Lumet's 1975 drama chronicles a unique bank robbery on a hot summer afternoon in New York City. Shortly before closing time, scheming loser Sonny (Al Pacino) and his slow-witted buddy, Sal (John Cazale), burst into a Brooklyn bank for what should be a run-of-the-mill robbery, but everything goes wrong, beginning with the fact that there is almost no money in the bank. The situation swiftly escalates, as Sonny and Sal take hostages; enough cops to police the tristate area surround the bank; a large Sonny-sympathetic crowd gathers to watch; the media arrive to complete the circus; and police captain Moretti (Charles Durning) tries to negotiate with Sonny while keeping the volatile spectacle under control. When Sonny's lover, Leon (Chris Sarandon), tries to talk Sonny out of the bank, we learn the robbery's motive: to finance Leon's sex-change operation. Sonny demands a plane to escape, but the end is near once menacingly cool FBI agent Sheldon (James Broderick) arrives to take over the negotiations. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Review

Shooting on location in New York, Sidney Lumet and Oscar-winning writer Frank Pierson maintain an objective view of a potentially exploitative story, grasping both the human comedy of an absurd situation and the utter seriousness of what's at stake. Sonny and Sal are not so much stereotypical figures of ridicule as they are lost souls at the mercy of forces beyond their control and comprehension. Yet they are not romanticized; neither cops nor robbers come off well. Dog Day Afternoon found a large 1975 audience for its oddball yet timely story, with all of the lead actors, especially Al Pacino, winning kudos for their bravura performances. Tapping into contemporary tensions over law, media, and sexuality, with Pacino's confused antihero at the center of the melee, Dog Day Afternoon is a quintessential 1970s story, devoid of unequivocal good guys and replete with public and private turmoil. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast

Al Pacino - Sonny
John Cazale - Sal
Charles Durning - N.Y. Detective Moretti
Sully Boyar - Bank Manager Mulvaney
Chris Sarandon - Leon

Penny Allen - Sylvia; James Broderick - FBI Agent Sheldon; Susan Peretz - Angie; Judith Malina - Mother; William Bogert - TV Studio Anchorman; Dominic Chianese - Father; Ron Cummins - TV Reporter; Todd Everett - Cop (uncredited); Beulah Garrick - Margaret; Jay Gerber - Sam; Lance Henriksen - Murphy; Carol Kane - Jenny; Sandra Kazan - Deborah; Marcia Jean Kurtz - Miriam; Floyd Levine - Phone Cop; Amy Levitt - Maria; Philip Charles MacKenzie - Doctor; Chu Chu Malave - Maria's Boy Friend; John Marriott - Howard; Estelle Omens - Edna; Lionel Pina - Pizza Boy; Gary Springer - Stevie; Dick Anthony Williams - Limo Driver; Thomas Murphy - Policeman with Angie; Carmine Foresta - Carmine

Credit

Douglas Higgins - Art Director, Robert Greenhut - Associate Producer, Don Phillips - Casting, Michael Chinich - Casting, Anna Hill Johnstone - Costume Designer, Burtt Harris - First Assistant Director, Sidney Lumet - Director, Dede Allen - Editor, Reginald Tackley - Makeup, Fred Schuler - Camera Operator, Charles Bailey - Production Designer, Victor J. Kemper - Cinematographer, Martin Bregman - Producer, Martin Elfand - Producer, Robert Drumheller - Set Designer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Vorisek - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Pierson - Screenwriter, Peggy Farrell - Costumes Supervisor, Thomas Moore - Book Author, P.F. Kluge - Short Story Author

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