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New discovery about A Piece of the Action

ZapBrannigan

ZapBrannigan

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I started watching Robin and the 7 Hoods today, and I wasn't ten minutes in before I had to stop and write this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_and_the_7_Hoods

It's set in the 1920s. The movie begins with the departure of Chicago's biggest Mafia boss. Then the next biggest boss (Peter Falk) calls a meeting of all the bosses, and he announces a new arrangement: there will be a single, unified organization, he himself will henceforth be the top man, and all other bosses will report to him. And they will pay a service fee, cutting Peter Falk in for fifty percent of their revenues.

Funny thing: that's exactly the scene that the whole episode of "A Piece of the Action" is structured to lead up to, with Shatner in the Falk role. And Shatner wears a blue pinstripe suit just like Falk's. And a light gray, pinch-front fedora with wide, dark headband, just like Falk's. And Shatner adopts the comical accent and inflections of Falk's mob boss character. And he uses the same broad gestures to "talk with his hands."

This was a very successful picture that was released only three years before "A Piece of the Action." I hardly think it was all a coincidence. Shatner's Falk emulation is so pronounced, I would bet Star Trek's first-run audience was supposed to recognize the episode as an homage to Robin and the 7 Hoods. It's not like the show was hiding it. They hung a lantern on it.

And that was the biggest joke in this Star Trek comedy: you would laugh with delight when you suddenly realized Shatner was doing a shameless take-off on Falk's movie character. It's a joke that was soon lost to viewers as the film faded from memory, while "A Piece of the Action" was rerun scores of times on TV. I'm 58 and I never knew about it.

This might be as close as Star Trek came to doing a Carol Burnett-style movie take-off sketch.

From Wikipedia:
Variety commented: "Warner Bros. has a solid money entry in "Robin and the Seven Hoods," a spoof on gangster pix of bygone days sparked by the names of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bing Crosby to give marquee power ... Performance-wise, Falk comes out best. His comic gangster is a pure gem and he should get plenty of offers after this.
Click to expand...
(Emphasis added.)
 
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Nope, don't see the similarities. :rolleyes: :guffaw:
a-piece.png

Like you, I never made the connection to the movie. Good catch.
 
What a fantastic catch, Zap!! Bravo! Absolutely no question in my mind that you're right - this was supposed to be an homage that the Star Trek audience recognized. I like how you made your case. :bolian:
And it never ceases to amaze me how we can still learn new things about our favorite show! :beer:
 
As long we are on the subject, I've always wondered about the interior sets of APotA. They seem way more detailed than the typical ST sets. Each office has a different layout and a variety of differences. Different sized fireplaces. All kinds of different moldings and floor surfaces. There are different doors with different hardware. And the hallway at JoJo Krakos's with the tiles and the stairs. Not to mention the warehouse with all the pinball machines. All of it seems more elaborate, more expensive, than what ST could pull off.
Thoughts?
 
a couple of clips, more online
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Sadly - that movie pretty much never shows up on TV anymore. I've seen it a few times many years ago and it's a fun movie. For a semi-musical...
 
BK613 said:
As long we are on the subject, I've always wondered about the interior sets of APotA. They seem way more detailed than the typical ST sets. Each office has a different layout and a variety of differences. Different sized fireplaces. All kinds of different moldings and floor surfaces. There are different doors with different hardware. And the hallway at JoJo Krakos's with the tiles and the stairs. Not to mention the warehouse with all the pinball machines. All of it seems more elaborate, more expensive, than what ST could pull off.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
"A Piece of the Action" made use of sets, wardrobe and props left over from The Untouchables (1959-1963), another Desilu production.
 
scotpens said:
"A Piece of the Action" made use of sets, wardrobe and props left over from The Untouchables (1959-1963), another Desilu production.
Click to expand...
Were those sets still standing 4 years later?

I don't see the Production Reports for this show. Maybe @Harvey has them and can tell us in which stages the office interior sets were.
 
I never made the connection either and yet my Father was a big and I mean BIG Frank Sinatra fan! He had this film in his collection but only watched it now and again and really not very often! But now you've brought it up I can never break the thought of that! I do recall though that Piece and Hoods were both screened by the BBC in 1980 at the time of going into videoing virtually everything! Hoods on 10th May 1980 and Trek's Piece on 22nd September 1980 so not exactly back to back but within four months or so...
JB
 
ZapBrannigan said:
It's set in the 1920s. The movie begins with the departure of Chicago's biggest Mafia boss. Then the next biggest boss (Peter Falk) calls a meeting of all the bosses, and he announces a new arrangement: there will be a single, unified organization, he himself will henceforth be the top man, and all other bosses will report to him. And they will pay a service fee, cutting Peter Falk in for fifty percent of their revenues.

Funny thing: that's exactly the scene that the whole episode of "A Piece of the Action" is structured to lead up to, with Shatner in the Falk role.
Click to expand...

Not at the beginning of its life. Interestingly, neither the story outline ("The Expatriates") nor the first draft script ("Mission Into Chaos") has this concept in it.

Maurice said:
Were those sets still standing 4 years later?

I don't see the Production Reports for this show. Maybe @Harvey has them and can tell us in which stages the office interior sets were.
Click to expand...
Krako's office was on Gower stage 11. Bela's office was on Gower stage 8.
 
Maurice said:
Were those sets still standing 4 years later?
Click to expand...

According to this page, The Untouchables used stages 2, 3, 4 and 16 in Culver City and stages 9 & 10 in Hollywood. I doubt that any of those sets were still standing four years later (although set pieces may have been kept in storage). The New York street set on stages 9 & 10 must have been demolished to make way for the Star Trek sets that occupied those soundstages.
 
So much carpentry and construction! Reminds me how Hollywood was one of the big battlegrounds of the labor movement and Communist activity trying to infiltrate or take them over. Wasn't there a small riot outside one of the studios during a strike?

And Reagan said the thing that turned him "right" were the tactics he said he observed as head of SAG, when trying to have meetings, the "Reds" would yell and rattle chains to prevent discussion.

Sorry for the digression, but hearing of an entire NY street scene wiped out -- that's a lot of work gone, but . . . next production must roll, eh?
 
Could the suits that Shatner and Nimoy wore be the actual ones from the movie? They look identical except for some extra buttons on Shatner's jacket. Or is it just all pin-striped suits look the same?
 
Commishsleer said:
Could the suits that Shatner and Nimoy wore be the actual ones from the movie? They look identical except for some extra buttons on Shatner's jacket. Or is it just all pin-striped suits look the same?
Click to expand...
If you count the number of pinstripes on Kirk’s lapels they don’t match. And Western Costume probably had tons of these kinds of suits for rent if the studio didn’t.
 
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