The past few weeks have been brutally cold. It’s the perfect time to sit down and watch a classic movie.
I took a break from the Christmas movies last week to watch something else. On a recent evening, I immediately found my place on the couch and wrapped a blanket around me. Remote in hand, I began scrolling through the numerous streaming services, searching for that ultimate film that could keep me entertained — and awake.
I wanted to dive into Xfinity’s archive of old movies. In case you didn’t know, they’ve got quite a library.
Enter the 1975 film “Dog Day Afternoon,” starring a young Al Pacino. I was too young to see “Dog Day Afternoon” in the movie theatre, but I do remember watching it on VHS at one point or another, probably with my stepdad, George, who always seemed to find a classic on the shelves of Blockbuster Video in the 1980s.
When “Dog Day Afternoon” begins, we meet Sonny (Pacino) and his pal, Sal (John Cazale). The two are about to hold up a bank. Sal enters first and immediately sits down with the bank manager Mulvaney (Sully Boyar) and hides a gun behind his briefcase. Sonny, meanwhile, enters with what looks to be a large box of flowers. But surprise, there’s a gun inside.
The bank robbery scene is extremely tense and that’s by design. Director Sidney Lumet pushes all the right buttons right out of the gate. We learn pretty quickly that Sonny and Sal don’t have a plan. Quickly, the NYPD shows up and whatever plan Sonny and Sal had goes right down the tubes. A hostage situation ensues and the two don’t really have an idea on how to negotiate. Sonny is more concerned about feeding his hostages, who he has connected with.
There are some interesting subplots. Sonny decides to send out an asthmatic security guard, who happens to be Black. The police quickly attack him, thinking he’s one of the bank robbers.
It’s amazing — and sad — how the scene holds up 45 years later.
Another subplot: Sonny’s sexuality. It turns out that Sonny is bisexual. He has a wife and children, but was also involved romantically with Leon (Chris Sarandon). In fact, it turns out that Sonny was robbing the bank to pay for Leon’s sex change operation. I imagine that in 1975 that would have shocked audiences.
The best part of Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon” is that it’s based on an actual bank robbery that took place in New York during the 1970s. Although the film is dramatic in nature, it has an irreverent, quirky sense of humor.
At one point during the bank robbery/hostage situation, the bank begins getting obscene phone calls. Sonny hands the phone to the tellers who begin breathing heavily into the receiver, giving it right back to the pervert on the other end of the phone.
Sonny makes all sorts of demands of the NYPD and they have to give in because, oddly enough, he has gotten the crowd on his side. He gets the crowd chanting “Attica, Attica!” — a reference to the prison in western New York, where a riot occurred in 1971. I had to Google Attica, because it was before my time and is an event in history that isn’t taught in history books.
“Dog Day Afternoon” was nominated for several Academy Awards, but won none. That’s understandable. It’s a very good film, but I can see how the Academy didn’t embrace it, especially in 1975. Surprisingly, the film holds up well more than 40 years later.
It’s definitely worth your time — especially on a frigid night.
“Dog Day Afternoon” is rated R for adult themes, adult language and violence. You can watch it on Xfinity OnDemand, HBO Max, Spectrum TV, ROW8, Prime Video and VUDU.
Chris Morelli is the assistant editor of The Centre County Gazette.
