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The Pope of Greenwich Village

The Pope of Greenwich Village is an American crime black comedy film released in 1984 and directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan and Burt Young. 

Page was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her two-scene role. The film was adapted by screenwriter Vincent Patrick from his novel of the same name.

In an Italian neighborhood of Greenwich Village, cousins Charlie, a maître d'hôtel with aspirations of someday owning his own restaurant, and Paulie, a schemer who works as a waiter, have expensive tastes but not much money. Paulie gets caught skimming checks, and he and Charlie are both fired. Now out of work and in debt, Charlie must find another way to pay his alimony, support his pregnant girlfriend Diane, and try to buy a restaurant.

Paulie comes to Charlie with a seemingly foolproof robbery idea involving a large amount of cash in the safe of a local business. Charlie reluctantly agrees to participate, and they manage to crack the safe with help from an accomplice, Barney, a clock repairman and locksmith. But things go sour, resulting in the accidental death of police officer Walter "Bunky" Ritter, who had been secretly taping "Bed Bug" Eddie Grant. Charlie soon learns that the money that they stole belongs to Eddie.

The mob figures out that Paulie is involved, and not even his Uncle Pete, part of Eddie's crew, can help him. Eddie's henchmen cut off Paulie's left thumb as punishment.

Diane leaves Charlie and takes his money to support their unborn child, while Paulie is forced to work as a waiter for Eddie. He gives the mob Barney's name but initially refuses to identify Charlie as the third man involved. However, under pressure, he is forced to rat on his cousin. Barney leaves town and Charlie mails him his cut of the loot. When Charlie makes $20,000 on a horse, things begin to look up.

Charlie prepares for a showdown with Eddie, armed with a copy of the tape that the police officer had made. But at the last moment, Paulie puts lye in Eddie's coffee, and he and Charlie then casually walk away from Greenwich Village.

 

(Excerpts taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pope_of_Greenwich_Village)


Do You Remember The Pope of Greenwich Village?

Do You Remember The Pope of Greenwich Village?