Bad Charleston Charlie is a 1973 comedy film written by and starring 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.
Plot
Set during the 1920s in the Midwestern United States, the movie revolves around two coal miners, Charlie Jacobs (Ross Hagen) and Thad (Kelly Thordsen), who decide to follow a life of 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 by actor John Carradine, who plays as a drunken reporter.
Tagline
The film's advertising tagline was "The most desperate gang of all...ALMOST!"
Cast
Ross Hagen ... Charlie Jacobs
Kelly Thordsen ... Thad
Hoke Howell ... Claude
Dal Jenkins ... Ku Klux Klan Leader
Carmen Zapata ... Lottie
Mel Berger ... Fat Police Chief
John Carradine ... Alcoholic reporter
Ken Lynch ... Sheriff Koontz
Tony Lorea ... Criminal
Christopher George ... special appearance
Also appearing in the film were Jon Dalk, Claire Hagen, Paul Gregory White, Robert Lockart, Karen Anders, Randy Proctor, Lenny Geer, Ivan Nagy, Suzanne Kent, Rose Barton, Richard Lockmiller, Noel De Souza, Leo Rousseau, and Warhol "superstar" Ultra Violet.
Production info
Bad Charleston Charlie was directed by Hungarian still photographer Ivan Nagy 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.
The real Charlie
The film is a highly stylized and fictionalized version of the life and exploits of real-life coal miner turned gangster 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.)