Everything about Dog Day Afternoon totally explained
Wojtowicz wrote a letter to
The New York Times in 1975 out of concern that people would believe the version of the events portrayed in the film, which he said was "only 30% true". Some of Wojtowicz's objections included the portrayal of his wife Carmen Bifulco, the conversation with his mother that Wojtowicz claimed never happened, and the refusal of police to let him speak to his wife Carmen (unlike what was portrayed in the film). He did, however, praise Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon's portrayals of him and his wife Ernest Aron as accurate. Also, Sal was 18 years old, yet is played in
Dog Day Afternoon by a 40-year-old.
The film shows Sonny making out a
will to give Leon his life insurance. Even if Sonny should be killed, Leon might still be able to pay for the operation. The real-life Wojtowicz was paid $7,500 plus 1% of the film's net profits for the rights to his story, $2,500 of which he gave to Ernest Aron to pay for her sexual reassignment surgery. and lived out the rest of her days in
New York. She died of complications from
AIDS in
Rochester in 1987. Wojtowicz himself died of
cancer in January 2006.
The bank where the robbery took place was a branch of the
Chase Manhattan Bank, at 450 Avenue P in Brooklyn, at the cross street of East 3rd Street, Today the location is the Brooklyn Medical Imaging Center.
Production
The original inspiration for the film was an article written by
P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore for
Life in September 1972. The article included many of the details later used in the film and noted the relationship which Wojtowicz and Naturile developed with hostages and the police. Bank manager Robert Barrett said, "I'm supposed to hate you guys [Wojtowicz/Naturile], but I've had more laughs tonight than I've had in weeks. We had a kind of camaraderie." Teller Shirley Bell said,"[I]f they'd been my houseguests on a Saturday night, it would have been hilarious."
Cast
The
Life article described Wojtowicz as "a dark, thin fellow with the broken-faced good looks of an Al Pacino or
Dustin Hoffman".
Response
Dog Day Afternoon, released in 1975, is based on events that took place in 1972. During this era of heavy
opposition to the Vietnam war, "anti-establishment" Sonny repeatedly reminds people he's a Vietnam
veteran and repeats the counter-cultural war cry of "Attica!" in references the
Attica Prison riots.
Critical reactions
Upon its release,
Dog Day Afternoon received generally favorable reviews.
Vincent Canby called it "Sidney Lumet's most accurate, most flamboyant New York movie" and praised the "brilliant characterizations" by the entire cast.
Roger Ebert called Sonny "one of the most interesting modern movie characters" and gave the movie three-and-a-half stars out of four. As time has passed, the film continues to generate a positive critical reception. For example,
Christopher Null has said that the film "captures perfectly the
zeitgeist of the early 1970s, a time when optimism was scraping rock bottom" and that "John Wojtowicz was as good a hero as we could come up with". P.F. Kluge, author of the article that inspired the film, believed that the filmmakers "stayed with the surface of a lively journalistic story" and that the film had a "strong, fast-paced story" without "reflection" or "a contemplative view of life".
References in popular culture
During the confrontation with the police, Sonny shouts the word "Attica" in order to rile up the crowd of onlookers, and gain their support in opposition to the police. This single-word quote is listed at #86 on the
AFI's list of "
100 Years...100 Movie Quotes".
There have been numerous allusions to
Dog Day Afternoon through the quoting of "Attica!" in movies and television over the last 30 years, including:
- Chuck in Early Edition says it while being led out of a city council meeting.
- Saturday Night Fever- Tony Manero (John Travolta), looking at a poster of Al Pacino in his bedroom.
- Penn Jillette, as he's escorted from a casino by security, Penn & Teller Get Killed
- Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), to his boss in House, "Lines in the Sand" episode
- , Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), while undercover in a prison
- The King of Queens episode ""Strike Out", Arthur, when a police car drives by
- SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Missing Identity", SpongeBob during a fantasy robbery sequence.
- In the King of the Hill episode Dog Dale Afternoon, Dale Gribble is in a similar situation, and the title is an obvious reference.
- Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), while protesting the Paddy's new regime in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass" episode.
- In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax commentaries, whenever a large group is seen shouting or chanting, the commentators will usually start shouting "Attica!" in the general voice of the crowd.
- Third Watch (S1E3 Patterns) - Officers Sully and Davis arrest "the clown-looking guy" at the Mets game and have "Attica! Attica!" shouted at them.
- The Young Ones (TV series) In the final episode of the young ones just before they go to rob a bank Rick says this is it Dog day afternoon.
- The Simpsons (TV series) episode "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". Marge is in a bank which is robbed by Dwight, who is an obvious stand-in for Sonny. Dwight's partner's appearance is identical to that of Sal's, and the gun in the package is also referenced.
- Garden State (film) A partygoer yells "Attica!" to Zach Braff, thinking he's quoting Robert Deniro.
- Postal 2 (Video Game) If the player dons a police uniform as a disguise and proceeds to assault members of the public, they often attempt to escape while yelling 'Attica! Attica!'
- Entourage (S3E2 ' ' An Episode is named after the movie in a mocking way due to Drama And Turtle (Jerry Ferarra And Kevin Dillon), picking up girls at a dog park
- Inside Man (film) Clive Owen who plays a bank robber in the film, demands a plane to the detective portrayed by Denzel Washington who quotes "You've Seen Dog Day Afternoon, you know its not gonna happen." Many parts of the film itself also seem to be modeled on Dog Day Afternoon. Examples include the fact that in both films it's a Chase Manhattan Bank that's robbed, pizza is delivered when food is needed, both villains threaten to "throw bodies out the front door", and various other similarities.
- In the "Branch Wars" episode of The Office, on the way to the Utica, NY branch of Dunder Mifflin to wreak havoc, Michael and Dwight (Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson) chant "Utica! Utica!" as a misallusion to the scene.
- In an episode of American Dad Stan mocks Ethan Hawke and yells "Gattaca! Gattaca!".
In the movie
Swordfish, John Travolta's character suggests that if Pacino had handled the hostage situation in
Dog Day Afternoon as Pacino had originally told police he'd (by "throwing bodies out the front door" to show he meant business), the robbery would have proven far more successful. The film is also referenced in the
Spike Lee film
Inside Man, also a film about a bank robbery and the resulting police siege, which featured many references to Al Pacino films. A 2000 documentary
The Third Memory, directed by
Pierre Huyghe, contrasted news footage of the actual robbery with
Dog Day Afternoon and a contemporary retelling of the events by
John Wojtowicz.
The 1994 film
Airheads's plot is similar to
Dog Day Afternoon, with its hostage situation, winning over the crowd with anti-establishment attitudes (chanting "
Rodney King, Rodney King!" instead of "Attica!"), and creating a live TV media circus.
In
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, "Dog Show Afternoon" was the title of the 25th episode, where Monroe (the dog) enters a dog show, while Juniper looks for a magical creature that got into the arena.
A fourth-season episode of
Code Lyoko is titled "".
In the video game
Half Life 2 Episode 1 after destroying the air ship at the hospital an achievement called Attica! is unlocked.
Awards
Dog Day Afternoon won the
Academy Award for
Writing - Original Screenplay (Frank Pierson) and was nominated for other Oscars:
Best Picture
Best Director (Sidney Lumet)
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Al Pacino)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Chris Sarandon)
Best Film Editing (Dede Allen)
The film was also nominated for the following seven Golden Globes, winning none: In 2006, Premiere magazine issued its "100 Greatest Performances of All Time", citing Pacino's performance as Sonny as the 4th greatest ever.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dog Day Afternoon'.
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