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Boardwalk Empire

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Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire intertitle
GenreDrama
Created byTerence Winter
StarringSteve Buscemi
Michael Pitt
Kelly Macdonald
Michael Shannon
Shea Whigham
Aleksa Palladino
Michael Stuhlbarg
Stephen Graham
Vincent Piazza
Paz de la Huerta
Michael Kenneth Williams
Anthony Laciura
Paul Sparks
Dabney Coleman
Opening theme"Straight Up and Down" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersTerence Winter
Martin Scorsese
Mark Wahlberg
Tim Van Patten
Stephen Levinson
Production locationGreenpoint, Brooklyn
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time50–60 minutes
Production companiesHBO, Leverage Management
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseSeptember 19, 2010 (2010-09-19) –
present

Boardwalk Empire is an American television series from premium cable network HBO, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era. Starring Steve Buscemi, the show was adapted from a chapter about historical criminal kingpin Enoch "Nucky" Johnson in Nelson Johnson's book, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City,[1] by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter of The Sopranos.[2]

The first episode was directed by Martin Scorsese. On September 1, 2010, HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 episodes.[3] The series debuted on September 19, 2010.[4]

On September 21, 2010, Boardwalk Empire was renewed for a second season after the premiere episode gained HBO's highest ratings for any premiere since 2004's Deadwood.

The show's theme music is "Straight Up and Down" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, from their 1996 album Take It from the Man!

Synopsis

Boardwalk Empire is a period drama focusing on Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson),[5] a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey during the Prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s. Nucky interacts with several historical figures in both his personal and political life, including mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the common folk who looked up to him. The government also takes an interest in the bootlegging and other illegal activities in the area, sending agents to investigate possible mob connections but also looking at Nucky's expensive and lavish lifestyle for a county political figure.

Like the historical Enoch L. Johnson, the Nucky of the television series is the second of three crime bosses who head the Republican machine and use racketeering and power politics to control Atlantic City.[6] However, Terence Winter has stated, "[Nelson Johnson's] book was really just a jumping-off point."[7]

Cast

  • Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson. The corrupt treasurer of Atlantic County and its most powerful political figure. Thompson is based on Enoch L. Johnson.
  • Michael Pitt as James "Jimmy" Darmody. Nucky's protege, he is haunted by his experiences fighting in World War I.
  • Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder. A young Irish widow and mother, she turns to Nucky for help before eventually becoming his mistress.
  • Michael Shannon as Nelson Van Alden. A zealous Federal Prohibition agent, he identifies Nucky as a key bootlegging figure.
  • Shea Whigham as Elias "Eli" Thompson. Nucky's younger brother and the sheriff of Atlantic County.
  • Aleksa Palladino as Angela Darmody. Jimmy's common-law wife and the mother of his young son.
  • Michael Stuhlbarg as Arnold Rothstein. A powerful and intelligent New York gangster who enters into business with Nucky.
  • Stephen Graham as Al Capone. A violent low-level Chicago gangster with ambitions of entering the bootlegging trade.
  • Vincent Piazza as Charles "Lucky" Luciano. A Sicilian-American gangster and close associate of Rothstein.
  • Paz de la Huerta as Lucy Danziger. Nucky's temperamental mistress and a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer.
  • Michael Kenneth Williams as Chalky White. Nucky's equivalent in Atlantic City's black community.
  • Anthony Laciura as Eddie Kessler. Nucky's bumbling and often overwhelmed German assistant and butler.
  • Paul Sparks as Michael "Mickey Doyle" Kozik. An Atlantic City bootlegger. Doyle is based on Mickey Duffy.
  • Dabney Coleman as Commodore Louis Kaestner (based on Louis Kuehnle). Nucky's mentor and predecessor in Atlantic City.


Recurring characters

  • Gretchen Mol as Gillian Darmody. Jimmy's mother and an old friend of Nucky's. She is also Lucky Luciano's lover.
  • Max Casella as Leo D'Alessio. A Philadelphia gangster Doyle owes money to. Based on the real life character Leo Lanzetti, a Philadelphia gangster.
  • Edoardo Ballerini as Ignatius D'Alessio. Leo's brother and another Philadelphia gangster. Based on the real life character Ignatius Lanzetti, a Philadelphia gangster.
  • Greg Antonacci as Johnny Torrio. Capone's boss in the Chicago crime world.
  • Erik Weiner as Agent Sebso. Van Alden's partner.
  • Jack Huston as Richard Harrow. A heavily scarred World War I sniper who allies himself with Jimmy Darmody.
  • Joseph Riccobene as Frankie Yale. An assassin who kills Colosimo.
  • Kevin Carolan as Boardwalk Barker
  • William Hill as Ward Boss O'Neil
  • Stephen DeRosa as Eddie Cantor
  • Robert Clohessy as Ward Boss Deary
  • Chris Mulkey as Boss Frank Hague
  • Michael Badalucco as Harry Price
  • Frank Crudele as James "Big Jim" Colosimo. A Chicago gang boss and opera fan.
  • Emily Meade as Pearl. Jimmy Darmody's girlfriend in Chicago. She is cut across the face in retaliation for Al and Jimmy crossing a rival mob.
  • Anna Katerina as Isabelle Jeunet. A French woman who owns an haute couture shop on the boardwalk
  • Eric Schneider as Sixtus D'Alessio. Another Philadelphia Gangster. He shoots at Nucky and fails in the epidode Belle Femme
  • Louis Vanaria as Lucian D'Alessio. One of the D'Alessio Brothers, known for his huge birthmark on his cheek
  • Al Linea as Matteo "Teo" D'Alessio. Another D'Alessio brother he is known as the barber.
  • Nicholas Alexander Martino as Pius D'Alessio the 6th and youngest D'Alessio Brother, the one who spit in Nucky's Bag man's face

Episodes

Main article: List of Boardwalk Empire episodes

Production

The series was filmed on a specially created set in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.[8] Interior scenes from the premiere episode were filmed in Reid Hall at Manhattanville College.

The Greenpoint set, which featured a 300-foot[9] "period-perfect rendition" of Atlantic City in the early 1920s, took three months to build.[10] Alone, the set included depictions of storefronts, cars and the boardwalk itself; Brooklyn-based digital effects studio Brainstorm Digital used 3D models after filming to add details like skylines, billboards, piers and beaches, whose looks, Brainstorm artist Chris Wesselman said, were based on vintage postcards.[11]

Production for the series's 80-minute pilot cost $18 million.[12] Industry insiders have estimated costs for the entire first season of "Boardwalk Empire" to range upwards of $65 million.[13]

Costume design

Designed by John Dunn and tailored by Martin Greenfield, Boardwalk Empire's costumes were based on 1920s tailoring books from the Fashion Institute of Technology's research libraries and examples found at the Brooklyn Museum and the Met. Dunn's designs were meticulously detailed, including a collar pin for Nucky's shirts and even going so far as to incorporate specially ordered woolens for suiting. Dunn told Esquire magazine in a September 2010 interview, "With Marty and Terry Winters, I developed the feel for each of the characters. We all wanted it to be very, very accurate and specific to the period.... I don't like to do boring clothing, but you also have to make sure that you're not suddenly putting somebody in something that isn't going to make sense four episodes from now." [14]

Martin Scorsese's contribution

Martin Scorsese was involved in the filming even before creator Terence Winter. He directed the pilot and established the look of the show, which other directors later emulated to make the show feel seamless. He is also one of the executive producers of the show. Winter stated that Scorsese weighs in on the casting decisions, watches all the cuts and dailies. Up until the shooting of the show's first season, Scorsese and Winter would meet every Sunday afternoon to review what went on during the week where Scorsese would have comments and suggestions. Martin Scorsese is expected to continue to be creatively involved in the ongoing production and if the series continues—with proper scheduling—he would like to direct more episodes.[15][16]

Reception

Since its premiere, Boardwalk Empire has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregate Metacritic awarded the series a score of 88%, based on 29 reviews, indicating Universal acclaim.[17]

Screen Rant gave the pilot episode a positive review describing it: "The pilot episode starts and ends with a bang: consider it a warning shot to the other networks: HBO is back with another hit show and they are laying claim to Sunday night." The USA Today called the series "Mighty, and brutal" saying that the show is "Extravagantly produced, shockingly violent and as cold and hard as ice."

Rick Porter of Zap2it (Inside the Box) said in his review "Boardwalk Empire has everything you'd expect in an HBO drama—sharply drawn characters, large-scale stories intercut with intimate moments and a sense that you couldn't find something like it anywhere else on the guide. It's maybe the best new show HBO has launched in several years." Other positive reviews came from Maureen Ryan of TV Squad who said in her review: "Frankly, this complex and entertaining show is the kind of things that the networks—cable and broadcast—just don't make anymore: It's a grand, handsome saga about a whole slice of society, from shop clerks and showgirls to fixers and Feds."[18]

References

  1. ^ Kinon, Cristina (2010-09-08). "HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire' uses New York as a stand-in for Atlantic City, Chicago and Los Angeles". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  2. ^ "Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City website". Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 1, 2010). "HBO orders Boardwalk Empire". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2010. [dead link]
  4. ^ Sciretta, Peter (July 9, 2010). "HBO Announces Premiere Date for Boardwalk Empire". /Film. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  5. ^ "'Boardwalk Empire' Promos". FlicksNews.net. 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  6. ^ Riemer, Emily (2009-12-08). "Martin Scorsese's 'Boardwalk Empire' to Tap into Seedy, 1920s Atlantic City". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  7. ^ Kinon, Cristina (2010-09-08). "HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire' uses New York as a stand-in for Atlantic City, Chicago and Los Angeles". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  8. ^ McGrath, Charles (September 3, 2010). "On the Boardwalk, HBO Hangs Out With a New Mob". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  9. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2010-08-08). "HBO lays a big-bucks bet on 'Boardwalk'". Variety. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  10. ^ Hwang, Matt (2010-10-17). "Atlantic City Looks Good in 'Boardwalk Empire'". Gambling City. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  11. ^ Lipkin, Michael (2009-08-04). "DUMBO biz Brainstorm and Martin Scorsese team up for HBO project 'Boardwalk Empire'". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  12. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2010-08-08). "HBO lays a big-bucks bet on 'Boardwalk'". Variety. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  13. ^ Flaherty, Mike (2010-08-22). "Sodom by the Sea". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  14. ^ Peskowitz, Josh (2010-09-15). "The Bespoke Gangster Style of HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire'". Esquire. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  15. ^ "An Interview with 'Boardwalk Empire' Creator Terence Winter". Tvsquad.com. 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  16. ^ Ryan, Maureen (2010-09-14). "Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter Interview". Collider.com. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  17. ^ "Boardwalk Empire: Season 1". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  18. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/tv/boardwalk-empire/season-1/critic-reviews

External links

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