Taglines: In 1935, a New York kid was looking for a hero. He found Dutch Schultz.
Billy Bathgate movie storyline. Billy Behan is a poor teenage boy from the Bronx. One day he catches the attention of gangster Dutch Schultz. Changing his last name to Bathgate, after a local street, he goes to work for Schultz’s organization, serving mostly as a gopher for Schultz. Billy is present when Schultz murders his former partner Bo Weinberg, who Schultz believes betrayed him. Schultz then begins a relationship with Weinberg’s beautiful, married, girlfriend, Drew Preston.
Facing legal charges in a court in upstate New York, Schultz brings Billy and Drew along. He successfully charms the locals, presenting himself as charming and good natured. While his boss Dutch stands trial, Billy’s job is to watch over Drew. His loyalties to Schultz are tested as he begins falling in love with the flirtatious Drew. Realizing that Drew is about to be killed, Billy calls her husband, who hurries to town and takes her home before Schultz’s men can make their move.
Having beaten the rap in court, Dutch is indicted again on federal tax evasion charges. He wants to have federal prosecutor Thomas Dewey murdered, but his request is rejected by the Mafia Commission. Schultz sends Billy to another gangster with some bribe money, but the effort is rejected. When Billy returns with the bad news, he and Schultz have a falling out and Billy is fired by Schultz’s associate Otto, who lets him keep the bribe money as a severance package.
Billy Bathgate is a 1991 American gangster film directed by Robert Benton, starring Loren Dean as the title character and Dustin Hoffman as real-life gangster Dutch Schultz. The film co-stars Nicole Kidman, Steven Hill, Steve Buscemi, and Bruce Willis. Although Billy is a fictional character, at least four of the other characters in the film were real people from 1930s New York. The screenplay was adapted by British writer Tom Stoppard from E.L. Doctorow’s novel of the same name. However, Doctorow distanced himself from the film for the extensive deviations from the book.
Billy Bathgate (1991)
Directed by: Robert Benton
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Steven Hill, Loren Dean, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, John Costelloe, Timothy Jerome, Stanley Tucci, Frances Conroy, Moira Kelly
Screenplay by: Tom Stoppard
Production Design by: Patrizia von Brandenstein
Cinematography by: Néstor Almendros
Film Editing by: Alan Heim, David Ray, Robert M. Reitano
Costume Design by: Joseph G. Aulisi
Set Decoration by: George DeTitta Sr.
Art Direction by: Dennis Bradford, Tim Galvin
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: R for some gangster violence, and for language.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: November 1, 1991
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