Irwin Winkler talks to hmv.com about The Alto Knights

We caught up with legendary producer Irwin Winkler to chat about his latest project, The Alto Knights. Starring Robert De Niro, the film delves into the story of notorious crime bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. In our exclusive interview, Irwin Winkler spills some behind-the-scenes insights. Watch the interview below.
   

'Robert De Niro plays both of the main characters in this film. What inspired that decision?'

Well, I will be very frank with you. I gave Bob the script, he read it, and he called me—we’re, you know, very, very old friends, almost 50 years or more—and he said he really liked the Castello character. Then he asked, "Now, who are you thinking of for Vito Genovese?"

So, I thought for a moment and said, "You know, I can't really think of anybody but you. I think you should play both parts." There was a long pause, and he said, "Really?" I said, "Yeah."

And honestly, the real reason was that I couldn’t think of anybody else. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision, or suggestion, really. So then Bob said, "What does Barry Levinson think about it—our director?" I told him, "I just thought about it now."

So, he called Barry, and Barry said, "I think it’s a great idea." And that was it. It wasn’t like we planned this as we were writing the script and had total confidence about it. It was just a spur-of-the-moment, instinctive decision.

I know Bob so well, I’ve known him for so many years, and I understand his versatility as an actor. I guess, instinctively, I felt it would be a challenge for him to play these parts—especially since there are scenes where they talk to each other. As an actor, you have to act with someone; you can’t just act to nothing and then reverse

it all. So that was the basis of it.

The film was originally going to be titled Wise Guys. What inspired the change to The Alto Knights?

Well, Wise Guys goes back a while. You know, Nick Pileggi, who wrote the screenplay for The Alto Knights, also wrote the screenplay for Goodfellas, which I produced. The original title of Goodfellas was Wise Guys, so that was a title that Nick and I always played with.

Then, when Bob read the script, he said to me, "What do you know about The Alto Knights?" I said, "Frankly, I don’t know anything about them, but Nick Pileggi, who wrote it, knew something about it."

And then I asked, "Why? What do you know about The Alto Knights?"

Bob said, "When I was a teenager, I used to hang around a club called The Alto Knights, where a lot of gangsters hung out." He was just curious about how it ended up in the script. So, for him, the title had a personal significance.

Frankly, when we started working on the script, I always felt that Wise Guys was too easy of a title anyway. The film felt a bit classier than that, if you know what I mean.

What drew you to this project specifically—The Alto Knights?

Well, that’s what I do. You know, I wake up in the morning, and I make movies. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. My first movie was in 1966—with Elvis Presley, by the way.

So, I don’t know anything else. I don’t know how to do anything else. I couldn’t even get a job as a street cleaner. I’m better off making movies.

And this one is really close to my heart. I’ve done The Godfather films, The Irishman, Goodfellas, and now this—this is kind of the culmination of all of them.

The Alto Knights is in cinemas from 21st March.