''Fingers'' is a 1978 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by James Toback. The film is about a troubled young man being pulled between his mob father and his mentally disturbed pianist mother.

Plot

Jimmy "Fingers" Angelelli (

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...

) is a brilliant young pianist who also works as a debt collector for his father Ben ( Michael V. Gazzo), a local

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

. Wherever Jimmy goes, he always carries a tape player with him, playing classic pop hits (mainly soul and R&B) from the 1950s and 1960s. While trying to concentrate on an upcoming recital interview at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

, Jimmy loses focus when he falls for a woman named Carol (

Tisa Farrow Theresa Magdalena "Tisa" Farrow is a retired American actress and model. Early life Farrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Irish-born actress Maureen O'Sullivan and Australian-born film director John Farrow. She is the yo ...

). He gets further sidetracked when collecting a large debt from a mafioso named Riccamonza (

Tony Sirico Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. (; July 29, 1942 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in ''The Sopranos''. He also made numerous appearances in the films of Woody Allen. Early life S ...

), who eventually threatens Ben's life. This forces Jimmy to seek retribution.

Cast

as Jimmy "Fingers" *

as Carol * Michael V. Gazzo as Ben Angelelli *

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

as "Dreems" *

Tanya Roberts Tanya Roberts (born Victoria Leigh Blum; October 15, 1949 – January 4, 2021) was an American actress. She played Julie Rogers in the final season of the television series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1980–1981), Stacey Sutton in the James Bond fi ...

as Julie *

Marian Seldes Marian Hall Seldes (August 23, 1928 – October 6, 2014) was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' A Delicate Balance'' in 1967, and received subsequent nomination ...

as Ruth *

Danny Aiello Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. () (June 20, 1933 – December 12, 2019) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including '' The Godfather Part II'' (1974), '' The Front'' (1976), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''Hide ...

as Butch *

Ed Marinaro Ed Marinaro (born March 31, 1950) is an American actor and former NFL player. In 1971, he was a unanimous All-American and finished as a runner-up to Pat Sullivan for the Heisman Trophy, and from 2010 to 2011 starred in the football comedy s ...

as Gino *

as Riccamonza *

Dominic Chianese Dominic Chianese (; born February 24, 1931) is an American actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), Johnny Ola in '' The Godfather Part II'' (1 ...

as Arthur Fox *

Largo Woodruff Largo Woodruff (born July 18, 1955) is an American actress who appeared in numerous films in the 1980s. She began her career appearing in commercials before landing a bit part in Woody Allen's ''Stardust Memories'' (1980). Her first major featur ...

as Dreems' Girl *

Sam Coppola Sam Coppola (July 31, 1932 – February 5, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in almost 70 films, beginning in 1968, but may be best remembered for his role as Dan Fusco, owner of the hardware and paint store in ''Saturday Night Fever'', wh ...

as Sam

Production

James Toback said he originally wanted Robert de Niro to play the lead, but then decided to use de Niro's best friend

. "Harvey agreed to play Jimmy and quickly began to astonish me by taking the character into dimensions of darkness well beyond my original imagining", wrote Toback.James Toback, "A Hollywood Mis-Education", ''Vanity Fair'', March 2014
accessed 10 February 2014

Influence

The film was remade in 2005 in France as ''

The Beat That My Heart Skipped ''The Beat That My Heart Skipped'' (french: De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté) is a 2005 French neo-noir drama film directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Romain Duris. It is a remake of the 1978 American film '' Fingers'', and tells the st ...

''. The movie is referenced by the John Travolta character Chili Palmer in the 1995 movie

Get Shorty ''Get Shorty'' is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name, and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name. Plot summary The story centers on Ernesto ...

Music

Two notable pieces from the film are "

Angel of the Morning "Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' ...

" by

Merrilee Rush Merrilee Rush ( Gunst; January 26, 1944) is an American singer, best known for her recording of the song "Angel of the Morning", a top-10 hit which earned her a Grammy nomination for female vocalist of the year in 1968. Early life and caree ...

and " Summertime, Summertime" by

The Jamies The Jamies were an American singing group, led by siblings Tom and Serena Jameson, based in Boston. They are best known for the song " Summertime, Summertime." Career " Summertime, Summertime," the group's 1958 single for Epic Records, reached ...

. Director Toback initially wanted to use the song "Summertime" because the movie had "a summertime feel to it", and they wanted to shoot it during the summer months. The whole film, however, is framed by the music of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

's Toccata in E minor (BWV 914), which Keitel's character plays throughout the film, including during his audition at Carnegie Hall.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fingers (1978 Film) 1978 films Films set in New York City Films directed by James Toback American neo-noir films 1978 crime drama films 1978 directorial debut films Films about pianos and pianists 1970s English-language films 1970s American films