Millers Crossing & Danny Boy. A perfect pairing of sound & vision

Leo O'Bannion is the man in charge. An Irish American bootlegger and politician. A politician will always have his enemies and a criminal one doubly so. Leo's rival is Johnny Caspar, an Italian mobster with a seriously short fuse. When Leo offers protection to a bookie who has incurred Johnny's wrath it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose. And it starts with an assassination attempt carried out to the sound of Frank Patterson's dulcet tones. We shall choose to ignore the fact that Patterson wasn't even born at the time the film is set. 

The Coen Brothers have created a lot of amazing moments in a career spanning 4 decades but this is up there with the best. It's full of their trademark black humour and brutal carnage and far from a gimmicky moment as we get to see in no uncertain terms that Leo O'Bannion is a force to be reckoned with. Best of all we get to hear Danny Boy play out in it's entirety. It's gentle lyrics and lilting tune oddly juxtaposed with the violent images playing out before us yet still perfectly complimenting them at the same time. The first words kick off to the gurgle of a dying man. "If I am dead, as dead I well may be" is heard over Leo swinging off the roof showing him to be anything but and the song reaching it's climax as Leo nonchantly polishes off the remainder of the fleeing assassins. Maybe it's why he looks so confident taking on his enemies, that brilliant feeling of being able to do anything when you're listening to a favourite song.

An actor called Trey Wilson was hired to play Leo O'Bannion but sadly died of a brain hemorrhage before filming started. His misfortune became Albert Finney's good fortune and with his performance a perfect pairing of sound & vision was created.

Previous pairings

The Blues Brothers
Straight Outta Compton
The Princess Bride
American Honey
Snake In The Eagle's Shadow
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The Untouchables
Airplane!
Dazed And Confused  
Kickboxer                                  
Grosse Point Blank
Mean Streets
Watership Down
Casablanca
Zodiac
Jackie Brown
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
Before Sunset
Carlito's Way
A Knight's Tale
Platoon
Before Sunrise
Rushmore
An American Werewolf In London
Dazed And Confused
Boogie Nights
Raging Bull
Almost Famous
Once Upon A Time In The West
Goodfellas

Last Of The Mohicans