DOC AND LIP
of the road trip; a point raised by, among others,
me never to do that, even after he passed away. I
Shirley’s own family. These brickbats have stung Lip’s
struggled with that, but I had enough from him to
son, who has watched members of Shirley’s family
tell this story, about that trip, and not his life. It is not
BEFORE ALL THAT CAME THE PROCESS OF
dispute parts of the story that Vallelonga took from
a biopic, not about his family; he didn’t want that in
what facets of the characters, and which road
the extensive interviews he did with both men, on
there and that’s why they were not involved in the
stories to include in the movie. Co-writer Vallelonga
condition that the story stay buried until its subjects
story. I honored and respected his wishes.”
clearly reveres his father, and despite early scenes in
passed away. This was important to Shirley, and
which Lip attaches disparaging ethnic tags to black,
Vallelonga kept his promise.
Chinese and German people, Vallelonga doesn’t
That was the only reason the story didn’t surface
Sure, there were creative liberties beyond truncating an 18-month road trip through 48 states and Canada into an 8-week tour of the Deep South.
remember such language being used in the house,
earlier, when Lip could have gotten any of a number
Remember that early scene where Lip tips the Copa-
partly because his churchgoing mother would never
of great filmmakers interested. After his road trip
cabana hatcheck girl to give him the cherished lid of
have tolerated it.
with Dr. Shirley, Lip started acting, playing small roles
a mob boss, which Lip returns to the mobster to be
in The Godfather, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Dog Day
in his good graces? “It was Sinatra’s hat,” Vallelonga
anyone,” he says. “What I was trying to show there
Afternoon, Pope of Greenwich Village and Donnie
reveals. “He took Frank’s hat to Jilly’s around the
was leftover residual stuff, from how these guys were
Brasco. His most significant role came as the recur-
corner and returned it to him. We made him a mob
brought up, but I don’t remember the N word ever
ring crime boss Carmine Lupertazzi in The Sopranos.
guy instead, to show that Lip had the chutzpah to
said in front of me and my brother. Only remnants of
But Lip had left the story behind Green Book like an
pull something like that off.”
things in how he talked about certain people. It’s a
inheritance for his son.
“My father never really said a bad word about
hard thing to say, because any comment is racist. To
“I’d made independent films, some OK, some not
Both Vallelonga and Farrelly said that the racism in the South was scarier than depicted, and that
say that someone is a racist, to me, that’s like hatred
so much, so I’ve been criticized before,” Vallelonga
there were other incidents that would have changed
in someone’s heart, and so I’m going to get chopped
says. “This has been harder, because it’s personal.
the tone or made the movie too long. “There have
down for this, but he wasn’t some ugly racist running
There have been attacks on my dad and who he was,
been comments made by some of the family who
around with a freaking hood on his head.”
and attacks on me personally. What I tried to do was
said, [Dr. Shirley] never got beaten up,” Vallelonga
Vallelonga remembers meeting Dr. Shirley as a
show, through these two people, how we’re all the
recalls. “I’m sorry to say he did, and my father had to
kid and regarding him as cool. His father took him
same, and can come together on a very simplistic
help him. There were other incidents related to the
to Shirley’s loft above Carnegie Hall. “He had this
level. I wasn’t out to cure racism; I’m just saying this is
YMCA type of thing that happened that I left out
throne, and a grand piano, and he wore this African
what happened to these two men and it shows the
because I wanted to deal with that issue as respect-
robe and he sat me on the throne and my father said,
baby steps toward people coming together. I wanted
fully as I could. There were a lot more things that
‘Play him something, Doc.’ I thought he was the cool-
people to see that and feel good about it.”
happened with the cops, and we combined two,
est guy in the world.”
He disputes criticisms that the film doesn’t do
when my father punched out a cop and that was one
The road trip had changed his father com-
enough to detail Dr. Shirley’s life and background.
time they got arrested. They also got arrested when
pletely. “My father was head of the family and he
“It’s very simple,” Vallelonga insists. “I am a white
they were going 25 mph and a cop said they were
talked about what it was like in the South,” Val-
Italian writer telling a story about my father, along
doing 75. It was a shakedown and the cops were
lelonga remembers. “It changed the whole way we
with my co-writers Brian Currie and Pete Farrelly. It’s
pissed my father was driving this black man. That’s
were brought up, this simple story of two guys who
from that point of view, so it was important to show
when the Robert Kennedy phone call happened. And
showed us how people can change if they learn from
my father’s background, and how he changed. But
a lot more stories like that Christmas concert when
each other and grow.”
what no one seems to understand is that Dr. Shirley
Dr. Shirley couldn’t eat there.”
Farrelly needed the contrast to be sharper, but almost everything they put into the story was told by
only wanted me to tell his story as it related to what happened to him and my father.”
Vallelonga said there was another incident in a hotel bar that refused to serve Dr. Shirley, until Lip
the two characters who shared the car, in audio-
Shirley gave Vallelonga extensive time, based on
taped interviews made by Vallelonga before they
a further promise to keep the focus on the tour and
they were saying if we serve him then we have to
died, and in the letters from Lip to his wife Dolores,
not the other events of Shirley’s life. “Dr. Shirley said,
serve every—I’ll use the word ‘negro’—in the city. My
which progressively went from rudimentary to
‘I don’t want anything else about me in there.’ He
father talked them into it, but then there were cops
swoon-worthy under Dr. Shirley’s tutelage.
didn’t want to tell me about his family. He could’ve
all over the place, looking for Dr. Shirley and my father.
had 10 brothers and sisters, and my father didn’t
They had to sneak out of there and leave town.”
“Lip was racist in the way that everybody in New
promised trouble. “They let him have one drink, but
York was a racist at that time,” is how Farrelly saw
even know that. He didn’t want me to have informa-
Adds Vallelonga: “We took some creative license,
it. “He used the N-word. He took those glasses and
tion about aspects of his personal life. He granted
condensed things and moved some around, but the
dropped them in the trash if a guy drank out of them.
me the right to tell this story of this time between
heart of those stories are all true.”
And then he went down south and saw systemic
him and my father, nothing else, and he specifically
racism and was appalled by it.”
told me, ‘Don’t contact anyone about me. What I’ll
detailed the moment of JFK’s assassination. The
Another scene—shot but cut from the final film—
The film tries to thread a needle at a particularly
tell you will be enough. No one was there but me and
pair were actually in Ontario when Lip learned the
sensitive moment, when movies are being assailed
your father, so no one can even give you any informa-
President had been shot. As people crowded around
over issues like ethnic and gender-specific casting.
tion about what happened in that car.’”
the television, Dr. Shirley asked what was going on. “I
Not everyone has bought it, with critical articles
Ali, who remains proud of the film, reached out
don’t know,” Lip replied. “Some president got shot.”
claiming the film still falls into the ‘white savior’ trope
to Shirley’s family after its completion to express
of cinema, even though it seems Vallelonga benefits
regret that he hadn’t contacted them, having been
that he called Bobby Kennedy that same day. He told
as much if not more from his time in the car than
unaware Shirley had living relatives. In fact, Shirley
Vallelonga in one of their interviews, “You can imagine
did Shirley, who smoothed out the rough spots in his
told Vallelonga that the biographical information on
how busy that man was, and yet he took the time to
tough guy driver.
the back of his records would be all the information
talk to me and tell me what was going on.”
The other criticism is that Shirley’s own life is barely revealed beyond what unfolds in the events PHOTOGRAPHS BY
1226 - Cover Story.indd 25
Shayan Asgharnia
he should glean. “I respected the man’s wishes. I didn’t contact anyone because he adamantly told
Dr. Shirley was so close with the Kennedy family
“We had that story on tape, told from both sides, and it’s fantastic to hear each perspective,” Farrelly D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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