22 | APRIL 1 - 7, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
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Remembering the time Al Pacino came to Worcester’s El Morocco restaurant Craig S. Semon Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK
“Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” In the spring of ’72, a relatively unknown Broadway actor from the Bronx became an overnight Hollywood sensation playing a World War II hero who, at fi rst, reluctantly takes over the family business when its rightful heir, his older brother, Sonny, is riddled with bullets at the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, The actor, of course, is Al Pacino. The family business is organized crime. And the movie is “The Godfather.” In the height of the popularity of this cultural phenomenon, Don Michael Corleone (Pacino) made his way to an unsuspecting Worcester, not in a shiny Rolls Royce worthy of the up-and-coming Don but a crowded, dinky, yellow school bus better suited for a juvenile delinquent being transported to reform school. Enter John S. DiBenedetto, better known as “Johnny Dee.” From 1942 to 1972, Johnny Dee was the much beloved and well-respected manager of Loew’s Poli Theatre — “The Palace” that, in 1968, became the Showcase Cinema 1&2 and, later, Showcase Cinema 1-4, before becoming The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. Johnny Dee was waiting for Pacino’s arrival. They were supposed to pull up to the front of the newly renovated theater. Instead, Dee got the call that they had ended up at the Greyhound Bus Station on Madison Street. Dee and his ushers (dressed in black slacks, white shirts, black ties and blue blazers) ran down Southbridge street and rushed over a couple of blocks to bring Pacino back to the theater. After introducing themselves to each other, Dee and Pacino walked the whole way back to the theater, speaking only in Italian to each other. In those days, long before the internet, VHS tapes, cable TV and when movies edited for television with commercial breaks was the norm, it wasn’t unheard of for an actor to pop up at a local movie theater to view their fi lm with
Craig S. Semon, left, with Al Pacino. SUBMITTED
Al Pacino (seated in the middle of the table) next to his then girlfriend Jill Clayburgh (who has her hand in front of her face) at the El Morocco in 1972. Johnny Dee, the manager of the old Showcase Cinema 1 & 2 (standing behind with hand up), was responsible for Pacino going to the El. COURTESY OF THE ABOODY COLLECTION
the audience and stir up some interest in a fi lm, even though “The Godfather” didn’t need the added promotion of one of its stars. After spending some time at the Showcase Cinemas 1&2, Dee took Pacino to his best friend Joey Aboody’s place, the El Morocco on Wall Street. Here, they celebrated the actor’s success with “The Godfather” with wine, laughs and a freshly baked cake by Aboody. Pacino enjoyed a post-midnight meal in the cellar dining room at the legendary El Morocco, and Worcester Telegram entertainment columnist Jack Tubert was as close to him as the Corleone’s family personal consigliere. In a May 28, 1972, Telegram article,
Tubert described Pacino as “a shaggy puppy of a guy, hungry on a cigarette.” “Up close, Pacino looks like an underfed Dead End Kid of the 1930 movies,” Tubert wrote. “Shy in taking the spotlight to cut the traditional El Morocco party cake. Friendly warm, but modest when interviewed.” Enjoying some off -hours in between David Rabi’s stage play “The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel” at Boston’s Open Circle Theater, Pacino, who played the title character of an Army soldier fi ghting in the Vietnam War, had been in the small production since “The Godfather” exploded two months earlier. “I haven’t felt the change that much. I’ve been deeply involved in something I really wanted to do (play Pavio Hummel
on stage). I think it was a good move. But,” sighed Pacino, as ran his hands across his eyes, “my lifestyle is changing every day, more and more. Still, I’ve tried to keep my life close to a certain perspective. It’s hard to with so much attention being paid to you.” Joe Aboody made a special cake in honor of Pacino. Johnny Dee stood behind Pacino and his clan and kept watch as the actor cut the cake while Aboody and Pacino’s then girlfriend Jill Clayburgh watched in glee. Clayburgh began acting as a student in summer stock and, after graduating, joined the Charles Street Repertory Theater in Boston, where she met Pacino. In 1967, the two starred in JeanCluade Van Italie’s play “America, Hurrah.” They had a fi ve-year romance and moved back together to New York City Even though the festivities were in full swing and conversation and all attention was focused on him, Pacino couldn’t help to notice a photo of John Garfi eld (of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” fame) hanging on the wall at the El over his shoulder. “A lot of people have said that I remind them of Garfi eld as an actor,” Pacino said with pride. “We come from the See PACINO, Page 25
