By David J. Glenn
He's now a 31-year-old filmmaker and his latest movie, “The Yards,” is based on the corruption of Manes, of the subway system, and of companies like his father Irwin's Envort-Gray electronics firm, which supplied parts for the subway trains.
One of the protagonists in the new movie, released by Mirimax Films and currently playing, is Uncle Frank Olchin, who was loosely based on the elder Gray. The film is “a very good depiction” of what went on,” Irwin Gray told Qguide, although he said his son did take some dramatic license. At least “it was true to what could have happened,” he said.
The young filmmaker – whose first work was “Little Odessa,” focusing on Russian-Jewish immigrant life – had given his father the script for “The Yards” before the film went into production. James Gray told the New Yorker Magazine that his father proved to be a valuable consultant for the film.
One example – his father told him that in addition to cash, bribes from suppliers to subway officials to land contracts would take the form of fur coats, expensive wine, and baseball tickets. The younger Gray then added such details to the film.
The names of the principals and the companies have been fictionalized, but much of the movie was shot on location in Queens neighborhoods.
Uncle Frank is played by James Caan, born in the Bronx and raised in Queens, perhaps best known for his Academy-nominated performance as Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather.”
Faye Dunaway, who won an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of the driven TV executive Diana Christianson in “Network,” plays Kitty, the wife of Frank Olchin.
Mark Wahlberg, known for his Calvin Klein commercials and recently starring in “The Perfect Storm,” is Leo Handler, who returns to Queens after serving time for taking the fall for a group of friends, and is unwittingly drawn by his uncle into a world of sabotage, pay-offs, and even murder.
Also featured in the movie are Joaquin Phoenix as Leo's longtime friend, Willie Gutierrez; Charlize Theron as Willie's girlfriend, Erica; and Ellen Burstyn as Val, Kitty's sister.
Besides directing the film, Gray also co-wrote it.
His father has taken up the pen, too. He authored the 1998 book, “The Perils of Partners,” a guide for anyone in business on “how to protect yourself against crooked, conniving, and incompetent partners.”
He ought to know.
In 1991, federal prosecutors brought a 56-count indictment against Irwin Gray and another partner, charging them with bribing a Metro-North official and with billing the MTA for parts never delivered.
Gray plea-bargained away most of the counts and paid a fine with a suspended sentence, but he said he was more the victim than the perpetrator.
“I didn't know what was going on, but I got tarred with the same brush,” Gray said in the Qguide interview. “But as a partner in the business, I was responsible.”
“I didn't know what to look for in a partner,” he added.
He does now, and hopes the book will help others avoid the trouble he got into.
