Dog Day Afternoon Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 American crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Frank Pierson. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. Based on the events of a bank robbery that took place on August 22, 1972, Dog Day Afternoon tells the story of John "Sonny" Wortzik, who, with hi... more »s partner Salvatore Naturile, holds the employees of a Brooklyn, New York bank hostage. The title refers to the "dog days of summer". The film was inspired by P.F. Kluge's article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells a similar story of the robbery of a Brooklyn bank by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. This article was published in Life in 1972. The film received generally positive reviews upon its September 1975 release by Warner Bros. Pictures, some of which referred to its anti-establishment tone. Dog Day Afternoon was nominated for several Academy Awards and Golden Globe awards, and won one Academy Award.« less