Testament in Blei

I recently viewed Crazy Joe (1974) on Tubi. The film delves into the real-life story of the gangster "Crazy" Joey Gallo, portraying his strategic and aggressive ascent through the mafia ranks, ultimately leading to his downfall.

Directed by Carlo Lizzani (The Violent Four) and featuring a cast including Peter Boyle (Monster's Ball), Paula Prentiss (The Stepford Wives), Fred Williamson (From Dusk till Dawn), Rip Torn (Men in Black) and Henry Winkler (Happy Days).

While it may not be the pinnacle of gangster movies, Peter Boyle's performance is undeniably enjoyable. He delivers a tremendous portrayal of a character that's easy to root for and engaging to follow. The entire cast delivers solid performances, and the shootouts, while very '70s in style, are entertaining. The story's twists and turns may be somewhat predictable, but they remain fun to watch unfold, and the conclusion is executed perfectly.

In conclusion, while Crazy Joe may not reach Scorsese levels, Peter Boyle's presence alone makes it a must-watch, and it's still a worthwhile addition to the gangster genre. I would rate this a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.

Very trendy c. '74 cast-Eli Wallach, Peter Boyle, Rip Torn, Paula Prentiss, etc. Even has the Fonz as a mob guy. An obvious takeoff of the Godfather, though nowheres near as good. The cast certainly brings this up a notch-Boyle and Wallach especially. I always enjoy seeing Fred 'Blaxploitation film' Williamson in a flick too.

Very dated-check out the boat cars, bellbottems, very '70s '50's fixation-tunes, etc-but worth yer while. Has an interesting run of things it touches on-Attica, Italian 'anti-defamation leagues', etc.

**1/2, see this with 'Donnie Brasco' or 'Friends of Eddie Coyle' to get a better idea of what's what.

My name is Luigi 'Good Looking Lu' DiMatti. I was a made man in the Gambino Crime family. I took the oath in 1956. I was in the crew of Alfred Eppolito, until he got demoted and drunk himself to death, then I went briefly in to Paul Castellano's crew. Under Alfred I was dealing H, under Paul that was impossible so i eventually moved to Jimmy 'the Clam''s crew and when he got whacked to Aniello's crew in Queens. I got 50 years in 1980, got out 2015, which is why you may not recognise my name and why I don't have a Wikipedia page. I was more of a keep my head down kinda guy, kept in the shadows, narcotics, gambling, shylocking, gambling etc. I'm 80 now and long retired, living in Florida now.

Anyway the reason for my comment is, this is the first time I saw this movie! I was not in the Columbo family, but I knew Joe Gallo, Gennaro Ciprio, all those guys.. I wrote a comment because practically everything in this film happened in real life! I remember those days very well. The names are changed, but the guy 'Jelly' I think was a real guy called, Joey Gioeli. I realise most people know this is about Joey Gallo, but I was surprised how accurate it was!

As a film, it looks very low budget. Peter Boyle is kind of one dimensional, but Torn is good, it has a lively script and it is excitingly directed.

I'm just sharing my thoughts as this movie brought back some old memories. I was in my thirties back then, we controlled New York! A lot of good guys died during that war. More I believe died in the nineties one, but I was in jail then

"Crazy Joe" is pretty good but it could have been so much better. The cast is top-notch with standout work from a never better Fred Williamson. It's just that the script needed to be tighter. It sometimes seems to need more focus. "Crazy Joe" may not be a gangster classic but it certainly worth checking out.

As far as being a true story goes, it is, but it is very sketchy, very broad strokes. If you know the history of the guy this is just a 1 minute flat quickie pencil sketch. I'm a fan of the director, but he usually puts more into the story and meaning than this. It's a very simple '70s mafia flick that satisfies that craving if you just want 100 minutes of the sights and genre and not much more. It is not an underrated classic. It's a solid, slightly above average example of the genre. It is not in the same league with the top 20 Italian crime flicks of the era (like the "Violenta" trilogy), but is as good as Hollywood's from this period. That's why I give it a six. I love Italian films from the '70s and '60s and consider them to be much better than Hollywood's output. To say one is on a par, is to say it's a bit of a disappointment that way, though I wasn't disappointed to have watched it. Once.

I'm a fanatic about pairing food and movies, and for this one I highly recommend Spaghettini and Red Clam Sauce.