Don Angelo est mort

How could a movie starring Anthony Quinn, Robert Forster, Frederic Forrest, Al Lettieri, directed by Richard Fleischer and centering on cutthroat mobsters slightly miss the mark, or, not be an incredible masterpiece?

Probably because there's not much of a target to begin with, and yet, that's not such a bad thing since the breezy undertone provides a cushion of what feels like actor improvisation under the edgy, multi-plotted schemes going on... And on and on...

The story, or one of many stories, centers on a brash climber, played by Forster, who, using a somewhat contrived Brooklyn accent and not seeming as natural and genuine as usual... along with two hired guns, The Fargo Brothers played by Forrest and Letteri... are a collected trio of goons with an ambitious attempt to overthrow a newly-made don, Anthony Quinn, playing white knight to Forster's beautiful, and abused, girlfriend (cult starlet Angel Tompkins): a victim who dreams of being a famous singer.

Lightweight melodrama befitting a TV movie-of-the-week makes a lot of whistling in the cemetery - but with a catchy tune...

There are so many twists (everyone wants to kill everyone) you may need a scorecard after a while, or instructions: Although Robert Forster goes from a temperamental wild card to a downright awful bully that the audience winds up rooting against, he's much more likable than Quinn, a brooding know-it-all who, alas, is the sole DON IS DEAD hero since, well, he's Anthony Quinn...

And despite too much talk and not enough action, there are some decent gunfights between exposition and so, with all the twists and turns, pay attention and you may just follow this jigsaw puzzle that works better incomplete than when it attempts an 11th hour resolution...

What makes it fit slightly within the Noir category despite following more of a "Modern" Classic Gangster template is that the good guys and the bad are all in the mafia i.e. where there's a moral compass in a school of sharks, it's usually within a Film Noir shoreline.

Richard Fleischer was a very good craftsman of the 7th art, very prolific, excelling in different genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, History, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Music, Romance, Biography, he approached almost all genres. It delighted my childhood, adolescence and youth with movies such as: "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Vikings", "Barabbas", "Fantastic Voyage", "The Boston Strangler", "Tora! Tora! Tora!", "The New Centurions", "Soylent Green", "Mr. Majestyk", "The Incredible Sarah", "The Jazz Singer", "Conan the Destroyer", "Red Sonja". "The Don Is Dead" it's a film like Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather". We also have two actors who starred in both films: Abe Vigoda and Al Lettieri, both predestined to play mobsters. This is not an ordinary review, but a tribute to Al Lettieri. He is the best actor in "The Godfather". Here he has a similar role, but it's more temperate. In both films he's killed by rival mobsters. This actor, who played only mobsters and other villains, instinct tells me, would have deserved a role of honest man, a positive hero in at least one film. Usually, in a movie starring Anthony Quinn, he's the reason I want to see the movie. This time, Lettieri was the first reason, Quinn was the second. Quinn also plays a great role as a mobster here, especially in the final scene, when he looks like a vegetable. In other very good roles are: Frederic Forrest, Robert Forster, Angel Tompkins, Charles Cioffi.

Like quite a few other of the 70's crime dramas that were not classics, but still of more grit and consequence than many of those churned out in the last two decades, this interestingly plotted mob film is a frustrating mix of a really good scene or two followed by a painfully predictable and badly presented one. Anthony Quinn is top billed but largely wasted as the boss whose romantic liaison triggers a war of wills and weapons with some headstrong younger members (led by Robert Forster, Frederic Forrest and Al Lettieri.) Some good action scenes follow, but, like the rest of the film, some of them are quite impressive while others fall flat. A mixed bag, not often seen but worth watching, with limited expectations.

OK, so I took these user reviews seriously that said this is worth your time. It is not. This flick's a mess. Anthony Quinn is an old don who seduces the girl of another, much younger mafioso (played by Robert Forster who's not half bad). War ensues.

The plot doesn't make much sense and it is trying hard to emulate The Godfather (especially the story line of the young mafioso, played by Frederick Forest, who is trying to leave the family business). It fails miserably. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open on this one. There are maybe two scenes that held my attention, and they were both execution scenes. They were staged pretty well, but they are two isolated scenes in a dull mess.

Charles Cioffi, the consigliere of a jailed Mafia chieftain decides to get a war started among the three Las Vegas crime families. Knowing that Angel Tompkins, singer girlfriend of the son of a recently deceased Mafia Don, is looking for a break, he arranges a meeting with Anthony Quinn, Godfather of the third Mafia family where nature takes its course.

When former boyfriend Robert Forster returns to America and finds out it ain't long before the bullets start flying. When the film is over there are only a couple left standing and if you want to know who does pick up all the marbles than watch the film.

Of course this film came out to take advantage of the enormous publicity reaped by The Godfather in the previous year. It's an average sort of gangster flick, it could have been done at Warner Brothers during the Thirties with their stable of gangster players.

Al Lettieri and Abe Vigoda were both in The Godfather and their presence sort of lends an aura authenticity to the film. Lettieri was just coming into his own as a great portrayer of villains and assorted gangland types. His early death was a real loss to film.

Anthony Quinn of course is always good and fans of his which are legion will want to catch The Don is Dead.