When this film came out, it did not do very well at the box office. As a result, studios were reluctant to do more organized crime stories. The failure of this film almost convinced Paramount not to make Le Parrain (1972).
Much of the film's failure was attributed to the far-fetched notion of Kirk Douglas and Alex Cord believably portraying the physical aesthetic and singular temperament of Sicilians. But Douglas, who fancied this as a welcome stretch in his acting range, produced the picture himself, so there was no one to argue the casting process. Four years later, Marlon Brando would successfully achieve the stretch that Douglas sought with his Oscar-winning performance in The Godfather (1972).