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.
Review of The Don Is Dead
