There had been films about the mafia long before "The Godfather" came along, both good and bad, and with the many rip offs of that 1972 Oscar Winning Best Picture, some which were bound to be decent, others rotten. This one's basically decent with a lot of great elements, a few unoriginal but nothing that I could call hideous to where it would not be worth watching. What is worth watching about it is the presence of Anthony Quinn, not quite saying sayonara to Marlon Brando, his co-star from that 1957 classic, but he basically takes on a similar role closer to what the youmger Al Pacino would do in the 1974 "Godfather" film sequel where they deal with issues in Las Vegas. So in that sense, this has some originality which would later be utilized in the Academy Award winning 1974 sequel.
As one of the heads of several families doing my business in Las Vegas, Quinn finds himself involved in mob war that is manipulated by others outside his own family. This leads to violence when a young singer whom Quinn helps seduces him, and word gets back to her jealous boyfriend. She's badly beaten and left recovering in the hospital, and violence between the family erupts because of this and other factors. Like "The Godfather", when hits happen, they are sudden and without warning, and quite brutal. People surviving an explosion in a building are brutally gunned down, throats cut, and others beaten to get into before they are assassinated.
I couldn't help but chuckle when Abe Vigoda showed up as one of the right hand menn on Quinn's team, not only because it was basically the same part but because of how he would spook this character years later on late night TV. Young Frederic Forrest has a major part, and is quite good, pretty much the adoptive heir to Quinn's legacy as he had no children. Unlike "The Godfather", this is not epic in scope and so it does not run for an extreme length. A good suppirting cast is made up of mostly obscure featured players so it's certainly not considered all-star, and aside of a few people like Vigota and Vic Tayback, which the viewer will not be distracted by that factor. I wouldn't rank this as a classic, but Quinn is obviously great enough to wear knockoffs of Don Corleone's shoes, and commands a satisfying walk back into familiar territory.
As one of the heads of several families doing my business in Las Vegas, Quinn finds himself involved in mob war that is manipulated by others outside his own family. This leads to violence when a young singer whom Quinn helps seduces him, and word gets back to her jealous boyfriend. She's badly beaten and left recovering in the hospital, and violence between the family erupts because of this and other factors. Like "The Godfather", when hits happen, they are sudden and without warning, and quite brutal. People surviving an explosion in a building are brutally gunned down, throats cut, and others beaten to get into before they are assassinated.
I couldn't help but chuckle when Abe Vigoda showed up as one of the right hand menn on Quinn's team, not only because it was basically the same part but because of how he would spook this character years later on late night TV. Young Frederic Forrest has a major part, and is quite good, pretty much the adoptive heir to Quinn's legacy as he had no children. Unlike "The Godfather", this is not epic in scope and so it does not run for an extreme length. A good suppirting cast is made up of mostly obscure featured players so it's certainly not considered all-star, and aside of a few people like Vigota and Vic Tayback, which the viewer will not be distracted by that factor. I wouldn't rank this as a classic, but Quinn is obviously great enough to wear knockoffs of Don Corleone's shoes, and commands a satisfying walk back into familiar territory.