The Don Is Dead

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Audience Member 'The Don Is Dead' is a somewhat by the numbers organized crime thriller, but with regular doses of action spread throughout, it makes for an entertaining watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review delysid d You can tell this is a sort of godfather rip off. I thought it was confusing as hell but i enjoyed it Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/19/19 Full Review Audience Member Surprisingly dull. Despite the number of people who get killed, there were maybe 2 sequences that were at all captivating. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a patch on other mob movies ,but Fleischer does enough with his material to give us a pulpy gangster flick with plenty of violence . When Frank(Robert Forster) beats up his gilrfiend for moving in on Don Angelo (Anthony Quinn) he causes a massive ruction in the syndicate which leads to murders, shootings and double cross. The film does just enough to make it watchable ,although Quinn gets to do very little he is good as the ageing Don .Forster chews the scenery and Fredric Forrest and Al Lettieri walk off with the acting honours as two brothers who carry out the mobs dirty work. Jerry Goldsmiths score is probaly the best thing about the movie and although the pace of the film is all over the place its still worth watching just to see how Fleischer cobbles it all together. No classic by a long way but i enjoyed it . Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Surprisingly dull. Despite the number of people who get killed, there were maybe 2 sequences that were at all captivating. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This abysmal mafiosi thriller about a war between the families in an anonymous city lacks anything in the way of flair, charisma, or momentum. During his prime, veteran director Richard Fleischer was a man to respect, and he made his share of great movies, but THE DON IS DEAD is not one of them. Clearly, this lackluster actioneer exemplifies the old studio system of making movies and the blame for its pedestrian quality must be traced back to its producer, the legendary Hal Wallis of CASABLANCA fame and his associate producer Paul Nathan. After Wallis left Warner Brothers in a dispute over CASABLANCA with Jack Warner, Wallis set up shop at Paramount and he ruled with dozens of great films, among them BECKET with Richard Burton. Once Wallis left Paramount and ended his days at Universal, the quality of his craftsman went down. THE DON IS DEAD is a well-produced crime thriller, but it is as lifeless as the don in its title. The pacing of this 115 minute movie is leaden and a number of fine actors are left to wander around aimlessly in the screenplay by Marvin H. Albert. Albert is best known for DUEL AT DIABLO and ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO, two above-average westerns. Matters are not helped by the dire lack of realism. Virtually everything in THE DON IS DEAD was lensed on a Universal backlot and it is clearly obvious from fade-in to fade-out what a numbing picture that this is. Surprisingly enough, the MPAA gave THE DON IS DEAD an R-rating. Mind you, there is no nudity, the violence is standard-issue, and that startling loud red blood that appeared in 1970s era films was sparingingly put on display. None of the gunfights stand out for their distinctive flair. The only thing that does stand out is how the Robert Forester character avoids a hit in a crowded underground parking lot. He holds himself up on the bumpers of two cars so that the gunsels cannot see his feet. Fleischer helmed THE DON IS DEAD between SOYLENT GREEN with Charlton Heston and THE SPIKES GANG with Lee Marvin, two films that rise about the flat quality of THE DON IS DEAD. This is the kind of movie that only completist in the Mafia genre will want to watch. Anthony Quinn looks terrible and he has no fire in his performance. Robert Forster is pretty good as a temperamental young man and Frederic Forrest is the man to watch. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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