"The Don is Dead" wins no points for originality. Obviously, it's attempting to ride on the coat-tails of "The Godfather". And it's not a classic that deserves to be remembered years from now. Its presentation is pretty matter-of-fact and of no real distinction. But it's still very engaging visceral entertainment, at least for fanatics of the mob movie genre. It benefits from good characters, fine performances, and the kind of in-your-face violence that has become standard for this type of thing.The prominent mafia don of Las Vegas has died, and a truce is currently existing between the three families in the city. But all of that is going to go to Hell pretty quickly, as one greedy and power-crazed individual gets the bright idea to have two of these families go to bloody war with each other - all with a simple letter addressed to Don Angelo DiMorra (Anthony Quinn). Among the leading players are ambitious young Frank (Robert Forster), the son of the deceased don, and the Fargo brothers, Tony (Frederic Forrest) and Vince (Al Lettieri).The makers of "The Don is Dead" do cast their movie well, from top to bottom. Angel Tompkins, Charles Cioffi, Louis Zorich, Ina Balin, Joe Santos, Frank DeKova, Abe Vigoda, Victor Argo, Val Bisoglio, Sid Haig, and Vic Tayback all put in appearances. (Lettieri and Vigoda, of course, were also in "The Godfather".) Forrest is particularly effective as Tony, who would rather leave the "life" behind but gets drawn back in when things start getting ugly.Scripted by Marvin H. Albert, from his novel, and directed by Richard Fleischer, this is compelling drama when taken on its own terms and not compared to anything else. Even if it's just on a visceral level, it *does* work.Seven out of 10.

I read the novel by Marvin Albert and though it was not Puzo material, it showed some grit and strength--A more realistic depiction of a real mob family. To be fair, Richard Fleischer did a very good job of directing, considering what he had to work with. Then, Trumbo and Butler--encouraged by Universal brass, no doubt-- just had to take it and monkey with it. The casting was inconsistent, with kudos to getting Anthony Quinn, Abe Vigoda and Al Lettieri as classic Mob paisani. Still good was the casting of Robert Forster but could have been better with James Farentino or Tony Lo Bianco as Frank Regalbuto. Then it gets worse, with Frederic Forrest as the quiet leader, the "answer to Al Pacino's Michael Corleone". Forster, in my honest opinion, should have been Tony Fargo instead. The book-to-film transition was highly sanitized, understandable given Universal's desire to stay mainstream and not rock the boat. It did lead to a bump in the road when Tony Fargo was unaccountably absent when Vince and Frank were going to a sit-down with the numbers boss Zutti. In the book, Tony was dallying with one of Marie Orlando's callgirls. All in all, an attempt by "The Factory" to throw the dice and see if they come up with an answer to The Godfather. Didn't happen.

The main selling point of this film is probably the odd-ball assemblage of a cast ranging from B-movie stars (Robert Forster and Sid Haig) to A-listers (Anthony Quinn) and recognizable character actors (Frederic Forrest and Al Lettieri) all thrust together as Italian mob members operating in a never-mentioned-by-name American city! Though Forster and Forrest are completely miscast as Italians, they add a lot of fun bringing their unusual personas to a genre which usually doesn't get their sort of energy.Forster plays against type as a young hothead suddenly in charge of a small portion of his father's empire (his father was the titular character). Another rising star on the mob scene wants to take over, so he stages a deliberately outlandish and unlikely scheme to get Forster and Quinn (the most powerful mob boss in town) to wage war. Honestly, the plot is beyond ridiculous but it's fairly original and adds to the fun. What isn't original is the execution, which is GODFATHER all the way.Case in point: the shootout scene in which *SPOILER* Al Lettieri's character is fatally wounded. He runs through an alley tossing over boxes of oranges as though he's as desperate to die like Brando as he is to stay on his feet! The action scenes are otherwise fairly pedestrian with reliable if unremarkable cinematography, editing, and music. There are a few highlights though: 1) The stunt-man who plays the assassin who blocks Lettieri's escape in the aforementioned shootout. He does an excellent job taking a shotgun blast to the chest, then clamoring up to his feet only to get fatally shot by Lettieri and plummet to the ground. He really eats the pavement on that fall! One of the best stunt-deaths yet captured on screen.2) A nice touch when Forster's character realizes his girlfriend has been running around on him. He breaks into her apartment while she's gone and starts punching the closet door. The next scene has her entering her apartment to find everything completely trashed and Forster's just sitting there staring at her! In a baffling bit of character decision-making, she continues in and actually eggs him on even further! What happens next I'm sure you can guess, but it's a surreal example of good directing making up for shoddy writing.In summary, a typical 70's crime movie which isn't going to do much for people who aren't already fans of the genre. However, THE DON IS DEAD is not entirely dismissible either and fine entertainment for a rainy afternoon.

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.