Martin Scorsese’s gritty and stylish look at two friends in New York’s Little Italy, inspired by his own experiences, put him on the map as a distinctive new voice in American cinema. Harvey Keitel is Charlie, a devout Catholic who half-heartedly takes part in his family’s life of crime, while Robert De Niro is Johnny Boy, a charismatic live wire who willfully screws up everything he touches.

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese. WRITTEN BY: Martin Scorsese, Mardik Martin. CAST: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson. 1973. 112 min. USA. Color. English. 35mm.

All film screenings in the Director’s Inspiration: Spike Lee series are available here.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.