A young American man flies into Palermo, and his arrival makes Frank Ginetta, a mobster living in hiding in Sicily, grab his gun. Frank soon realizes the visitor is his younger brother Vinnie. Through flashbacks to New York, the film traces the organization's internal disputes, its old codes and the loyalties that divide the family.

How it was made

Kirk Douglas produced the film and also stars in it, while Martin Ritt directed from a screenplay by Lewis John Carlino. Paramount released it, and Bryna Productions is credited as the production company. Lalo Schifrin composed the score and Boris Kaufman shot the film. The story alternates between the tense present in Palermo and memories of New York.

Reception and legacy

Reviews were mixed to positive, and the film holds a 60% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from ten critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it a blunt, square and sentimental Mafia movie, and Leonard Maltin gave it three stars out of four. It bombed at the box office, and Paramount waited four years, until The Godfather, before making another gangster film.