Mean Streets
Encyclopedia
Mean Streets is a 1973 drama
film
directed by Martin Scorsese
and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin
. The film stars Harvey Keitel
and Robert De Niro
. It was released by Warner Bros.
on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National Society of Film Critics
award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as John "Johnny Boy" Civello.
In 1997, Mean Streets was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
) is a young Italian-American man who is trying to move up in the local New York
mafia
but is hampered by his feeling of responsibility towards his reckless friend, Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro
), a small-time gambler who owes money to many loan sharks. Charlie works for his uncle, Giovanni (Cesare Danova
), the local caporegime
, mostly collecting debts. He is also having a hidden affair with Johnny Boy's cousin, Teresa (Amy Robinson
), who has epilepsy
and is ostracized because of her condition — especially by Charlie's uncle. Charlie is torn between his devout Catholicism
and his mafia ambitions. As the film progresses, Johnny becomes increasingly self-destructive, growing continually more disrespectful of his creditors. Failing to receive redemption in the church, Charlie seeks it through sacrificing himself on Johnny's behalf. At a bar, a local loan shark named Michael (Richard Romanus
), comes looking for Johnny to "pay up"; but to his surprise, Johnny insults him calling him a "jerkoff". The loan shark lunges at Johnny who retaliates by pulling a gun on him. Charlie and Johnny flee from the scene with Teresa and are pursued by the loan shark and his henchman, who shoots Charlie in the hand and Johnny in the neck, causing the car to crash. The film ends with an ambulance arriving at the scene and paramedics taking them away.
and Boxcar Bertha
, a directing project given him by early independent maverick Roger Corman
, this was Scorsese's first feature film of his own design. Director John Cassavetes
told him after he completed Boxcar Bertha
: "You’ve just spent a year of your life making a piece of shit." This inspired Scorsese to make a film about his own experiences. Mean Streets was based on actual events Scorsese saw almost regularly while growing up in Little Italy
.
The screenplay for the movie initially began as a continuation of the characters in Who's That Knocking. Scorsese changed the title from Season of the Witch to Mean Streets, a reference to Raymond Chandler
's essay "The Simple Art of Murder
", where he writes, "But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid." Scorsese sent the script to Corman, who agreed to back the film if all the characters were black. Scorsese was anxious to make the film so he considered this option, but actress Verna Bloom
arranged a meeting with potential financial backer, Jonathan Taplin, who was the road manager for the musical group, The Band
. Taplin liked the script and was willing to raise the $300,000 budget that Scorsese wanted if Corman promised, in writing, to distribute the film.
According to Scorsese, the first draft of Mean Streets focused on Charlie's religious conflict and its effect on his worldview. Along with fellow writer Mardik Martin, Scorsese wrote the whole script while driving around Little Italy in Martin's car. They would find a spot in the neighborhood to park and begin writing, all the while immersed in the sights, and sounds of what would eventually appear on-screen.
Once the financing was in place, Scorsese began to recruit his cast. De Niro had met the director in 1972 and liked what he had seen in Who's That Knocking at My Door
. De Niro was impressed with how the film had so accurately captured life in Little Italy; De Niro had grown up on Bleecker Street
, the northern boundary of Little Italy
at the time. Scorsese offered the actor four different roles, but he could not decide which one he wanted to portray. After another actor dropped out of the project, Scorsese cast Harvey Keitel
in the pivotal role of Charlie. Keitel was also responsible for convincing De Niro to play Johnny Boy . Scorsese himself plays the gunman who shoots at Charlie and Johnny Boy from Michael's car.
was among the most enthusiastic critics; she called it "a true original, and a triumph of personal filmmaking" and "dizzyingly sensual". Other critics like Dave Kehr
of the Chicago Reader said "the acting and editing have such original, tumultuous force that the picture is completely gripping". Vincent Canby
of the New York Times reflected that "no matter how bleak the milieu, no matter how heartbreaking the narrative, some films are so thoroughly, beautifully realized they have a kind of tonic effect that has no relation to the subject matter". One of Scorsese's most consistent supporters, Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
, wrote that "In countless ways, right down to the detail of modern TV crime shows, Mean Streets is one of the source points of modern movies." Time Out magazine called it "One of the best American films of the decade". Currently the movie has a 98% "certified fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 reviews.
.
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin
Mardik Martin
Mardik Martin is an American screenwriter of Armenian descent. He was born in Iran and raised in Iraq. Although his family in Iraq was wealthy, he fled the country to avoid the draft and arrived in New York in a penniless state...
. The film stars Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
and Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
. It was released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as John "Johnny Boy" Civello.
In 1997, Mean Streets was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Plot
Charlie (Harvey KeitelHarvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
) is a young Italian-American man who is trying to move up in the local New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
but is hampered by his feeling of responsibility towards his reckless friend, Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
), a small-time gambler who owes money to many loan sharks. Charlie works for his uncle, Giovanni (Cesare Danova
Cesare Danova
Cesare Danova was a television and screen actor. Born as Cesare Deitinger in Bergamo, Italy to an Austrian father and an Italian mother, he adopted Danova as his stage name after becoming an actor in Rome at the end of World War II. He emigrated to the United States in the 1950s to make the film...
), the local caporegime
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
, mostly collecting debts. He is also having a hidden affair with Johnny Boy's cousin, Teresa (Amy Robinson
Amy Robinson
Amy Robinson is an American actress and film producer. She got her first film role as an actress as the female lead in Martin Scorsese's breakthrough hit Mean Streets and ultimately went on to produce his film After Hours among many others...
), who has epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
and is ostracized because of her condition — especially by Charlie's uncle. Charlie is torn between his devout Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and his mafia ambitions. As the film progresses, Johnny becomes increasingly self-destructive, growing continually more disrespectful of his creditors. Failing to receive redemption in the church, Charlie seeks it through sacrificing himself on Johnny's behalf. At a bar, a local loan shark named Michael (Richard Romanus
Richard Romanus
Richard Romanus is an American actor of Lebanese descent. Among other roles, he has appeared in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and provided voices for Ralph Bakshi's animated films Wizards and Hey Good Lookin'. He played Lorraine Bracco's ex-husband, later husband again, in three episodes of The...
), comes looking for Johnny to "pay up"; but to his surprise, Johnny insults him calling him a "jerkoff". The loan shark lunges at Johnny who retaliates by pulling a gun on him. Charlie and Johnny flee from the scene with Teresa and are pursued by the loan shark and his henchman, who shoots Charlie in the hand and Johnny in the neck, causing the car to crash. The film ends with an ambulance arriving at the scene and paramedics taking them away.
Cast
- Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
as Charlie - Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
as Johnny Boy - David ProvalDavid ProvalDavid Aaron Proval is an American actor, known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film Mean Streets opposite Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel and as Richie Aprile on the HBO television series The Sopranos .-Biography:Proval was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Jewish heritage,...
as Tony - Amy RobinsonAmy RobinsonAmy Robinson is an American actress and film producer. She got her first film role as an actress as the female lead in Martin Scorsese's breakthrough hit Mean Streets and ultimately went on to produce his film After Hours among many others...
as Teresa - Richard RomanusRichard RomanusRichard Romanus is an American actor of Lebanese descent. Among other roles, he has appeared in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and provided voices for Ralph Bakshi's animated films Wizards and Hey Good Lookin'. He played Lorraine Bracco's ex-husband, later husband again, in three episodes of The...
as Michael - Cesare DanovaCesare DanovaCesare Danova was a television and screen actor. Born as Cesare Deitinger in Bergamo, Italy to an Austrian father and an Italian mother, he adopted Danova as his stage name after becoming an actor in Rome at the end of World War II. He emigrated to the United States in the 1950s to make the film...
as Giovani - Victor ArgoVictor ArgoVictor Argo was a Puerto Rican - American actor who usually played the part of a tough bad guy in his movies.-Early years:...
as Mario - George MemmoliGeorge MemmoliGeorge Memmoli was a New York City born actor. Memmoli was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Martin Scorsese, providing memorable appearances in Mean Streets , New York, New York , and contributed to a documentary focused on a mutual friend of Scorsese's and Memmoli's - American Boy:...
as Joey - Lenny Scaletta as Jimmy
- Jeannie Bell as Diane
- Murray Mosten as Oscar
- David CarradineDavid CarradineDavid Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
as Drunk - Robert CarradineRobert CarradineRobert Reed Carradine is an American actor. The youngest of the Carradine family of actors, he made his first appearances on television western series such as Bonanza and his older brother David's Kung Fu. Carradine's first film role was in the 1972 film The Cowboys opposite Roscoe Lee Browne and...
as Boy With Gun - Lois Walden as Jewish Girl
- Harry NorthupHarry Northup-Life and career:Northup was born in Amarillo, Texas. He lived in seventeen places by the time he was seventeen, but mostly lived in Sidney, Nebraska, where he graduated from high-school in 1958. From 1958 to 1961, he served in the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Second Class...
as Soldier
Production
Apart from his student film project Who's That Knocking at My DoorWho's That Knocking at My Door
Who's That Knocking at My Door, originally titled I Call First, is a 1967 drama film, which marks Martin Scorsese's debut as a director. Exploring themes of Catholic guilt similar to those in his later film Mean Streets, the story follows Italian-American J.R. as he struggles to accept the secret...
and Boxcar Bertha
Boxcar Bertha
Boxcar Bertha , director Martin Scorsese's second film, is a loose adaptation of Sister of the Road, the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by Ben Reitman...
, a directing project given him by early independent maverick Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
, this was Scorsese's first feature film of his own design. Director John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
told him after he completed Boxcar Bertha
Boxcar Bertha
Boxcar Bertha , director Martin Scorsese's second film, is a loose adaptation of Sister of the Road, the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by Ben Reitman...
: "You’ve just spent a year of your life making a piece of shit." This inspired Scorsese to make a film about his own experiences. Mean Streets was based on actual events Scorsese saw almost regularly while growing up in Little Italy
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
.
The screenplay for the movie initially began as a continuation of the characters in Who's That Knocking. Scorsese changed the title from Season of the Witch to Mean Streets, a reference to Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
's essay "The Simple Art of Murder
The Simple Art of Murder
"The Simple Art of Murder" refers to both a critical essay and a collection of short stories written by hard-boiled detective fiction author Raymond Chandler. The essay was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in December 1944...
", where he writes, "But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid." Scorsese sent the script to Corman, who agreed to back the film if all the characters were black. Scorsese was anxious to make the film so he considered this option, but actress Verna Bloom
Verna Bloom
Verna Bloom is an American actress. She co-starred in the 1973 film High Plains Drifter with Clint Eastwood and the 1974 made for TV movie Where Have All The People Gone? with Peter Graves and Kathleen Quinlan...
arranged a meeting with potential financial backer, Jonathan Taplin, who was the road manager for the musical group, The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
. Taplin liked the script and was willing to raise the $300,000 budget that Scorsese wanted if Corman promised, in writing, to distribute the film.
According to Scorsese, the first draft of Mean Streets focused on Charlie's religious conflict and its effect on his worldview. Along with fellow writer Mardik Martin, Scorsese wrote the whole script while driving around Little Italy in Martin's car. They would find a spot in the neighborhood to park and begin writing, all the while immersed in the sights, and sounds of what would eventually appear on-screen.
Once the financing was in place, Scorsese began to recruit his cast. De Niro had met the director in 1972 and liked what he had seen in Who's That Knocking at My Door
Who's That Knocking at My Door
Who's That Knocking at My Door, originally titled I Call First, is a 1967 drama film, which marks Martin Scorsese's debut as a director. Exploring themes of Catholic guilt similar to those in his later film Mean Streets, the story follows Italian-American J.R. as he struggles to accept the secret...
. De Niro was impressed with how the film had so accurately captured life in Little Italy; De Niro had grown up on Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
, the northern boundary of Little Italy
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...
at the time. Scorsese offered the actor four different roles, but he could not decide which one he wanted to portray. After another actor dropped out of the project, Scorsese cast Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
in the pivotal role of Charlie. Keitel was also responsible for convincing De Niro to play Johnny Boy . Scorsese himself plays the gunman who shoots at Charlie and Johnny Boy from Michael's car.
Reception
The film was well received by most critics; some even hailed it as one of the most original American films of all time. Pauline KaelPauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
was among the most enthusiastic critics; she called it "a true original, and a triumph of personal filmmaking" and "dizzyingly sensual". Other critics like Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
of the Chicago Reader said "the acting and editing have such original, tumultuous force that the picture is completely gripping". Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
of the New York Times reflected that "no matter how bleak the milieu, no matter how heartbreaking the narrative, some films are so thoroughly, beautifully realized they have a kind of tonic effect that has no relation to the subject matter". One of Scorsese's most consistent supporters, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, wrote that "In countless ways, right down to the detail of modern TV crime shows, Mean Streets is one of the source points of modern movies." Time Out magazine called it "One of the best American films of the decade". Currently the movie has a 98% "certified fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 reviews.
Home video releases
Mean Streets was released on Blu-ray for the first time on April 6, 2011 in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.