Lists
- ranked 507 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 527 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 529 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of 101^w102 Movies You Must See Before...
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills Nominees
- one of Rosenbaum's Alternate 100
The World is Yours
Tony Camonte (Paul Muni) is an ambitious small-time thug who claws his way to power. His rule of thumb? Kill the other guy before he can kill you.
It's not all guns and glory. Tony is socially inept and suffers complex relationships with his family, particularly his sister. Despite the dangerous world he lives in, it's this weakness -- vaguely Oedipal and perfectly at home in a Greek tragedy -- that causes his downfall.
It's also surprisingly funny for something so dark; particularly notable is Tony's loyal but incompetent "secretary", a bumbling idiot whose dialogue seems to have been borrowed from Chico Marx.
Overshadowed in recent years by the phenomenal success of Brian De Palma's remake, it original still holds up as a brilliant example of gangster film-noir. See it.