Mean Streets (1973)

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Mean Streets movie storyline. Martin Scorsese’s third full-length film with energizing early 60s rock ‘n’ roll – a low-budget, semi-autobiographical, realistic tale about four struggling, small-time hoods in New York’s Little Italy trying to establish themselves. Tony (David Proval) owns the neighborhood bar, and Michael (Richard Romanus) makes deals and rips off naive teenagers from Brooklyn.

Ambitious punk Charlie Calla (Keitel) befriends violent Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro), who irresponsibly and recklessly incurs gambling debts and becomes dangerously obligated to a loan shark. Charlie’s uncle Giovanni (Cesare Danova) is the local Mafia boss and grooming his nephew for ‘respectable’ gang life by having him collect for a protection racket. Unclear and confused about his life’s direction and loyalties, Charlie wrestles with his devout Catholic guilt, the temptations of the Mafia, and his feelings for Teresa (Robinson), Johnny Boy’s epileptic sister.

Mean Streets is a 1973 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-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 “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”.

Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson, Richard Romanus, Cesare Danova, Victor Argo, George Memmoli, Lenny Scaletta, Jeannie Bell, David Carradine
Screenplay by: Martin Scorsese, Mardik Martin
Cinematography by: Kent L. Wakeford
Film Editing by: Sidney Levin
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: October 2, 1973