Charlie is in a dilemma: he aspires to be a big shot in New York’s Little Italy mafia, but he also wants to be purged of his sins. He seeks penance in the attempted salvation of his friend, the troublemaker Johnny Boy. But this risks complicating his relationship with his mafioso uncle Giovanni.

While neither Scorsese nor De Niro’s debut, few films have launched young talent with such rousing confidence as this first collaboration. More intimate than their future crime epics, Keitel’s attempts at penance also keep the film of a piece with Scorsese’s later explorations of crises of faith.