6) Mean Streets – 1973
Gross: $32,645 (Original Run)
A sort of prototype for Goodfellas, Mean Streets was one of the very first films to tackle the life of low-level mobsters. Decades of imitators and our familiarity with the actor has diminished a bit of the effect of De Niro in this film, but at the time, he seemed only a step or two shy of Heath Ledger’s Joker, a wild card who sowed chaos for fun and could blow up in your face at the drop of a hat. In an instant (and the power chords of Jumpin’ Jack Flash), a star and a star director were born.
