Richard Conte Movies

In this low-budget, erotic thriller, aptly titled The Diary of a Murderess, a seductive, scheming woman (Marissa Mell) meets and insinuates herself into the mansion of a fabulously wealthy film producer (Richard Conte). When he mysteriously dies, the sinister opportunistic woman is left with his fortune. Or so she believes. The man's suspicious son (Anthony Steffen) pretends to fall in love with her but catches her in her own trap. The film is poorly acted and directed, with a notable lack of suspense, but Mell is quite beautiful and fans of hers should enjoy this silly, gothic murder mystery. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

In this Italian action film, a suspended police officer risks his badge in an attempt to bring a mob kingpin to justice. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather is a touchstone of cinema: one of the most widely imitated, quoted, and lampooned movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino star as Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael, respectively. It is the late 1940s in New York and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a "godfather" or "don," the head of a Mafia family. Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by enlisting in the Marines to fight in World War II, has returned a captain and a war hero. Having long ago rejected the family business, Michael shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie (Talia Shire), with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton), who learns for the first time about the family "business." A few months later at Christmas time, the don barely survives being shot by gunmen in the employ of a drug-trafficking rival whose request for aid from the Corleones' political connections was rejected. After saving his father from a second assassination attempt, Michael persuades his hotheaded eldest brother, Sonny (James Caan), and family advisors Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) and Sal Tessio (Abe Vigoda) that he should be the one to exact revenge on the men responsible.

After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael's life. Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie's husband. As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family's power and completing his own moral downfall. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather was followed by a pair of sequels. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

A Mafia hitman's decision to leave his profession results in bloodshed and tragedy. The violence begins when his bosses, to help him change his mind, have the assassin's wife and child brutally murdered, causing the hitman to launch a vendetta against his bosses. The film is also titled Big Guns. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Enemy Before Us stars Tony Franciosca as Crime magazine reporter Jeff Dillon. Back in his old neighborhood in New York's "Little Italy", Dillon hopes to take a break from his hectic responsibilities and recapture "something real" from his younger days. Unfortunately, he is bombarded by pain and disillusionment from every side: his stepmother (Katina Paxinou) is gravely ill, and her son (Lazaro Perez) is deeply involved with drug dealing. Orson Welles is heard on the soundtrack, reciting appropriate passages from Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again. The Enemy Before Us first aired on October 16, 1970, as an episode of the weekly TV series Name of the Game. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This internationally produced war flick represents actor Richard Conte's only directorial effort. Conte casts himself as the leader of a band of Yugoslav partisans. He links up with American officer Rory Calhoun, ostensibly for the purpose of setting up an exchange of prisoners. When it becomes obvious that there's a traitor among the partisans, Conte is forced to reveal Calhoun the true purpose of his mission. American Cross Eagles was also released as Operation Cross Eagles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra) is a Miami private detective who discovers a lady in cement while scuba diving. Rome is hired by Gronsky (Dan Blocker) to find out if the woman is his missing girlfriend. He interviews Kit Forrest (Raquel Welch), a boozy socialite who had seen the woman at a drunken party earlier. Tony is warned by Kit's neighbor Al Munger (Martin Gabel) to stay away from Kit. Tony discovers Al is a former rackets boss and suspects there is more to the story than Kit and Al are letting on. With the help of local Lieutenant Santini (Richard Conti), Tony contacts artist Arnie Sherwin (Richard Deacon), who helps identify the dead woman as Gronsky's girlfriend. The plot thickens when Gronsky admits that he and Al's son Paul (Steve Peck) were dipping into Al's fund of ill-gotten money. Tony eliminates Kit as a suspect as he tries to solve the crime in this murder mystery. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Frank Sinatra brings a sneering Rat Pack ethos to his first hard-boiled detective role in Tony Rome. Tony is an ex-cop who lives on a houseboat off Miami, accepting fees for private-eye work. His former partner, Ralph Turpin (Robert J. Wilke), asks Tony for help in locating Diana Pines (Sue Lyon), the daughter of rich construction magnate Rudolph Kosterman (Simon Oakland). Tony finds her unconscious and drunk in a sleazy motel room and returns her to her home. Rudolph decides to hire Tony in order to find out why his daughter is behaving so erratically. In the meantime, Diana's stepmother, Rita (Gena Rowlands), also offers Tony money to inform her first about whatever Tony finds out. He discovers that Diana has lost an expensive diamond pin, but before he can act upon the information, he is beaten up by two goons and nearly killed by Diana's crazy step-uncle. Tony then finds out that Turpin has been murdered. With help from sultry and sexy divorcée Ann Archer (Jill St. John), Tony discovers that Diana has been funneling large sums of money to her alcoholic mother, Lorna (Jeanne Cooper), with Rita's priceless jewelry being replaced by fakes. A collection of disagreeable human sludge all take their turns trying to get Tony and the information that he holds -- including his old pal Lieutenant Santini (Richard Conte). After a murder attempt on Rudolph's life, Tony uncovers a series of vile connections involving blackmail, deceit, and betrayal. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Death Sentence is the literal English translation of Setenza di Morte, the original Italian title of this spaghetti western. Robin Clarke stars as a vengeful frontiersman whose brother has been killed. In the tradition of the Budd Boetticher classic Seven Men From Now, Clarke methodically hunts down the four men responsible. Hollywood's Richard Conte is second-billed as one of the culprits. Tomas Milian steals the show as an albino gunman prone to epileptic fits. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmmaker George Stevens chose Monument Valley, Utah for his exterior sequences in The Greatest Story Ever Told, this ($20 million) adaptation of Fulton Oursler's best-selling book. The "Greatest Story" is, of course, the life of Jesus Christ, played herein by Max Von Sydow. The large supporting cast includes Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Donald Pleasence as Satan (identified only as "The Dark Hermit"), David McCallum as Judas Iscariot, Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Martin Landau as Caiaphas. Even Robert Blake as Simon the Zealot, Jamie Farr as Thaddaeus, and motorcyle-flick veteran Richard Bakalyan as Dismas, the repentant thief, are well-suited to their roles. Originally roadshown at 260 minutes, Greatest Story Ever Told was later available in a 195-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in Cinerama and Technicolor, Circus World may have drawn the crowds for various reasons -- not the least, perhaps, for the big names. John Wayne stars as circus owner Matt Masters, who takes his show to Europe hoping to save it from financial ruin. Accompanying Matt, is young Toni (Claudia Cardinale), whom Matt had raised since her aerialist mother Lili (Rita Hayworth) left them years before. Just before he departs from New York, Matt is reminded that Lili may be somewhere in Germany. Upon their arrival in Europe, much of the equipment is lost when their ship sinks in a Spanish port. Matt doesn't let that get the best of them, and he is soon up and running with the show, becoming a hit throughout Europe. Against Matt's wishes, Toni trains to become an aerialist like her mother. A quiet figure in the shadows proudly watches Toni rehearse her daring routines. The writing team of Ben Hecht, James Edward Grant and Julian Halevy adapted their screenplay from a story by Philip Yordan and Nicholas Ray. Though this was not a gunslinger role for Wayne, Matt Masters was not a far stretch. This could have been due to the fact that Wayne had previously worked on several projects with director Henry Hathaway and writers Hecht and Grant -- and the part was altered to suit him. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi