Frank (played by Robert Forster) is the ambitious son of an organized-crime boss. He plans a heroin deal with the help of brothers Tony Fargo (Frederic Forrest) and his brother Vince (Al Lettieri). But when a gangland snitch secretly tips off the cops, Frank's drug deal results in a violent gun battle. In the end, Frank and the Fargos survive. Later, on discovering who set them up, Frank learns of the death of his powerful father, caused by a stroke. A meeting is thus called among the various mob families. There, it is decided that Frank, still too young to take over for his dead father, will instead learn the business through his dad's lifelong friend, Don Angelo (Anthony Quinn). In doing so, Angelo becomes a sort of Lord Protector to the future mob boss, Frank.

Unfortunately, Don Angelo begins an illicit romance with Frank's young and beautiful fiancée, named Ruby (Angel Tompkins). This sends the hot-tempered Frank into a self-destructive rage. He beats up Ruby so badly, she has to be hospitalized. She informs Don Angelo, who swears vengeance against Frank. Miraculously, Frank survives the attempt on his life. But the incident causes everyone to choose sides, and a bloody, all-out war is waged in the streets.

• Anthony Quinn as Don Angelo DiMorra
• Frederic Forrest as Tony Fargo
• Robert Forster as Frank Regalbuto
• Al Lettieri as Vince Fargo
• Angel Tompkins as Ruby Dunne
• Charles Cioffi as Luigi Orlando
• Barry Russo as Don Aggimio Bernardo
• Louis Zorich as Mitch DiMorra
• Ina Balin as Nella
• Joe Santos as Joe Lucci
• Frank DeKova as Giunta
• Abe Vigoda as Don Talusso
• Victor Argo as Augie the Horse
• Val Bisoglio as Pete Lazatti
• Robert Carricart as Mike Spada
• Sid Haig as The Arab
• Vic Tayback as Ralph Negri

A.H. Weiler of The New York Times was positive: "Expertise, if not imagination, is evident in the explosive, action-oriented direction of Richard Fleischer... The Don Is Dead has the attributes of some lively, pithily accented performances that are adult and effectively natural. Among these are Forrest, as the brainly hood who attempts to escape the racket, but winds up a don, Al Lettieri, as his roughhewn, dependent, ill-fated brother, and Forster, as the rising, vengeful muscleman who is eventually cut down. As the embattled don who is finally felled by a stroke, not a gun, Quinn is moodily menacing and as polished and relaxed as a professional long familiar with this sort of role."^[2]

• List of American films of 1973

• The Don Is Dead at IMDb  
• The Don Is Dead at the TCM Movie Database
• The Don Is Dead at Letterboxd
• The Don Is Dead at Rotten Tomatoes