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Paradise Alley

Paradise Alley

Action · Drama · 1978

Three Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each other with one's wrestling career using one brother's promotional skills and another brother's con-artist tactics to thwart a sleazy manager.

Movie details

Paradise Alley

“The Carboni Boys. They haul ice, lay out stiffs and dance with monkeys.”

1978 Action · Drama 1h 47m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

Three Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each other with one's wrestling career using one brother's promotional skills and another brother's con-artist tactics to thwart a sleazy manager.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Paradise Alley?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sylvester Stallone

Written by

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

Cosmo Carboni

Lee Canalito

Lee Canalito

Victor Carboni

Armand Assante

Armand Assante

Lenny Carboni

Frank McRae

Frank McRae

Big Glory

Anne Archer

Anne Archer

Annie

Kevin Conway

Kevin Conway

Stitch

Terry Funk

Terry Funk

Frankie the Thumper

Court is in session

Put Paradise Alley on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.