This was the highest-rated original telefilm in HBO history at that time. The success of the film convinced HBO to cast Dominic Chianese, Vincent Pastore, Tony Sirico, Frank Vincent, and Frank Pellegrino in a series in development called The Sopranos (1999).
Former mob capo turned motivational speaker Michael Franzese of the Colombo crime family, who worked with John Gotti of the Gambino crime family, considers this the most accurate mafia movie he has ever seen.
The film was originally intended for a theatrical release, but fell short on funding.
Two actors had real-life associations to real New York mobsters. Marc Lawrence was friends with Charles "Lucky" Luciano, visiting him in Italy after Luciano was released from prison and deported. Anthony Quinn was friends with Frank Costello, Lucky's former under boss, after Costello retired from the mob.
Frank Vincent (who portrayed Gambino mobster Robert DiBernardo) two years later would appear in another TV miniseries related to the Gotti era of the Gambino crime family, 1998's Witness To The Mob. This time he would portray Frank DeCicco, another member who was murdered almost two months earlier before DiBernardo, in the same year of 1986, on April 13.