The Italian-American co-production is a fictionalized account of the murder of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo, a mobster who was gunned down on April 7, 1972, at a restaurant in Little Italy.

The film stars Peter Boyle in the title role, with Paula Prentiss, Fred Williamson, Rip Torn, Luther Adler, Henry Winkler and Eli Wallach.

As soon as Joe gets out of jail, he returns to New York and the woman in his life, Anne, then begins building his crime organization with the help of Willy and Harlem associates.

Vittorio immediately puts out a contract on Joe, and at a restaurant where he, Anne and Willy are having dinner, gunmen turn up and open fire, both men ending up dead.

According to Variety, the screenplay for Crazy Joe was based on a series of articles on mafia wars by The New York Times reporter Nicholas Gage.

[2] Director Carlo Lizzani stated that the reason he made the film was because he felt that Gallo's story was a mirror image of a character who was "typical of the '68 movements.

[2] The Daily Variety reported that on same date, Barry Slotnick, a lawyer for Mafia member Joseph Colombo intended to file an injunction against Crazy Joe.

[2] Daily Variety reported on 26 Feb 1974 that a New York Supreme Court judge ruled against the injunction, as the film was not an invasion of Colombo's privacy.

"[3] Canby continued that Peter Boyle played Joe as if he were a "dim‐witted numbers runner", and that casting Paula Prentiss as his girl was "one of the minor mysteries of the movie year.