… his script and direction lack any dramatic value …

—Variety, reviewing Scorsese’s first film

The director, who also wrote the original story and screenplay, hasn’t succeeded in making a drama that is really much more aware than the characters themselves. The result is a movie that is as precise—and as small—as a contact print.

—The New York Times, reviewing the same

Marty, you’ve just spent a whole year of your life making a piece of shit.

—Friend and fellow director John Cassavetes, reacting to Scorsese’s second film

References:

• “lack any dramatic value”
• “hasn’t succeeded”
• “spent a whole year”