20 Things You Didn't Know About Miller's Crossing
2. The Film Has Homages To Lots Of Classic Crime Films
The Coens are known as cinephiles and often, their works will include a lot of references to classic films.
An inevitable comparison for Miller’s Crossing is the 1972 classic, The Godfather. And, it feels like the opening scene is a direct reference to The Godfather, in which we see Finney’s Lee O’Bannon play the Vito Corleone-type role, where he listens to a proposition by Polito's Johnny Caspar.
Also, the ending sequence in this movie is a reference to the 1949 classic crime film, The Third Man. Both films end on a funeral, where our main character ponders what he is going to do with his life. The story was also highly influenced by The Glass Key's adaptations, Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars.
This just goes to show you how utterly cine-literate Miller’s Crossing is, and how much detail the Coens will put into their films.