Every Martin Scorsese Film Ranked Worst To Best

With Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Scorsese found his big Hollywood break, and crafted one of his most darkly amusing and poignant character studies.

Ellen Burstyn's Oscar-winning performance as Alice Hyatt is surely one for the ages, a tragic, funny, touching and tough role that would have sunk the film had it been given to a lesser actor. Burstyn is perfect throughout, endearingly portraying Alice as a doting mother and a troubled woman searching for her version of the American Dream.

Alice... is equal parts a tragedy and a comedy, and Scorsese's ability to craft such a well-drawn and complex character so early in his career is truly spectacular.

Many of Scorsese's pictures focus on themes of rage and inner evil, and though Harvey Keitel's brief but terrifying performance as Alice's short-lived lover Ben fills this role nicely, Alice... is an unusually sensitive and healing movie that focuses on more hopeful themes with equally compelling results.