Robert Duvall first saw the lead actor, Angelo, in 1977 when he was 8 years old, having an argument with an older woman on Columbus Avenue that "sounded like a lovers quarrel."[2] The screenplay for Angelo My Love was written by Mr. Duvall, with some dialogue improvised by the Romani actors, most of whom play themselves.
Besides Angelo are his older brother Michael, his fortune teller mother, his sister Debbie, and his girlfriend Patricia (Katerina Ribraka); his father Tony Evans, from the movie might have been thought to be absent, but is actually in a couple of scenes.
"Angelo is a kind of idealized sum-total of all New York street kids no matter what their ethnic backgrounds. He is physically small but he has such a big, sharply defined personality that he seems to be a child possessed by the mind and experiences of a con man in his 20s. Then, as the movie goes on, one sees Angelo moving from glib, smart-talking self-assurance to childhood tears and back again, all in the space of a few seconds of screen time. This, too, may be part of Angelo's con, but it's also unexpectedly moving as well as funny. Angelo, among other things, is scared of ghosts."[2]
Variety reported that Mr. Duvall spent five years and more than $1 million on the film[3] and that many of the cast, including Angelo, did not read English.
San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles commercial screenings were documented, with a Cinemax cable presentation in 1985.
In her 1985 novel, Exit to Eden (written as Anne Rampling), Anne Rice gives an extensive in-story review of this film.
